attend fulltime. The report Improving Education Outcomes for Children with
Disability in Victoria found that approximately 15% of interviewed parents
had experienced some form of difficulty when enrolling their child in a
mainstream Victorian Government School.257
284. A 2017 survey of 771 students with disability conducted by Children and
Young People with Disability Australia identified that 19% of all
respondents had experienced restraint at school, and 21% of respondents
had experienced seclusion.258
285. The Commission is concerned about the use of restrictive practices in
schools. Restrictive practices include the inconsistent, unregulated and
unmonitored use of seclusion and restraint against students with disability
in schools.259
Recommendation 37: The Australian Government in its Nationally
Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability includes
children that do not qualify for support or do not have access to
mainstream schools.
Recommendation 38: The Australian Government commissions an
investigation into the use of restrictive practices in Australian schools and
strategies to promote inclusive education for children with disability.
8.5
Suspension and expulsion
286. Data on suspensions and expulsions in government schools are
inconsistent and unavailable in some states and territories.
287. NSW has the most complete dataset, including a categorisation of the
types of suspensions and expulsions, as well as the corresponding
reasons. The NSW data shows higher rates of suspension in particular
groups, including those with a child protection or out-of-home care
history.260 Almost 60% of children in out-of-home care were suspended in
2016, and these children lost, on average, 29 school days to
suspensions.261
288. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students are also overrepresented in
NSW. They accounted for 25% of total suspensions in 2016.262 Suspension
rates among these students does not appear to be reducing.263
289. The Commissioner for Children and Young People in Western Australia
recently published the views of children and young people on what factors
influence their engagement or disengagement from school. This involved
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