Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Tonight I share with the House a desperate plea for change from my community. Parents at Bendigo schools are calling for increased funding to help deal with the growing number of students with autism going through the mainstream schooling system.

I will share with you a couple of local stories. A mother of a 12-year-old boy on the spectrum said that not enough is being done to cater for students with autism in our schools. She said that her family has been through hell and back, fighting the education system to get the appropriate strategies in place so her son can cope with school. She does not blame the teachers but rather a lack of understanding about autism. She says that she knows her son can misbehave and she is not saying that he is easy to deal with. But what he is going through, as a young man, is just heartbreaking—and our system should be there to support him. Along the way, Michelle has been told her expectations for her son are too high. But, she says:

To me this is ridiculous, because I have met police officers and solicitors with autism and, if they can do it, it just proves that, with the right education balance, with funding within our system, anything is possible for these children.

And Michelle is right.

Many schools in my electorate have spoken out about not only the challenges but the benefits associated with having children with special needs in mainstream schooling. Classroom aids, further special needs training for teachers and individual learning plans are just some of the areas that they say need extra funding to help students with autism in Bendigo. Most schools admit that a lack of government funding is putting a strain on their school and on their school budget—and they are right.

Camp Hill Primary School Assistant Principal, Chris Baker, said that whilst there are challenges, children with autism are also helping to foster a greater understanding and acceptance amongst the students. He said it can be really positive to have students, but he also said that they are lucky enough to have an autism coach funded by the education system. That is the problem. Schools should not have to be lucky to get the resources they need to support the students. St Joseph's Primary School Principal, Nick Taggart, agrees that funding is creating problems but he said his school is doing what it can to ensure that everybody's needs are met. Nick is right. Funding continues to be a challenge at these schools. Every school council, every principal, I met with has said there is a growing funding crisis in their budget to help students with autism in their school community.

I have heard stories of students being locked up in principals' offices. I have heard stories of students being restrained because they have had a meltdown in the classroom. I have heard stories of students being sent home after two hours of schooling, and students being left at home and not being able to access main-stream schooling, because they simply cannot find a school that will accept their child who has autism.

This may be considered the pointy end of a system that is struggling. It is becoming an increasing issue, with parents speaking to me in my office. Families with older children on the spectrum are finding that waiting lists are growing and that life is becoming increasingly hard for their children. Further, specific funding required for students with autism is tightening, meaning fewer students are benefiting. Quite often, if children are not diagnosed early enough, they miss out on a package and then packages for older children are fewer and fewer. With five to 10 students with autism in most public and Catholic schools in the Bendigo electorate, it reminds all of us of why we need Gonski and why the election promises broken on budget night—the trashing of Gonski—has really hurt the schools in Bendigo.

Students with disabilities were forgotten on budget night. The government has broken its promise to students with a disability to deliver the Gonski loading for 2015. The budget failed to outline any new funding for students with a disability. It is not fair that these students, their families and schools, in Bendigo, go without. The community is fighting back, and I will fight with them.

See this speech in context