The Hodgman Liberal Government is committed to providing high-quality inclusive education for students with disability.
This is demonstrated by our commitment to boost the funding for special needs by $6.79 million in 2018, taking the total amount of funding to $88.85 million in the 2018-19 State Budget. This means the total budget for students with disability has increased by almost $20 million since 2014.
Students supported through the Severe Disability Register are allocated $48.2 million from the total special needs budget.
This year, all schools also received support teacher allocations to build the capacity of school staff and maximise educational outcomes for students.
A further $3.25 million in funding has been allocated towards the Ministerial Taskforce for Students with Disability and for progressing the design of a needs-based funding model – bringing the total allocation now provided for this important initiative to $19.25 million.
The new needs-based funding model for students with disability will deliver resources on the basis of the educational adjustment required to ensure students with disability have the best opportunity to thrive at school.
There will also be dedicated funding to support a nurse in each support school and provide speech pathologist resource support in each Child and Family Centre. This recognises the importance of these services, guarantees that their provision will be ongoing and allows flexibility for any funding currently used to be redirected to other areas of need.
The Hodgman Liberal Government is committed to developing a more inclusive education system to support students with disability and we will continue to Build Your Future to ensure every Tasmanian has a better education and greater opportunities in life.
More Media Releases from Jeremy Rockliff
More Media Releases from the Minister for Education and Training