Senator Allison asked the Minister representing the Minister for Schools, Vocational Education and Training, upon notice, on 22 May 1997:

With reference to the National Children's and Youth Law Centre's recently published study Disability Discrimination in Schools, which reports that students with disabilities are discriminated against through refusal of enrolment; different conditions of enrolment; denial of or limited access to schools services, facilities and programs; and failure of schools to sufficiently address bullying and harassment against students with a disability.

Will the Federal Government act on the recommendations made in this report, given that discrimination against children and young people with a disability is unlawful in all States, except Tasmania, and is contract to the principles of the National Equity Strategy for Schooling.

Senator Vanstone —The Minister for Schools, Vocational Education and Training has provided the following answer to the honourable senator's question:

The majority of the recommendations contained in the report are matters for schools, parents and State education authorities. In relation to the recommendations for the Commonwealth it should be noted that the Commonwealth is undertaking a review to examine means of improving the operation and effectiveness of Commonwealth support for students with disabilities. One of the expected outcomes of the review is more effective and equitable targeting of the Commonwealth's special education funding. A copy of the report's recommendations will be made available to the Special Education Review consultation group.

Currently the Commonwealth is working with State and Territory governments and other key stakeholders in all education sectors looking at a systematic approach to preventing disability discrimination in education. A taskforce established by the ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs is looking at the feasibility and desirability of using the provisions of the Commonwealth Disability Discrimination Act (1992) for standards in education. The release of the National Children's Youth Law Centre's report was discussed at the taskforce's May meeting and the recommendations will inform the taskforce's ongoing work.