Resolved complaint (194) about disability discrimination in education

About the complaint

The complainants’ four-year-old child has intellectual disability, a developmental delay and Down’s Syndrome. The complainants’ child attended the respondent kindergarten, which applied to the respondent department for funding to accommodate the child’s disability. The complainants said the funding application was declined and their child was not appropriately supported at the kindergarten.

The kindergarten said it was reliant on government funding to accommodate the needs of children with disability and was not in control of the department’s funding decisions. The department advised the initial application had not met the eligibility criteria for funding, but that the decision could be appealed if further information became available and/or the child's situation changed.

The kindergarten and department worked together to discuss the funding application process and the child’s needs. The complaint was resolved once an appeal of the original funding decision was granted and the kindergarten was funded to implement staff development and employ a classroom aid for ten hours per week to support the complainants’ child.

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