A new object has been inserted into the Act to make clear that education and children’s services provided under the Act are to be inclusive by enabling the participation of children and students with disability and supporting the development of their personalities, talents, creativity and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential.

One of the principles in section 7 of the Act sets out that children and students should not be unlawfully discriminated against on the ground of their gender, mental or physical impairment, religion or race, nor that of their parents. The Amendment Act amends this principle to replace the reference to ‘mental or physical impairment’ with a reference to ‘disability’.

Commenced 12 February 2026.

A definition of disability which is based on the definition used in the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 of the Commonwealth has been added.

Commenced 12 February 2026.

The Amendment Act removes an existing power of the Chief Executive of the Department for Education to direct that a child be enrolled in a specified government school (such as a special school) because of the child’s disability or learning difficulties. The Chief Executive’s power to direct that a specified child, including a child with disability, be enrolled in a specified school (including a special school) on health, safety and welfare grounds will remain.

Commenced 12 February 2026.

The Act has been amended so that a child or young person must not be refused enrolment at a school (whether a government or non-government school) on the basis that the child has a disability unless it would impose an unjustifiable hardship on the school. To consider an unjustifiable hardship, all relevant circumstances must be taken into account including those matters set out in section 11 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 of the Commonwealth and relevant provisions of the Disability Standards for Education 2005.

Commenced 12 February 2026.

The Act has been amended to require that each government or non-government principal must report annually to the Minister on:

• the number of children with a disability that were refused enrolment at a school on the ground that it would impose an unjustifiable hardship (including if there were no such children)
• the numbers of students with a disability whose enrolments were cancelled (including if there were no such children)
• any measures taken by the school to reduce the number of refusals or cancellations of enrolments and any other prescribed information.

This information must be provided on an annual basis, by 31 May in relation to the previous calendar year. The Minister must then publish a sector-level report on the information collected from the schools by 31 August in each year.

Schools will start collecting data in 2027 to report for the first time in 2028. Schools will receive further guidance in 2026 to support reporting. The Minister will publish a sector-level report for the first time in 2028.

Information provided for the purposes of this section must not directly or indirectly identify any individual and the information provided by the schools is not liable to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 1991.

The Amendment Act includes provision for the regulations to prescribe other information to be reported to the Minister. It is intended that reporting will also include the number of children with disability who had their enrolment refused on the basis that the school was at enrolment capacity, recognising that this is another reason that a school may need to refuse an enrolment. As there are multiple factors that determine how enrolment capacity is defined and managed by different schools, it was determined to include this detail in regulations rather than in the primary legislation. More information will be provided to schools about this in 2026 once the detail has been set in the Education and Children’s Services Regulations.

The Department is working with non-government school sectors to make it as easy as possible to meet the new reporting requirements. For government schools the department will use existing data collections where possible to meet the reporting requirements. A penalty of up to $2500, has been included in the Act, if a school principal does not comply with these reporting requirements.

Government and non-government school principals will also be required to report to the Minister, annually, de-identified information on the use of exclusionary discipline against students with disability at the school. This will include:

• the number of times a student with disability was suspended, excluded or expelled
• the number of students with disability that were suspended, excluded or expelled
• the number of instances each student was suspended, excluded or expelled, and for how long
• of the total number of students with a disability enrolled at the school, the proportion of those that were suspended, excluded or expelled
• the grounds for the disciplinary action
• the number of schools days impacted.

This information must be provided on an annual basis, by 31 May in relation to the previous calendar year. The Minister must then publish a sector-level report on the information collected from the schools by 31 August in each year.

Schools will report for the first time in 2028 on their 2027 data. Schools will receive further guidance in 2026 to support reporting. The Minister will publish a sector-level report for the first time in 2028.

Information provided for the purposes of this section must not directly or indirectly identify any individual. The information provided by the schools is not liable to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 1991.

The Department is working with non-government school sectors to make it as easy as possible to meet the new reporting requirements. For government schools, the department will use existing datasets to collate the sector- level report for the Minister. A penalty of up to $2500, has been included in the Act, if a school principal does not comply with these reporting requirements.

The Act has a new requirement that all non-government schools have a published policy regarding the use of exclusionary discipline (suspensions and expulsion) in relation to students of the school.

The policy must set out the general approach of the school to managing student behaviour and the purpose for which exclusionary discipline may be used, the types of exclusionary discipline that may be used and the grounds on which they can be imposed.

It must also set out who is authorised to use exclusionary discipline and the maximum length of time for which a student may be suspended, in ordinary circumstances, and in exceptional circumstances.

The policy must also set out the process for a student who has been suspended to return to the school and any other matters prescribed by the regulations. The policy must, as far as is reasonably practicable, be commensurate with any policy relating to exclusionary discipline that applies to Government schools. The policy is required to be published on the school's website.

Schools will need to have published their policy regarding the use of suspension and expulsion of students by 1 January 2027.

The suspension, exclusion and expulsion of students procedure (PDF 913 KB) provides the policy for Government schools. It outlines the procedures for take-home, suspension, exclusion and expulsion of students from Department for Education schools.

The Education and Children’s Services Regulations 2020 already include a range of matters that that must be considered when determining whether to suspend, exclude or expel a student from a government school.

Amendments to those regulations have been developed in consultation with the non-government sector which will extend the application of this regulation to non-government schools, and add several additional matters that will need to be considered by all schools, including:

• the age of the student
• whether the student has a disability
• whether there is an individual learning plan in place for the student and whether it’s being implemented
• whether there are any reasonable alternatives to suspending, excluding or expelling the student available in the circumstances.

The commencement date of these regulations is 1 January 2027.

There will be a review of the new provisions of the Education and Children’s services (Inclusive Education) Amendment Act 2025 within three years of commencement. This provision will commence last with the reporting requirements, allowing time for implementation of the new reporting requirements to be considered in the review.

To commence 1 September 2027.