Alia and Kaz

Alia is an outgoing teenager who has a number of complex disabilities and uses a motorised wheelchair. Her mother Kaz describes her as a ‘very sociable peopleperson’.

Alia’s parents decided when their daughter was very young that she would have access to the best possible educational environment.

Kaz worried that sending Alia to a special school might expose her to a high risk of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation. ‘Segregated education is a failing under the UNCRPD convention’ Kaz told the Royal Commission. ‘People think it’s better, but it is an absolute myth that students are safer.’

Alia’s parents enrolled her into the local primary school. What followed was a long battle to prove their daughter had a right to inclusive education.

The principal, school counsellor, and learning and support staff used gatekeeping tactics and ‘every trick in the book’ to prevent Alia’s enrolment. Kaz said they repeatedly asked the same questions: ‘Should she really be here?,’ ‘wouldn’t she be better off elsewhere?’ and ‘do we really have to accommodate all of those needs?’

Kaz said it took a number of years to ‘educate the educators’, but it was worth it to see Alia finally going to the same school as her siblings.

Kaz believes all young people with disability have a right to be ‘visibly and actively involved’ in ordinary community life. When the NDIA rejected Alia’s application for assistive technology, Kas was upset as this would limit her inclusion and independence.

Kaz obtained a copy of the agency’s internal notes that read in part, ‘Wheelchair is a luxury item and we don’t fund that.’ Kaz argued it was impossible to put a dollar value on Alia’s independence. ‘It is absolutely abhorrent for NDIA to fight you on that... independence & inclusion is one of the [it’s] fundamental underlying principles.’

Finally, after two and a half years, the decision was reversed. Alia is now in high school and uses her powered wheelchair to assist with her mobility and independence.