Callista

Callista is the principal of a regional primary school in which 15 per cent of the 300 students have a disability.

‘I not only have a refugee community, but also a dozen languages spoken at my school as well as 20 nationalities,’ Callista told the Royal Commission. ‘Navigating that is difficult.’

Callista said there aren’t enough support services in the town to help all her students.

‘Last year, the [town’s] paediatrician actually closed their books on any new patients. They did that because they were overwhelmed with the number of students or children who were requiring support.’

Callista said of the 15 per cent of her students with disability, a third are still waiting for a diagnosis.

‘Particularly if parents can’t pay privately, which my families and I would think regional and remote Australia can’t … the minimal wait is three months, and the maximum is two years to try and get into a paediatrician.’

For example, Callista said one of her students starting kindergarten is non-verbal and still in nappies, but hasn’t received a diagnosis.

‘For whatever reason that parent just couldn’t get to a paediatrician appointment or engage in early intervention services.’

Callista said the school employs a speech pathologist to try to assess what the child needs, but there are often language barriers with refugee and CALD families.

‘Coming to a new country under quite challenging circumstances is difficult within itself. … Then you realise perhaps there is something more going on for their child.’

Callista said while the school waits for a diagnosis and the special funding that comes with it, the child often needs one-on-one support, which drains the school’s budget and creates a ‘real moral dilemma’.

‘I am spending $30,000 on one child, where that $30,000 could be spent on academic program intervention. It could even be spent on students with academic needs or emotional support needs. That is where the dilemma comes.’

After the child’s diagnosed, the school fills in a form for funding that ‘doesn’t really take into consideration the child’.

‘If they have a physical disability, so if they are in a wheelchair … they attract more funding. If there is a safety issue, they also attract more funding … Students that [have] quite severe autism or have a cognitive and emotional disability, that is where the funding is lacking because it is not visible.’

Callista said she also struggles to find staff to teach them.

‘There is a huge shortage of teachers with a background of disabilities or even wanting to go into that field.’

Refugee families in her town also struggle for resources outside school.

‘I have got colleagues that are navigating that for their child and they are educated people and they are finding it challenging. For a lot of our community, literacy is a big issue, so limited or illiterate parents are navigating the field of that.’

For example, Callista said the father of one of her students with disability is illiterate.

‘For him, the whole NDIS early intervention is just so overwhelming that unfortunately he has just closed the door on it. His eldest child is not able to get that service provision. What his pathway in life will be will perhaps be hindered by that.’