Inclusive education reforms
- Disability inclusion reform is on track. More than 1,240 Victorian Government schools have moved to the new funding and support model. This was a staged roll-out with state-wide implementation from 2025. At the end of 2024, close to 15,000 Disability Inclusion Profile meetings were complete.
- Early evaluation findings show that the Profile process is helping create a better understanding of the needs of students with disability and leading to changes in practice in schools.
- In 2024, 644 school staff completed the 8-week Supporting Students with Autism blended learning course. One hundred and twelve school staff completed the (new) 5-week Supporting Students with Complex Communication Needs blended learning course.
The Autism education strategy
The Autism Education Strategy Advisory Group guides how the Autism education strategy works. The group gives advice on how the strategy can help autistic students.
The group met 4 times in 2024. It provided input and advice to us on many topics, including:
- meaningful engagement with parents and families
- promoting the strategy and its initiatives to schools
- Disability Inclusion evaluation
- supporting autistic students’ mental health.
The group will continue to meet in 2025 to guide this work. The group includes school leaders and regional staff, autism researchers and advocates. It also has representatives from autistic-led organisations and people with lived experience.
Mental health practitioners initiative
- In 2024, an external provider presented professional learning sessions to mental health practitioners. The sessions were on a range of specific topics aimed at supporting their practice. The sessions on autism and neurodivergence had the most participants.
- The sessions on autism and neurodivergence focussed on practices that help autistic young people. The session topics included:
- understanding autism
- adapting interventions for neurodivergent young people
- school refusal.
Autistic-led mentoring programs
The Department of Education is promoting the development of disability-friendly schools. It is doing this through a $5.7 million partnership with the I CAN Network (I CAN), an autistic-led organisation. This partnership will expand I CAN’s mentoring programs in Victoria.
The partnership with I CAN employs two disability inclusion ambassadors. They provide input to inform government policy and programs from recent student lived-experience perspectives. They also share their lived experiences with non-autistic school stakeholders. The disability inclusion ambassadors completed 50 speaking and meeting engagements in 2024.
- I CAN delivered autistic-led mentoring programs in 157 schools in 2024. Students from 266 other schools were able to access the I CAN online mentoring program.
- I CAN also provided professional learning to upskill school staff. The training included lived-experience perspectives to build understanding of the needs of autistic students. By the end of 2024, 25 of 30 school engagements due for delivery by June 2025 were completed.
Skills and training
- The 2023–24 State Budget provided $36 million for the Gordon’s Centre for Excellence for Disability Inclusion. The centre will create the framework for disability inclusion across the TAFE network. It will lead the way in innovative practices, research and education.
Employment and economic participation
- The Victorian Public Sector Commission worked with the Autism Success Network and La Trobe University to create the Neurodiversity employment toolkit. The toolkit helps recruit and support neurodivergent employees in Victoria’s public sector.
- The Victorian Public Service Enablers Network is growing. It now has over 1,250 members at 31 May 2025. Enablers subgroups include:
- the ADHD Growth Network with more than 700 members
- the Autism Success Network with more than 400 members.
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