Blaze the Trail campaign update: CPActive won’t stop working towards inclusive pathways from education to employment
Back in April, I spoke at the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into young people with disability in education settings. After four months, the Inquiry responded to the voices of lived experience and experts on inclusive education and handed down its findings in a 222-page report. If you are interested in reading our submission, see it here.
I was really pleased to see there were recommendations that directly align with the asks of our Blaze the Trail Campaign!
Some of the recommendations from the report include:
Recommendation 13 – That the NSW Government continue to improve the proportion of teachers and support staff with disability in the school sector and consider how more students with disability can be supported and encouraged to gain a teaching degree.
Recommendation 20 That the NSW Government create clear and direct guidelines for schools to enable compliance with statutory obligations to provide reasonable adjustments for students with disability.
Recommendation 21: That the NSW Government consider a streamlined process, including a line of communication between the relevant agencies, for granting disability provisions for the Higher School Certificate. The process should incorporate recognition of pre-existing conditions and adjustments already provided in the classroom.
This is progress for our campaign and for the students with disability – and we couldn’t have done it without our Champions and the support of our CPActive community!
It’s not only about what we’ve done to get to this point, but about everything our community and our Blaze the Trail Campaign has accomplished, because it is a testament to our commitment to make meaningful change at all levels of government, and I couldn’t be prouder.
We successfully gained NSW Labor opposition support to commit to our three asks.
Back in in the lead-up to the 2023 NSW state election, NSW Labor committed to making change on three fronts:
- Clear, consistent and enforceable guidelines for support around assessments at school and university for students living with disability.
- Pathways for people living with disability to enter the teaching workforce.
- State-wide initiative supporting the development of pathways for students living with disability into large business, government departments and community organisations.
When they successfully formed the new NSW Government in 2023, they undertook work on these asks, and since then, myself and fellow CPActive Champions have met with some key political figures and stakeholders to progress the work.
Our Champions have now met with Minister for Disability Inclusion Kate Washington three times, as well as the Deputy Premier and Minister of Education Prue Car, and the Public Service Commissioner Kathrina Lo, to discuss our priorities and make a plan towards implementing our campaign asks.
Our Champions have also met with CEO Paul Martin and representatives from the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) and the NSW Public Service and the Teachers Federation.
We continue to work with the NSW Government to monitor the progress of our work and how they are implementing changes based on our key asks.
We have collaborated with NSW Public Service on supporting inclusive pathways to careers in the public sector.
We co-hosted an online information session with the NSW Public Service to showcase the 2025 Government Graduate program. It was a great opportunity for young grads to learn about what career opportunities are available and what inclusive hiring practices looks like.
Unfair exam provisions for students with disability has made it to the media recently, with a Western Sydney student, Layla, being denied the technology she needs to complete her HSC. You can watch her story on ‘A Current Affair’ here.
Layla’s story is just one of many, so we need you to add your signature to our petition, calling for clear, consistent and enforceable guidelines for support around assessments at schools for students living with disability.
Sign our petition now and share it with your networks!
Link here: https://cpactive.org.au/clocks-ticking/
Although the Inquiry recommendations and the work we have done with NSW Government is moving in the right direction, there is much more work to be done.
We look forward to continuing to progress our asks, to advocate for meaningful change, and make Australia the most inclusive it’s ever been.
Thank you for your continued support!
Yours in Action,
Sophie Geeves
Steering Committee Member
Chair, Blaze the Trail Working Group