17 MayELAA attends Inclusion Support Program Review consultation
The Australian Department of Education has commissioned Deloitte Access Economics to review the Inclusion Support Program (ISP). ELAA met with Deloitte to discuss the Review terms of reference, after consulting with members about what gaps exist in the current program model.
During our meeting with Deloitte, ELAA advocated for:
- removing the terminology “with their typically developing peers” from the program’s objectives (it was also noted that the program objectives should also include ‘quality inclusive practices’)
- further focus on trauma informed care, ensuring there are links to external social and health services, professional development and clinical supervision for Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) staff
- reducing the burden of administration processes, noting that Inclusion Development Fund Manager (IDFM) and other applications are lengthy processes that usually require Inclusion Professionals to assist with the complexities of the system
- growing the Specialist Equipment Library
- centralising links to resources and information for services to access with ease
- streamlining of state-based inclusion support with the federal program
- inclusion of Strategic Inclusion Plan(s) SIPs into the National Quality Framework quality areas to make inclusion for children a standard practice
- brokerage of funding for services to link to specialist support programs within their communities, rather than expecting teachers and educators to be everything to everyone
- funding to cover educators employed, as there has been no Consumer Price Index (CPI) since 2016.
Deloitte will release a report of their findings by mid-2023. To read more about the review please CLICK HERE.
