When Your Child's Behaviour Is Disability-Related: SA Schools' Legal Obligations

In the United States, when a student with a disability faces suspension of more than ten consecutive school days, the school must hold a "manifestation determination" — a formal meeting to decide whether the behaviour in question was caused by, or substantially related to, the student's disability. If it was, the school generally cannot proceed with the disciplinary removal.

South Australia has no equivalent formal process with that name. But the underlying principle — that a school cannot simply punish a student for behaviour that is a direct expression of their disability — is embedded in SA law. Understanding how that protection works in practice is essential for any parent whose child is facing repeated suspensions or exclusion.

The SA Legal Framework for Disability-Related Behaviour

The primary legal protection is the Disability Standards for Education 2005 (DSE 2005), which requires schools to make reasonable adjustments to enable a student with disability to participate in education on the same basis as students without disability. Disciplinary exclusion is explicitly not a reasonable adjustment — it removes access to education rather than enabling it.

The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) adds a further layer: it is unlawful to discriminate against a person with a disability in the area of education. Applying punitive discipline to behaviour that is a manifestation of a disability, without first making reasonable adjustments to address the underlying need, can constitute disability discrimination.

Additionally, the Education and Children's Services (Inclusive Education) Amendment Act 2025 (SA), commencing in February 2026, introduced new reporting requirements compelling principals to disclose the number of students with disability who were suspended or excluded, and the steps taken to reduce this. This signals a legislative intention to scrutinise and reduce exclusionary discipline for students with disability.

The SEE Procedures: SA's Discipline Framework

The Department for Education's Suspension, Exclusion, and Expulsion (SEE) procedures were revised in 2024–2025 specifically to give staff better guidance on managing behaviour for students with disability and to reduce reliance on exclusionary responses.

Under the SEE procedures:

• Suspension is a temporary removal from school, used when a student's behaviour poses an immediate risk and other strategies have been exhausted
• Exclusion is a longer-term removal (up to three terms) determined at a regional level
• Expulsion is permanent and requires ministerial involvement

For students with disability, the SEE procedures emphasise that disciplinary actions should only be considered after the school has:

1. Investigated the behaviour's function and contributing factors
2. Made and documented reasonable adjustments in the One Plan
3. Implemented proactive behaviour support strategies

If a student is suspended without a completed Functional Behaviour Assessment and without documented evidence that proactive support has been attempted, that is a significant procedural gap that can be challenged through the Department's formal complaint process.

Practical Steps When Your Child Has Been Suspended

Step 1: Get the suspension in writing. You are entitled to written notification of the reasons for suspension and its duration. If the suspension decision was made verbally and you've not received written documentation, request it immediately.

Step 2: Document the disability connection. Write down — for your own records — how the behaviour relates to your child's disability. A child with autism melting down in response to an unexpected change in routine is not "defiant." A child with ADHD leaving the classroom repeatedly is not "disrespectful." The behaviour is the communication; the question is what it's communicating.

Step 3: Request a One Plan review meeting. Write to the school's inclusion coordinator requesting an urgent One Plan review meeting. Frame it explicitly: "I am requesting an urgent review of [child's name]'s One Plan in light of the recent suspension, to ensure that the current behaviour support strategies reflect [their diagnosis/needs] and comply with the school's obligations under the Disability Standards for Education 2005."

Step 4: Ask whether a Functional Behaviour Assessment has been completed. If not, request one in writing. The FBA is the evidence base for any meaningful behaviour support plan.

Step 5: Document what was (and wasn't) in place. Was there a behaviour support plan in the One Plan before the incident? Was it being implemented? If the school's response is "we don't have the resources" or "the SSO wasn't available," that's a resource gap, not a justification for discipline. Document it.

When to Push Back on Exclusion

If your child is facing exclusion — removal for more than a few days, or repeated suspensions — and you believe the behaviour is disability-related, you have escalation options:

Within the school: Request a meeting with the principal. Bring the disability documentation. Use the DSE 2005 explicitly — "I believe the behaviour is a manifestation of [child's diagnosis] and that the school's obligations under the Disability Standards for Education 2005 require reasonable adjustments before exclusionary discipline is applied."

With the Department for Education: Lodge a formal complaint through the Customer Feedback Team. The Department has 35 working days to respond. Explain that the exclusion was applied without a completed FBA and without adequate reasonable adjustments.

With DACSSA: If you're being denied access to the system, DACSSA (Disability Advocacy and Complaints Service of SA) can assist in navigating the formal complaint process and may be able to attend meetings on your behalf.

With the Equal Opportunity Commission of SA: If you believe the school's response constitutes disability discrimination — punishing your child for behaviour they cannot control without first making reasonable adjustments — a formal complaint to the EOC is a legal avenue. This is a formal process that typically involves conciliation before any tribunal.

The "School Can't" Situation

A specific and increasingly recognised situation is what advocates call "school can't" — where a student physically and psychologically cannot attend school, not because they're being defiant, but because the environment has become a source of genuine trauma or overwhelm.

This is most common in autistic students and students with severe anxiety. The school's response is often to treat it as truancy or "school refusal" and threaten attendance-related action. But if the root cause is an unmet disability support need — a sensory environment the child can't tolerate, social dynamics they can't navigate, a classroom that doesn't have the supports they require — the school's legal obligation is to investigate and adjust, not to threaten.

If your child is in this situation, a medical certificate from your GP or paediatrician documenting the connection to disability is the first line of defence. A letter requesting reasonable adjustments to enable return to school, framed under the DSE 2005, is the next step.

The South Australia Disability Support Blueprint includes templates for challenging suspension decisions, requesting FBAs, and invoking DSE 2005 rights in formal correspondence — so you're not starting from scratch in a crisis moment.

The Bottom Line

SA doesn't use the US "manifestation determination" process, but it has equivalent legal protections through the DSE 2005 and the DDA. Schools cannot use exclusionary discipline as a substitute for reasonable adjustments when behaviour is disability-related. When a suspension happens, the immediate focus should be on documenting the disability connection, requesting an FBA if one doesn't exist, and demanding an urgent One Plan review. If the school escalates toward longer exclusion, formal complaint pathways are available through the Department, DACSSA, and ultimately the Equal Opportunity Commission.

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