Disability Inclusion Profile Victoria: What It Is and How It Works

Your child's school has told you a "DIP meeting" is being scheduled. Nobody has properly explained what that means, what happens in the room, or what difference it actually makes to your child's day. That confusion is common — and expensive if you walk into the meeting without understanding the process.

The Disability Inclusion Profile (DIP) is the mechanism that determines whether your child receives Tier 3 individual funding under Victoria's Disability Inclusion model. Getting it right depends heavily on what you say, how you frame your child's needs, and whether you know what the assessor is looking for.

What the Disability Inclusion Model Actually Is

Victoria replaced its old Program for Students with Disabilities (PSD) with the Disability Inclusion (DI) model, completing its statewide rollout in Term 1, 2026. The old PSD funded only seven specific diagnostic categories — autism, intellectual disability, physical disability, visual impairment, hearing impairment, severe language difficulties, and severe behaviour disorder. That left most students without individualised funding, even when their needs were just as significant.

The DI model shifts the question from "what diagnosis does this child have?" to "what level of educational adjustment does this child currently need?" That sounds better in theory. In practice, it means the funding decision rests almost entirely on how well the DIP meeting documents your child's functional reality.

The model has three tiers:

• Tier 1 — Universal funding in the Student Resource Package given to all schools
• Tier 2 — Additional school-level funding based on enrolment characteristics and the school's inclusion capacity
• Tier 3 — Individual student-level funding, determined through the Disability Inclusion Profile process

Tier 3 is what most families are trying to access when they hear the word "DIP."

What Happens in a DIP Meeting

The DIP meeting is a structured assessment led by an independent, trained Disability Inclusion Facilitator — a DET-appointed person who is not a staff member at your child's school. This independence matters: the facilitator is supposed to guide a fair, evidence-based process.

The SSG (Student Support Group) — which includes you, the principal or their nominee, and relevant teachers — works through six domains covering 31 specific school-related activities:

1. Learning and Applying Knowledge
2. General Tasks and Demands
3. Communication
4. Self-Care
5. Interpersonal Interactions and Relationships
6. Mobility

For each activity, the group reaches consensus on the level of adjustment your child currently needs: Quality Differentiated Teaching Practice (QDTP), Supplementary, Substantial, or Extensive.

To receive Tier 3 funding under the Standard Confirmation pathway, the profile must generally show that your child requires Substantial or Extensive adjustments across at least eight of the 31 activities, or Extensive adjustments in at least three. There is also an Enhanced Moderation pathway for students whose needs are complex but harder to categorise.

The Role of the Disability Inclusion Facilitator

The facilitator runs the meeting, not the principal. They are trained to translate your child's lived experience into the DET's adjustment categories. Their job is to draw out information from everyone in the room — including you.

This is where most parents lose ground: they sit quietly, deferring to teachers who describe what they can currently manage in a 30-student classroom. The facilitator asks what adjustments are being provided or needed, and that is the opening for you to speak directly about your child's daily challenges, not just what the school is currently doing.

You have the right to bring an advocate or support person to this meeting. That person can help you articulate your child's needs without the meeting slipping into a summary of existing provisions.

What You Need to Bring

The DET provides a Parent Voice Tool — a structured document where you describe your child's aspirations, strengths, challenges, and the support they rely on at home and in the community. Completing this thoroughly before the meeting is not optional. It is your primary mechanism for getting your child's reality on the record.

Bring any existing allied health reports, previous IEPs, SSG minutes, and any written communications where the school has acknowledged your child's needs. The facilitator should see the full picture, not just what the school's current records reflect.

Without strong documentation, the profile will default to what teachers describe they're already providing — which may be far less than what your child actually needs.

What Happens After the Profile

Once the profile is complete, the DIP report is submitted to DET. The school is notified of the funding outcome. If your child meets the Tier 3 threshold, the school receives individual funding allocated based on the assessed level of need.

If the outcome does not reflect your child's actual needs, the principal has 15 school days to lodge an appeal — on grounds of procedural error or new and substantial information that was available but not considered. You cannot appeal directly, but you can push the principal to do so and supply the supporting documentation.

The Victoria Disability Advocacy Playbook at /au/victoria/advocacy/ includes a step-by-step DIP preparation matrix and the specific language frameworks for translating your child's daily reality into the "Substantial" and "Extensive" adjustment categories that trigger Tier 3 funding.

The Most Common Mistake in DIP Meetings

Parents describe what their child can do on a good day. The DIP process is designed to capture what adjustments are needed for your child to participate in education on the same basis as peers — including on bad days, in unfamiliar environments, and without individual adult support always present.

"My child can complete the task when the teacher sits beside her" is not the same as "my child can participate independently." That distinction matters enormously to the funding outcome.

Know the six domains. Complete the Parent Voice Tool in full. Bring documentation. And if your child's needs are complex, consider whether an experienced advocate should be in the room with you.

The DIP meeting is not a passive information-sharing session. It is the moment that determines how much individual support your child receives for the year ahead.

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