Disability Standards for Education 2005: What NSW Schools Must Provide

When a NSW school tells you that an adjustment "isn't possible," the Disability Standards for Education 2005 (DSE 2005) is the document that says otherwise. It's not a policy preference or a guideline — it's enforceable federal law that flows from the Disability Discrimination Act 1992. Every NSW public and independent school must comply with it.

Understanding how the DSE 2005 works — and how to cite it — is the difference between a request the school can ignore and a requirement it cannot.

What "On the Same Basis" Actually Means

The DSE 2005's cornerstone obligation is that students with disability must be able to access and participate in education "on the same basis" as students without disability. This is frequently misunderstood.

It doesn't mean treating every student identically. It means providing adjustments so that the student with a disability has comparable choices and opportunities to their non-disabled peers. A student who cannot hold a pen without occupational discomfort must receive an alternative means of written expression — not because the school is being generous, but because without it, they cannot demonstrate knowledge on the same basis as everyone else.

This framing is critical. It shifts the conversation from "what can we offer?" to "what does this student need to participate equitably?"

The Six Standards and What Each Covers

The DSE 2005 is structured around six standards. Each maps to a specific area of school life where discrimination can occur and where adjustments are required.

Standard 1 — Enrolment (Part 4)

Schools must take reasonable steps to ensure the enrolment process itself is accessible. A school cannot refuse enrolment on the basis of a student's disability, or on the anticipated cost of adjustments, unless it can prove "unjustifiable hardship" — a legal threshold that is exceptionally high for a state-funded institution. Suggesting a child would be "better suited" to a special school without trialling mainstream adjustments may breach Standard 1.

Standard 2 — Participation (Part 5)

Schools must provide reasonable adjustments to ensure students with disability can access all courses, programs, and activities. Critically, this explicitly includes extracurricular activities — excursions, sports carnivals, school camps, and performances. Excluding a student from a camp because the school doesn't want to hire additional SLSO support rarely meets the unjustifiable hardship test.

Standard 3 — Curriculum Development, Accreditation, and Delivery (Part 6)

Teaching strategies, study materials, and assessment procedures must be adapted to meet the specific learning needs of the student. This covers assistive technology, modified texts, audio formats for assessments, graphic organizers, and alternative writing formats. Schools are not required to seek NESA approval for internal classroom adjustments — that authority rests entirely with the school.

Standard 4 — Student Support Services (Part 7)

Students with disability must have equitable access to generalized support services (such as school counselling) and specialized support services necessary for their educational participation. A school counsellor's wait list doesn't remove this obligation — it creates a duty to find alternative pathways or escalate the request.

Standard 5 — Elimination of Harassment and Victimisation (Part 8)

Schools have a positive obligation to develop and implement strategies to prevent the harassment and victimisation of students with disability. This is proactive, not reactive. Waiting for a bullying incident to occur before acting is not sufficient.

Standard 6 — Unjustifiable Hardship

This is the safety valve that schools sometimes invoke to justify non-compliance. The DSE 2005 allows education providers to decline an adjustment if providing it would impose an unjustifiable hardship. However, the burden of proving this sits firmly with the school. Factors include the nature of the benefit to the student, the cost of the adjustment, the school's financial resources, and the availability of subsidies or grants. For mainstream classroom adjustments like extra time, sensory modifications, or assistive technology, unjustifiable hardship is almost never successfully argued.

What Counts as a "Reasonable Adjustment"?

The DSE 2005 defines a reasonable adjustment as a measure or action taken to assist and support a student with disability to participate in education on the same basis as students without disability, provided the adjustment does not impose unjustifiable hardship.

Reasonable adjustments in NSW schools commonly include:

• Extra time for tasks and assessments
• Preferential seating (near the teacher, away from sensory stimuli, near the door for bathroom access)
• Chunked or simplified instructions
• Text-to-speech or speech-to-text software
• Sensory break access without penalty
• Modified behaviour expectations that account for disability-driven conduct
• SLSO support for specific tasks, transitions, or unstructured time
• Access to a quiet withdrawal space
• Adjusted homework load for students with energy-limiting conditions

Adjustments must be developed in consultation with the student and their parents. That consultation right is itself protected under the DSE.

How to Cite DSE 2005 in School Correspondence

Citing specific standards in writing is what turns an email into a document with legal weight. Here's the structure to use:

"Under Part 5 of the Disability Standards for Education 2005 (Cth), [Child's name] is entitled to reasonable adjustments to access all programs and activities at school on the same basis as students without disability. We formally request the following adjustments be documented in the ILP: [specific adjustments]. Please confirm these will be in place by [date]."

If adjustments are agreed verbally in a meeting, follow up within 24 hours with a written summary. An unchallenged summary becomes a contemporaneous record — valuable if you later need to demonstrate what was agreed and what was ignored.

DSE 2005 vs. School-Based Adjustments vs. NESA Provisions

A common point of confusion for NSW parents: there are three separate levels at which adjustments operate, and they have different approving bodies.

Daily classroom adjustments are governed entirely by the DSE 2005 and implemented at the school level. Teachers do not need NESA approval to give a student extra time on a class task, provide modified text, or allow speech-to-text software on a school assessment.

NAPLAN adjustments split into two categories: adjustments requiring NESA approval (braille, large print, electronic tests, scribes) and adjustments a school principal can approve internally (extra time, rest breaks, support person). The guiding rule is that an adjustment must not compromise the specific skill being assessed — a support person cannot read the text aloud in a reading comprehension test.

HSC exam provisions require NESA approval and must be applied for by the school through Schools Online by the end of Term 1 of the HSC year. Provisions are granted based on functional evidence of how the disability impacts exam performance — not simply on the existence of a diagnosis. If your child has received classroom adjustments consistently, document those adjustments throughout high school so there's a clear trail supporting the HSC provisions application.

If adjustments are consistently implemented at the classroom level, the evidence base for NAPLAN and HSC provisions is already being built. That's why documenting daily adjustments in the ILP matters beyond the immediate classroom benefit.

The NSW Disability Advocacy Playbook includes templates for requesting classroom adjustments under DSE Parts 5 and 6, a formal ILP non-compliance letter, and a request letter for NAPLAN and HSC provisions — all citing the correct legal standards for NSW schools.

See more Australia homeschool guides →