Reasonable Adjustments at NSW Schools: What the Law Requires

A school that tells you "we can't do that for your child" is making a claim that deserves scrutiny. Under the Disability Standards for Education 2005, the obligation to provide reasonable adjustments is not optional — it's a legal requirement that applies to every school in Australia, government and non-government alike.

Understanding precisely what "reasonable adjustments" means, and what the law says schools cannot hide behind when refusing them, gives you the foundation for every advocacy conversation.

What Is a Reasonable Adjustment?

A reasonable adjustment is any modification that enables a student with a disability to access education on the same basis as a student without a disability. That phrase — "same basis" — is the legal standard. It doesn't mean identical treatment; it means equitable opportunity to participate and demonstrate learning.

Adjustments can modify the environment, the way content is delivered, the way learning is assessed, or the physical resources available to the student. They must be developed collaboratively — the school has an obligation to consult with the student and their family before implementing adjustments.

Under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, failure to provide reasonable adjustments is itself a form of discrimination — specifically, direct discrimination. A school doesn't need to explicitly state "we won't help your child because of their disability"; failing to act on a known need has the same legal effect.

What Reasonable Adjustments Actually Look Like

The type of adjustment depends on the student's functional needs, not just their diagnosis label. Adjustments should be matched to how the disability actually affects participation in the classroom.

Cognitive and learning adjustments:

• Reduced volume of content without reducing the level of the learning outcome
• Visual supports, illustrated texts, or digital formats
• Chunked, scaffolded worksheets
• Additional processing time for tasks and assessments
• Explicit peer modelling and structured scaffolding
• Use of assistive technology (speech-to-text, text-to-speech software)

Social and emotional adjustments:

• Structured behaviour support plans developed with input from the family
• Visual daily schedules to reduce transition anxiety
• Designated sensory break spaces
• Flexible timetabling to accommodate fatigue or medication timing
• Social skills group facilitation

Physical adjustments:

• Ramp access and accessible facilities
• Modified physical education activities
• Ergonomic tools (slope boards, specialised grips)
• Mechanical supports where required

Sensory adjustments:

• Sound field amplification systems for hearing impairment
• Braille, enlarged font, or high-contrast materials
• Noise reduction accommodations
• Lighting adjustments

Assessment adjustments:

• Extra time on assessments and tests
• Alternative formats for demonstrating knowledge (oral response, multimedia)
• Quiet, separate exam rooms
• Use of a scribe or reader

For school-based assessments, these adjustments can be incorporated into the ILP. For NAPLAN and the HSC, separate provisions processes apply — but the classroom-level adjustments in the ILP are the foundation that supports those applications.

The "Unjustifiable Hardship" Limit

Schools do have one legal defence: they can refuse an adjustment if it would impose "unjustifiable hardship" on the institution. This sounds like a broad escape hatch. It's not.

The legal test for unjustifiable hardship requires the school to weigh:

• The financial and operational burden of the adjustment
• Against the educational detriment the student suffers without it

Landmark cases (including Finney v Hills Grammar School) have established that this is an exceptionally high threshold to meet. A school cannot refuse an adjustment simply by citing:

• "Insufficient budget" as a general statement
• The inconvenience to staff
• The fact that other students might need similar adjustments

To successfully claim unjustifiable hardship, a school would need to demonstrate that the adjustment would fundamentally destabilise its core operations or create undue risk. This is rarely achievable for the kinds of adjustments most students need.

Critically: funding constraints do not negate the obligation. A school that has not received IFS funding is not excused from providing reasonable adjustments. If the school needs more resources to deliver adjustments, the appropriate response is to apply for Integration Funding Support — not to deny the student accommodations they're entitled to.

What to Do When a School Refuses

When a school declines to make an adjustment, your first step is to ask for the refusal in writing. This is important. Schools that are comfortable verbally dismissing requests often become more careful when asked to put their position on paper. Request that the school document:

• The specific adjustment requested
• The specific reasons for refusal
• Whether the school is claiming unjustifiable hardship, and if so, the evidence supporting that claim

If the school won't provide this in writing, document the conversation yourself and send a follow-up email summarising what was said.

The refusal to implement a reasonable adjustment is a potential breach of the Disability Standards for Education 2005. This means the school may be subject to a complaint through Anti-Discrimination NSW or the Australian Human Rights Commission. Schools that understand this legal exposure are generally more responsive to structured, written requests that cite specific legislative obligations.

ADHD, ASD, and "Invisible" Disabilities

A common pattern reported by NSW families is that schools are more willing to provide adjustments for obvious physical disabilities than for cognitive, social-emotional, or "invisible" neurodevelopmental conditions like ADHD, ASD, dyslexia, or anxiety.

This is legally untenable. The Disability Standards for Education cover all four NCCD disability categories — cognitive, social-emotional, physical, and sensory. In 2024, nationally, 53.9% of students with disability were classified under cognitive disability, and 35.0% under social-emotional disability. These are the most common categories in Australian classrooms, and they carry the same adjustment obligations as physical disabilities.

For ADHD specifically, reasonable adjustments typically include:

• Preferential seating (away from high-stimulation areas)
• Chunked task instructions
• Movement breaks built into the school day
• Extended time on assessments
• Reduced homework load or modified submission formats
• Access to fidget tools or alternative seating

If a school is telling you that ADHD is "not a disability" for the purposes of adjustments, or that adjustments are only for students with formal IEPs, that's incorrect. The obligation arises from the student's functional need, not the existence of any particular document.

The New South Wales Disability Support Blueprint provides a framework for requesting and documenting adjustments, including specific language drawn from the Disability Standards for Education that changes the dynamic of these conversations.

Connecting Adjustments to the ILP

Reasonable adjustments don't exist in isolation — they should be formally recorded in the student's Individual Learning Plan (ILP). The ILP creates a written record of what the school has committed to provide. Without that record, it becomes very difficult to hold the school accountable when adjustments aren't implemented.

Push for every agreed adjustment to be named specifically in the ILP, with a responsible staff member and a review date attached. Vague ILP language like "teacher will provide support as needed" is not an enforceable commitment. Specific language like "student will receive 15 minutes of preferential 1:1 instruction for literacy three times per week with [name], to be reviewed at the end of each term" is.

The adjustment obligation is continuous and must be reviewed as the student's needs change. If the current adjustments are not working, that's grounds for an immediate ILP review, not a reason to conclude the student needs a different educational pathway.

See more Australia guides →