Reasonable Adjustments Checklist: What to Do When a Queensland School Won't Follow the Plan

You've been through the meetings. You've provided the reports. Adjustments were agreed, possibly even written into a support plan. And then nothing changes in the classroom. Your child still doesn't have access to a visual schedule, the aide isn't redirected when your child starts to dysregulate, the extended time never materialises during assessments.

Getting a Queensland state school to agree to adjustments is one challenge. Getting those adjustments consistently implemented is often a separate and harder one.

This is the checklist for the second problem.

Why Implementation Fails (and Why It's Still the School's Problem)

Classroom-level implementation failures have several common causes. The agreement was reached with the HOSES or Guidance Officer, but wasn't communicated to every teacher delivering instruction. A new teacher took over the class and wasn't briefed. The aide's hours were reallocated to another student for a period and never reverted. The adjustment was listed in the support plan but no one monitored whether it was actually happening.

None of these are your responsibility to manage. Under the Disability Standards for Education 2005 (Cth), the obligation to provide reasonable adjustments sits with the educational institution — the school — not with any individual teacher and not with the parent. When the Principal signs off on a support plan, they are committing the school to its implementation.

The practical reality is that enforcement requires documentation, escalation, and — if necessary — formal complaint. Here is how to build the case.

Step 1: Establish What Was Agreed in Writing

Before anything else, confirm what was formally agreed. If your support meeting minutes aren't in writing, send a follow-up email today.

If no support plan or written agreement exists, this is the foundation problem. A verbal agreement from a meeting six months ago is unenforceable. Your first move is to send an email to the HOSES or Principal summarising your understanding of what adjustments were agreed and asking for written confirmation.

Keep this email factual and non-confrontational: "Following our meeting on [date], I understood that the following adjustments were agreed for [child's name]: [list them]. Could you please confirm this is correct and let me know where these are documented in [child's name]'s current support plan?"

Once you have written confirmation — or a written denial — you have a record to build from.

Step 2: Document Specific Failures

Vague statements ("the adjustments aren't working") don't drive change. Specific, dated incidents do.

Keep a running log. For each failure, record: date and time, what the agreed adjustment was, what actually happened, any staff involved, and how it affected your child's participation. For example: "16 April — Science. Extended time agreed in support plan; assessment returned at standard time. Teacher confirmed she was unaware of the plan."

This log is evidence. It demonstrates a pattern rather than a one-off incident and grounds your formal complaint in verifiable facts rather than general frustration.

The Reasonable Adjustments Checklist

Use this as a reference framework when assessing whether the school is meeting its obligations.

Adjustments documented in a current, signed support plan or ICP

• Yes / No — if no, this is your first problem to resolve

Plan shared with all relevant teachers

• Yes / No — ask the HOSES to confirm in writing which staff have received the plan

Allied health or medical recommendations implemented as specified

• OT recommendations (sensory diet, movement breaks, seating): Yes / No
• Speech pathology recommendations (visual supports, modified language): Yes / No
• Paediatric or psychological recommendations (extended time, rest breaks, separate room): Yes / No

Assessment adjustments in place

• Extra time enforced consistently across all assessment events: Yes / No
• Separate room or reduced-distraction environment provided: Yes / No
• Use of assistive technology (speech-to-text, calculator, reader): Yes / No
• Teacher aide or scribe available as agreed: Yes / No

Curriculum access adjustments in place

• ICP goals reflected in classroom instruction across all subjects: Yes / No
• Alternative formats for tasks provided where specified: Yes / No
• Modified written output requirements applied: Yes / No

Behaviour and wellbeing adjustments in place

• Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) Tier 3 support plan implemented: Yes / No
• Designated safe space or withdrawal option available: Yes / No
• Scheduled check-ins with Guidance Officer or wellbeing professional: Yes / No
• Pre-warning of schedule changes provided to student: Yes / No

Review cycle maintained

• ICP reviewed each semester: Yes / No
• Parent invited to all reviews: Yes / No
• Progress data against ICP goals tracked and shared: Yes / No

Any "No" answer represents either a documentation failure or an implementation failure. Both require written follow-up.

Step 3: Raise the Failure Formally with the Principal

After documenting two or more specific failures, write to the Principal — not the classroom teacher, not the HOSES. The Principal is accountable for the school's DSE compliance.

The letter should:

1. Identify the adjustment(s) that were agreed (reference the date and the support plan)
2. State specifically that the adjustment is not being implemented (with dated examples from your log)
3. Note that this constitutes a failure to provide reasonable adjustments as required under the Disability Standards for Education 2005 (Cth)
4. Request written confirmation of how the school will ensure compliance going forward, and by when

Give the school a clear timeline to respond — 10 to 15 business days is reasonable.

This letter doesn't need to be aggressive. Its purpose is a formal record that you raised the matter with the Principal in writing, and what response you received or did not. That record becomes the basis for the next step.

Step 4: Request an Internal Review Through the Regional Office

If the Principal fails to respond adequately, or if the failures continue after a written commitment to change, you move to Step 2 of the Queensland Department of Education's Customer Complaints Management Framework.

Submit a formal complaint to the Regional Office — the specific office depends on where your school is located (North Coast Region, Metro South, Metro North, etc.). The complaint requests an internal review of how the school has handled your concern.

You have 20 days from the date of the school's Step 1 response to request this internal review. If you missed this window because the school failed to respond, document that failure and include it in your Regional Office submission.

The regional officer assesses whether the school followed departmental policy and whether the Principal's response was fair and reasonable. This is not a rubber stamp — regional officers do find against schools when the documentation is clear.

Step 5: External Escalation

If internal processes fail, escalation options are: the Queensland Ombudsman (unreasonable or unfair administrative conduct); the Queensland Human Rights Commission under the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 (Qld); or the Australian Human Rights Commission alleging breach of the DDA 1992 or DSE 2005, with the option to escalate to the Federal Circuit Court if conciliation fails. Legal Aid Queensland and community legal centres can advise on viability without the cost of private legal representation.

The One Thing That Changes Everything

Schools are institutions. They respond to paper trails. Every verbal conversation that isn't followed up in writing is an opportunity for the school to say "that's not what we agreed" or "we weren't made aware of that concern."

The parents who get consistent, enforced adjustments for their children are almost always the parents who document everything, send follow-up emails after every meeting, and treat their paper trail as their most important advocacy asset.

You don't need to be aggressive or litigious to be effective. You need to be methodical. Write it down. Send the email. Keep the records.

The Queensland Disability Support Blueprint includes the complete reasonable adjustments enforcement process for Queensland, email scripts for each escalation step, and a printable monitoring log for documenting implementation failures.

See more Australia guides →