Abstract:
When a child with a disability behaves in a manner which threatens the safety of
other children and staff in the school, school authorities are faced with a dilemma.
The balance between the competing interests of individuals and the school community
is never more clearly seen than in such a situation. The child has a right to
participate equally in the educational process, but he or she shares that right with the
rest of the school community, who are entitled to expect that their environment will
be safe and non-threatening. The judges of the High Court of Australia recently
were required to consider whether the exclusion from school of a special needs child
who behaved in a dangerous manner towards staff and other children was discrimination
on the basis of his disability pursuant to Section (S) 5 of the Disability
Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth). Though divided in their opinions, the majority of
the court upheld the actions of the school authorities. The judgment depended to a
large extent on the construction of the Australian Commonwealth legislative provisions.
However, the decisions of the judges are of universal value for their comprehensive
examination of the issues surrounding a school’s exercise of its powers of
exclusion in relation to the behaviour of a child with special needs.
