Vulnerable at top of list to be suspended
QUEENSLAND’S most vulnerable children are up to six times more likely to be suspended at state schools than other children, as advocates argue booting children from school only helps create criminals.
The rate for Indigenous children and children with a disability is three times higher than the general population and six times higher for children in care, according to Education Queensland figures released under Right to Information laws.
A quarter of children suspended multiple times were Indigenous, despite accounting for just 10 per cent of enrolments, and nearly half of all suspensions went to children with a registered disability.
Queensland’s Children’s Commissioner, Human Rights Commissioner and others want a review of the overuse of disciplinary absences and their impact.
Children’s Commissioner Natalie Lewis said given the disproportionately of Indigenous suspensions, “none of us should be surprised” at their over-representation in the youth justice system.
If authorities weren’t going to assess and support children early, “then we should be unsurprised about the types of behaviours that we’re going to see in a classroom”, Ms Lewis said.
An Education Queensland spokesman said suspension policies were reviewed in 2019 and another was due soon.
“There are many longstanding social factors that may contribute to over-representation of some student cohorts in suspension and exclusion data, and the department is taking a careful approach to this,” he said.