source : the age
The Asian Human Rights Commission received a record number of complaints against schools from West Asian communities in 2025, surpassing NSW, despite having fewer students.
Between January 28, 2025 and January 27, 2026, according to records obtained from the advocacy party Square Peg Round Whole following a Freedom of Information demand.
That compares to 13 in the same time body between 2021 and 2022, and merely nine in 2022 to 2023.
Federal bias complaints, according to Square Peg Round Whole creator Symone Wheatley-Hey, are merely filed as a last resort after families have exhausted every avenue at the school and administrative level.
A student who is suffering from academic neglect and damage, a family in crisis, and teachers who are trying to fulfill their legal responsibilities in a system that actively works against them are all at the center of each of these complaints, she said.
Teachers often have internal problems long before a problem is made, but the method fails to address them.
The damage is frequently catastrophic by the time a issue reaches the provincial level because of structural gaps in trust, relationships, stress, and families and staff operating in crisis conditions, while the child at the center suffers the most.
When adjusted for student population, Wheatley-hey claimed that WA was producing” considerably more illness discrimination complaints per pupil.”
When we have the opportunity to lead the way, WA is performing worst in the country, and that should ring out alarm bell, she said.
She urged the state authorities to” action up” and implement all of the suggestions contained in the final report of the School Education Act Review.
The review identified the parliamentary gaps and provided a crucial opportunity to stop the rising flood of exclusion, discrimination, and widespread failure, she said.
The therapy that hasn’t been delivered is known as “implementation.”
Families and teachers need legal legislative clearness to enable inclusion to work in practice, not just in policy, according to the statement from the government.
According to Liam Staltari, a spokeswoman for the opposition’s knowledge, the numbers paint a worrying picture of how the government is still dragging its feet on reform.
He claimed that concerns have risen significantly in the decades since the government first announced the Education Act Review.
Sadly, it [fellen ] to not follow through with the review’s timelines or to establish an independent complaints panel.
Students with disabilities, their families, and their instructors deserve aid and confidence. These numbers serve as yet another sign that action is necessary.
Education Minister Sabine Winton described how they were looking at the Department’s issues, problems, and resolutions procedures as well as how they interacted with separate bodies like the Equal Opportunity Commission, Ombudsman, and Human Rights Commission.
She said that a significant portion of the review will be the conversation with parents, maximum groups, and educators.
” New resources are being developed to help parents and caregivers of students with disabilities navigate problems pathways more efficiently.
The Department, according to Winton, had provided classrooms with up-to-date information on how to handle the registration process for students with disabilities prior to the start of the 2026 class time.
She added,” I have requested that the Department evaluate current training and support for teachers and support staff in order to identify opportunities to improve practice.”
Holly Thompson is a columnist for WAtoday with a focus on education and the surroundings. Use X or email to join.