Suspension and exclusion rates from schools in most Australian states are skyrocketing. Are we now inclusive or exclusive?

Recent reports from several Australian school systems show that more and more students are being suspended and excluded from schools than in the past. We even see rapidly escalating rates of student suspensions from Prep and Grade 1 classes. Disturbingly, some States have more than double the number of suspensions and exclusions shown in other parts of the country.

In New South Wales (NSW), the rate of student suspensions in public schools is approximately one in 25 students. In 2023, one in 66 primary school students and one in 12 secondary school students were suspended. In 2021, 10% of Aboriginal students were suspended, according to the Conversation; and students identified as receiving adjustments due to a disability in NSW schools accounted for almost 48% of all students suspended in 2023.

In the same year, a new Student behaviour policy was implemented for the first full calendar year, outlining the suspension and expulsion procedures across NSW Government schools. This policy was only in effect between Term 4, 2022 and the end of 2023 (which was replaced by another policy in Term 1, 2024). Enacting this document resulted in a change from suspension types and reasons to suspension grounds and descriptors. Under this policy, a student was able to be given a suspension if their behaviour: (1) caused harm to any person; or (2) created an unacceptable risk to the health and safety, learning or the wellbeing of any person.