Call for reform as more than half of all suspended or expelled students have disability
More than half of Queensland students suspended or expelled from schools have a disability, triggering calls for urgent action.
More than half of Queensland students suspended or expelled from schools have a disability, shock new data has revealed, with the “systemic failure” leading to renewed calls for the state government to enforce the actions as a last resort.
Government figures have revealed that between term three in 2024 and term two in 2025, there were more than 71,403 school suspensions or expulsions, 42,968 of which involved a student with a disability.
While a majority of the incidents resulted in short term suspensions – between one and 10 days – hundreds of students with disabilities saw suspensions spanning weeks or longer.
Queensland Advocacy for Inclusion (QAI) Chief Executive Matilda Alexander said the proportion of students with a disability facing suspensions had risen from 49 per cent in 2023 to 64 per cent now.
“The data reveals a systemic failure in disciplinary approaches for disabled students,” she said.
“When you look at numbers showing more than half of all suspensions involve disabled students, you’re not just looking at statistics – you’re looking at thousands of Queensland children who are being told, day after day, that they don’t belong in their own classrooms.
“Rather than creating inclusive environments where all students can thrive, our education system has been set up without enough supports and consideration for disabled students and their families – and the results speak for themselves.”
Enforcing suspension as a last resort was recommended in the Disability Royal Commission and the QAI recently met with government representatives to discuss implementing it.
In the first half of the 2025 school year 36,063 students faced some type of suspension or expulsion, and 21,960 of these were students with a disability. While most were suspensions of up to 11 days, 578 saw suspensions of up to 20 days, and 235 were expelled.
In 2022 almost half of all students given a short suspension had a disability and this rose to more than 16,000 in 2023.
This is in stark contrast to more than 10,000 suspensions each in terms three and four of 2024 involving a student with a disability.
Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Commissioner Natalie Lewis, who advocates for children with disabilities, said numbers are continuing to rise.
“If the trend included in recent data released by government continues unabated, there will be further increase this year,” Ms Lewis said.
“The issues and evidence are clear, and we know the reforms that are necessary. When we talk about solutions, there must be a broader range of educative disciplinary options available.”
Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek said principals had made it clear they did not want suspensions and expulsions relaxed.
“The Crisafulli government backs principals to make decisions as they know what’s best in their local school community,” he said.
Mr Langbroek will continue to implement a $45m plan to tackle classroom behaviour.
Originally published as Call for reform as more than half of all suspended or expelled students have disability
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