‘I’m always in sight of an adult so I can’t be tortured’: Shocking levels of bullying towards disabled students in Aussie schools

More than seven in 10 students with a disability are bullied at school – accused of “faking” their condition, mocked, shoved, excluded, harassed. Hear their heartbreaking stories.

In a recent survey, 73 per cent of young people with a disability reported experiencing bullying at school – a higher rate than in the same survey in 2022.

This bullying wasn’t limited to playground and corridor taunting. Students describe being mocked by staff, ostracised by classmates or physically harmed.

In the words of one young person: “Students, teachers and general staff telling me I’m faking my disabilities, telling me to get over it, classmates teasing and physically pushing me, harassment and exclusion. Being mocked for needing to sit down or leave the room.”

Another wrote: “I spend all of my recess and lunchtime with a teacher, if there is not one available, I go to reception or sick bay, basically always in sight of an adult so I can’t be tortured.”

Dr Helen Dickinson from UNSW Canberra outlines what schools must do to cut the levels of bullying experienced by children with disabilities.

Even when adults become involved, justice for these students does not always feel like it: “The teacher caught one of my bullies. The next day I was told I could not go back on the oval because that was where the bully played. So, I was being punished for being bullied.”

And sometimes, trauma compounds as one parent explained: “My son had been bullied to the point that he also now bullies.”

These are not just individual struggles, but a pattern echoed across hundreds of stories shared with Children and Young People with Disability Australia (CYDA).

Despite years of reforms and funding initiatives, this new data shows that bullying, exclusion and institutional harm remain widespread.

Beyond Bullying: systemic exclusion

Exclusion was just as pervasive. Seventy-two per cent of student respondents said they had been left out of school activities, camps or excursions.

One year 12 student recounted: “I had to change kindergartens because I was excluded. I had to change primary schools because both my sister and I were excluded. I had to change secondary schools because I was excluded … I basically have felt excluded from everything except actual presence for my entire time in school (I am in year 12).”

Bullying can often have a flow-on effect, as one parent revealed: “My son had been bullied to the point that he also now bullies.”

Even when students were emotionally overwhelmed, the systems that support them and their families fail. One parent shared: “I needed to take mental health days as they were beginning to self-harm due to them thinking that they were the problem and not as good as their peers.”

Another described the effect of inaccessible support plans: “I missed out on applying for any kind of accommodations for my ATAR exams because I simply did not know they were an option, or that there was a deadline on them.”

Others knew about adjustments, but chose not to use them because of the stigma: “There is a stigma around provisions and for that reason I have never used them for exams.”

Restraint and seclusion

One of the most disturbing findings of the survey is that nearly one in three children with disability had been subjected to restrictive practices at school, including physical restraint, seclusion, or locked isolation.

In some cases, the trauma has created lifelong challenges: “My son was tied to a chair with weighted vests and belts. He was pushed tightly into his desk and an aide sat directly behind him for the purpose of further restricting his ability to move … he is now a young adult and lives with PTSD due to years of abuse in schools.”

Another parent wrote: “I was told by the principal that he was being placed in there ‘in the hope that he would get so bored he would want to go back to class’.”

Dr Catherine Smith from the Centre for Wellbeing Science at the University of Melbourne outlines the horrific bullying suffered by children with disabilities.

When parents were fearful for their children’s safety, a number found little could be done: “Put a complaint into education department, the ombudsman and human rights. Told to lawyer up from human rights. Education department denied doing anything wrong. We had kept all documentation from four years of hell. No one is accountable.”

As a result, some parents and students have given up on trying to go to school, forced to homeschool or use distance education: “We were discarded and discriminated against with no governing body to complain to.”

These are not just failures of individual schools. They represent widespread system-level harm that no amount of positive branding or “inclusive policy” statements can undo unless change is real and resourced.

So, what can we do?

The survey findings call for a clear, comprehensive response. Based on the lived experience of students and families, here’s what needs to change.

Anti-bullying programs must explicitly address disability – generic messaging isn’t enough.

Schools need to understand how ableism operates and be trained to intervene. This training should include people with disability.

Inclusive education must mean full participation, not just being “present”. Students with disability must be included in excursions, school plays, camps, and leadership opportunities, and schools and teachers must be supported and resourced to allow this to happen.

Restrictive practices must end. Physical restraint, seclusion, and isolation rooms have no place in schools. Regulation and reporting must be mandatory and transparent.

Complaints systems must be made safe and accessible. Many families fear retaliation – and rightly so. Others are exhausted by systems that ignore them.

Teachers and leaders need proper training, not just one-off PD days. And students must be central to decisions about their support – their voices matter.

CYDA’s message is clear: these aren’t isolated stories. These are systematic patterns.

As one student said: “Even with all these great things and a great school, school is still hard.”

We need to listen, and act.

Helen Dickinson is the Professor of Public Service Research in the School of Business at UNSW Canberra. Catherine Smith is Senior Lecturer in Wellbeing Science in the Faculty of Education at the University of Melbourne.

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Originally published as ‘I’m always in sight of an adult so I can’t be tortured’: Shocking levels of bullying towards disabled students in Aussie schools