Schools enrolling students disengaged from mainstream education are among the fastest-growing statewide, but funding uncertainty is creating concern for principals already juggling soaring waitlists.
The special assistance schools are typically attended by students who have not fit the mainstream system and are different from those which accommodate physical and intellectual disability.
The schools enrolled 4726 in the independent sector last year, up from 502 students a decade earlier, with two dozen providers now operating 54 campuses across the state.
Berry Street School, which has a wait list of more than 100 students at its Narre Warren campus and similar pressures across its three regional schools, is among those feeling the growing pains.
“At Narre Warren, we could double the size of our campus,” said Berry Street School principal Katharine Smith. “We’re growing because there’s a need for it.”
The schools highlight a tension between Victoria’s agenda for inclusive education and a small percentage of students who this doesn’t work for. At Berry Street, only students who have received a referral from mainstream school principals and teachers, or social workers, can attend.
Smith said the school allows students to undertake a reduced Victorian curriculum, transitioning to full-time education when possible.
“I would love to think that we can reach a point where we’re not needed … but there are always going to be those who do fall through the cracks. We are that last opportunity before a young person’s turning 18 and legally becoming an adult, where we can step in and make change.”
In the government sector there are several short-term options to re-engage students in mainstream education, including flexible learning schools and navigator programs. The Victorian Education Department does not keep records on how many students are involved, saying the numbers are transitory.
“Every student is guaranteed the right to attend their local Victorian government school,” a department spokesperson said, adding the government’s investment in mental health and disability inclusion was aimed at preventing long-term disengagement.
“Victorian government schools provide options to meet the diverse educational needs of all students through local neighbourhood schools and designated purpose settings.”
Berry Street’s enrolment lists are swelling despite it having a strict enrolment criteria: students need evidence of school refusal, suspension or expulsion and many have a history of social and emotional difficulties, including childhood neglect and abuse.
Recent graduate Matthew Wilson-Bronson had gaps in his primary schooling due to a parent with health challenges. In secondary school, he was unable to find the support he needed and had behavioural issues that led to him being expelled.
“They just never had any time of day for what was going on for me,” he said of mainstream school. “If I hadn’t gotten into Berry Street I don’t know where I would have ended up, definitely not in school that’s for sure.”
Wilson-Bronson now owns and operates two small businesses in social services and excavation. He credits the school with teaching him skills he uses in work today such as self-regulation: “When I start getting stressed, or I’m struggling with something, I go back to the bits and pieces that they taught me.”
However, he says schools like Berry Street are not well understood in the community.
“There needs more understanding around it that it’s not a ‘special school’,” Wilson-Bronson said, describing it like a university in its flexibility and individual pathways for students. “It would help students with accepting coming to school more, and being proud of actually saying that they still go to a school.”
Smith said guidelines for special assistance schools should be made more accommodating, after the federal government this year clarified that schools need to prove they were supporting students for 10 continuous weeks to be eligible for the highest “extensive” bracket of disability funding.
In September, Hester Hornbrook Academy was asked to repay almost $23 million in funding after a federal audit found it was claiming the “extensive” bracket for 90 per cent of its students. Melbourne City Mission, the charity that oversees Hester, has disputed the over-claiming allegation and intends to fight repaying the full amount.
Smith said a federal audit of Berry Street School had found no requirement for repayment, but she found the funding guidelines inflexible. “What has been assigned to this space as a funding model is not actually appropriate for this space, and we need to discuss what is an appropriate model.”
Independent Schools Victoria chief executive Rachel Holthouse said fair funding and clear disability guidelines were critical to enable the schools to plan and continue providing intensive support.
A federal Education Department spokesperson said it has been consulting education systems and unions ahead of new guidelines for 2027, aimed at providing increased clarity and consistency.
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