The Disability Inclusion Profile forms part of the $1.6 billion Disability Inclusion package announced in the Victorian Government’s 2020–21 Budget.

The Disability Inclusion Profile is an innovative strength-based approach to supporting children with disability in schools. It puts the needs of the student at the heart of our response and focuses on what a child can achieve rather than on what they can’t.

To support this significant reform, AHA:

• operates the Disability Inclusion Facilitator Service (DIFS) to transform how students with disability are supported in Victorian government schools
• supports schools to transition from the current Program for Students with Disabilities (PSD) to the Disability Inclusion Profile approach
• employs a 138-strong team of specialist disability and early and developmental educational experts who facilitate Disability Inclusion Profile meetings with each student’s teacher, principal, and family across the state
• processes about 10,000 profiles a year on the AHA-developed online portal, increasing to 18,000 each year once the service is fully rolled out
• ensures an equitable, strength-based approach to the allocation of supports that allows each student to access the supports they need, regardless of their location
• acts as a change agent for the education sector, promoting disability inclusion and student voice as key tenets of the department’s reform agenda.

The new tiered funding model and the Disability Inclusion Profile are being introduced in a staged roll-out that commenced in 2021. In 2024 AHA rolled out profiles to 4 new areas – Southern Melbourne, North Eastern Melbourne, Goulburn and Brimbank Melton – and will complete the roll-out in 2025 with the inclusion of the final 4 areas, Inner Eastern Melbourne, Hume Merri-bek, Outer Gippsland and Wimmera South West.