Parents and disability advocates have called for more detail on the funding model and reiterated the importance of education staff professional development.

The new funding model, which would move Tasmania away from an IQ-based agreement to a needs-based agreement was announced in November.

Tasmanian Disability Education Reform Lobby founder Kristen Desmond, who began the lobby group in response to her own experiences with the system, said a lack of preparedness by teachers was a common theme raised with her.

She said her own experience with the system saw her “blubbering in the principal’s office” because she didn’t feel heard and that issue had not gone away.

Ms Desmond said issues were raised in 2015, after the incoming Hodgman Liberal Government commissioned a ministerial task force to examine disability support in schools.

The report received 34 submissions, with parent and carers concern over teachers’ lack of preparedness a key issue.

Ms Desmond said the ministerial task force report was “a big piece of work”, but it identified the gaps in the system and provided a blueprint for the best way forward.

The task force’s work encompassed all primary and secondary education provision in Tasmania and included different modes of delivery such as dual enrolment, e-school and homeschooling.

Ms Desmond said homeschooling was often the only course of option for many families with children living with a disability.

“Some parents are pushed to different schools, it’s made clear to them that the school doesn’t want their child,” she said.

The task force report said a number of public submissions referenced families “feeling they were left with no option other than to home school their child with a disability because of the lack of support, engagement by and communication with the school”.

“A number of submissions highlighted the importance of knowledge and skills and the problem of teachers and schools being underprepared for working effectively with students with a disability,” the report read.

The Inclusion Advisory Panel was established after the task force report and has since provided key advice and information to the government in relation to disability support.

“The independent Inclusion Advisory Panel chair has provided direct advice in support of the model under development and recommended implementation in 2020 when all necessary supports and systems are in place,” an Education Department spokesman said.

The new model is expected to be implemented in 2020 with preparation work underway during 2019 based on feedback from consultation and quantitative analysis.

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