Evan Young and Penny Timms

A planned review of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is being brought forward to this year, with the federal government promising to work alongside people with disability after a significant breakdown of trust in recent years.

Sophie Black

For increasing numbers of families, school refusal is a crippling problem. But some programs are offering hope by thinking outside the box

As a year 10 coordinator in 2013, high school teacher Craig Hildebrand-Burke began to clock an increasing number of student absences at his school. As he began to contact families, he soon realised that school refusal was becoming “a major presenting issue” for the year 10 cohort at his co-ed Catholic high school in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs.

Sophie Black

With education and mental health systems under pressure, families are experiencing distress as a result of children refusing to go to school. Here are some of their stories

Guardian Australia asked readers to share their experiences of school refusal, the commonly used term for children who are so distressed by school that they are unable to attend. Data that differentiates school refusal from other types of absences is hard to obtain, but anecdotally experiences of school refusal are rising.

A recent research publication observed:

It found that ...

Madeleine Cross and Meredith Kirton 

When Tanika Davis's son was diagnosed with autism at just two years old, the Worimi mother was confronted with the stigma surrounding the developmental disorder, but also surprised at the lack of consideration for Slade's Indigenous culture.

Six-year-old Ava Renwood is an aspiring athlete with big dreams of a career in sport.

But her mum Ashleigh Brook fears her options are limited by the lack of inclusivity and understanding of athletes with autism.