Staff and students with disabilities will call the shots on how their universities spend up to A$50 million (£27 million) a year in disability funding, under an Australian regulatory change to be phased in from July.
New guidelines issued by federal education minister Jason Clare require each publicly funded university to establish a “disability governance committee” as an eligibility condition for grants from the Disability Support Fund.
The committees must be comprised mainly of people with disabilities, including at least two disabled students. They must also contain an executive at pro vice-chancellor level or above and at least two academics, one professional services staff member and two independent appointees.
The committees will have responsibility for “overseeing and providing advice” on the use of Disability Support Fund grants, according to the guidelines.
The fund was quadrupled in the 2024 mini-budget, which pledged billions of dollars to implement recommendations from the Australian Universities Accord. Although the accord’s equity proposals attracted broad support, its approach to disability issues drew protests over “misleading” data and the absence of a participation target.
