The Nationally Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD) on school students with disability collects information about students with disability across Australia in a consistent, reliable and systematic way.
Since 1 January 2018, the NCCD has been used to calculate the student with disability loading in recurrent funding for schools provided by the Australian Government. This loading is based on the level of adjustment being provided to the student.
The model underpinning the data collection reflects the work of schools in supporting their students in accordance with obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA) and Disability Standards for Education 2005 (DSE).
Schools will record information annually about:
- the number of students receiving an adjustment for disability as defined in the DDA and the Disability Standards for Education
- the level of adjustment each student is receiving both within the classroom and whole school contexts to allow them to participate in education on the same basis as students without disability
- the broad category of disability of each student the student best falls within that informs the need for the adjustment provided to the student
In determining which students are included in the data collection, schools draw on a range of evidence including, but not limited to: observation, teacher judgements, medical reports, individual learning plans, assessments, discussions with parents and carers and, if appropriate, the student, as part of the process for determining and providing reasonable adjustments.
- The data collection is a collaborative process involving teachers, principals and other school staff. School principals are responsible for verifying or confirming that there is documented evidence at the school to support the inclusion of a student in the national data collection.
Consent and Notification
Consent is not required for a student’s information to be collected for the purposes of the NCCD. This is because the collection is required and authorised by law (the Australian Education Act 2013 and Australian Education Regulation 2013).
Schools must notify students and parents/guardians/carers about the data collection under the NCCD. This notification ensures that those participating in the NCCD are made fully aware of the data collection.
In particular, the notice provides information on its purpose, legislative basis, to whom NCCD data will be disclosed, and assurance activities that may be conducted by the department in relation to the NCCD data. This notification is consistent with Australian Privacy Principle 5 —notification of the collection of personal information of the Privacy Act 1988.
Fact sheets and other resources for parents, guardians and carers are available on the NCCD Portal.
