Autism discrimination case at Perth Methodist college

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDDec 22 2010

A Perth girl’s school admitted to discriminating against an autistic pupil who was denied a trained aide. This made her lose nine months of schooling. Methodist Ladies College in Perth’s wealthy western suburbs in a first of its kind case in Australia was forced to apologise to parents Andrew and Mandy Mason after they took the school to the Federal Court and secured a settlement in their favour.

Mrs Mason said, “This is a great victory to show that the discrimination act works and it protects the most vulnerable in our society, young children who don’t have a voice themselves… Hopefully it will inspire other parents to look further into what they’re entitled to at school.” She recounted that their daughter who was four at the time has severe autism and was unable to attend kindergarten and pre-primary classes for nine months. Eventually the Masons enrolled their daughter at another private school. Mr. Mason added that the reason for not providing a trained aide was not revealed but it could not be a funding issue because the cost was met by the state government. Kindergarten fees are about $9,500 a year, according to MLC’s website. He said MLC initially provided a trained assistant but failed to replace her when her contract was terminated.

The case has been on for the past two and a half years after the Masons initially went to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission. Decision came last week at the Federal Court. The settlement terms are confidential. However the apology was public. MLC principal Rebecca Cody and her letter of apology wrote that the actions by the school constituted a breach of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Disability Standards for Education 2005. She added that the Masons’ daughter “should have been permitted to attend kindergarten and pre-primary classes without interruption accompanied at all times by an educational assistant.” The letter said, “The council of MLC offers a sincere apology to Mr and Mrs Mason.”