Increased funding flows to Disability Support Fund. Can All the Ducks help your students get better value for those bucks?
Through the Higher Education Disability Support Program, the Australian Government has for some years provided funding to universities to assist students with disability to access, participate and succeed in higher education. The scheme is called the Disability Support Fund.
In the 2024 Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO), funding for the Program was increased by a factor of four to $40 million per year, effective from 2025. The benefits of this program have been widespread, assisting students with various disabilities successfully participate in higher education.
The funding is allocated to universities based on a formula largely based on enrolment numbers of domestic students with disability at the institution. There is also provision for funding for equipment and support of students with high-cost needs.
"Providers may use funding for staff training, to better support students with disability, and to modify course content, teaching materials and delivery methods to better meet the needs of students with disability."
Source: https://www.education.gov.au/higher-education-disability-support-program
Universities are required to report annually on their use of the funding by completing a template provided by the Department of Social Security.
A fully comprehensive system that manages applications, disability/medical assessments, details of accommodations, funding provision and student outcomes is a significant undertaking. From what we’ve seen universities are using a variety of approaches and home-grown solutions to manage their disability support activity.
So what can All the Ducks offer?
With our extensive and in-depth knowledge of university systems and operations and our experience integrating disparate systems we can offer three key services.
Consultancy: Analysis of existing systems with a view to improving integrations to boost efficiency for staff responsible for assessing, documenting and reporting on use of Disability Support Funds. We are known for providing high quality reports that objectively assess existing operations and provide clients with recommendations that lay out their options clearly.
System design and blue sky planning: Coming into a university environment as informed analysts often assists us to take a 'big picture' approach that isn't bogged down in 'this is how we do things here' mindsets and that can leverage our awareness of what is trending across the sector.
Integrations: Where work is required to refine existing system integrations or to simply improve efficiencies by developing middleware tools using contemporary technologies we can assist. We have extensive experience working in environments where multiple systems from different vendors need to exchange data in secure and robust ways.
We are very happy to talk to you.
If any of what is written here piques your interest please get in touch for an obligation-free chat to see if we can help you achieve better outcomes for your students with disability.