Purpose
The Specialist Disability Support in Schools (SDSS) Program supports schools by providing funding to approved organisations to deliver services to improve access to and participation in curriculum and the educational outcomes for eligible school-aged students with disability.
Organisations are funded under 3-year agreements for the funding categories (1) school support services and (2) resource centre services and 1-year agreements for (3) specialised equipment.
Information regarding the application process for funding can be found at the
How to apply for funding page.
Eligibility
An eligible applicant must:
- be a registered charity or Incorporated not-for-profit entity, or
- local government entity, and
- provide programs or activities designed specifically for students with disability, and
- not be a school unless accredited to provide special education.
Student eligibility
To be eligible to receive a SDSS service, a student must be enrolled in a Queensland school and be identified in one of the following ways:
Autism Spectrum Disorder
| Current verification under the Education Adjustment Program (EAP) or a current Awaiting Verification record in the Adjustment Information Management System (AIMS)
| Current verification under the EAP
|
Hearing impairment
| Current verification under the EAP or a current Awaiting Verification record in the AIMS | Current verification under the EAP |
Intellectual disability
| Current verification under the EAP or a current Awaiting Verification record in the AIMS | Current verification under the EAP |
Physical impairment
| Current verification under the EAP or a current Awaiting Verification record in the AIMS | Current verification under the EAP
|
Speech-language impairment
| Current verification under the EAP or a current Awaiting Verification record in the AIMS | Current verification under the EAP
|
Vision impairment
| Current verification under the EAP or a current Awaiting Verification record in the AIMS
| Current verification under the EAP
|
Social emotional disorder
| Students who have been:
- formally reported as being subject to abuse or harm or at risk of harm
- are identified as receiving a Substantial or Extensive level of adjustment under the Social/Emotional disability category for the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability.
| Current verification under the EAP |
The important distinctions between the department's SDSS Program and the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) are available on the following link and the video clip below—SDSS and the NDIS.
Transcript for schools, the SDSS program and the NDIS video (PDF, 213KB)
Please note the NSO Program was replaced by the SDSS program. The same distinctions apply regarding the NDIS.
Find out more about the program