While school policies are not a panacea, gender and sexuality diversity-inclusive policies have the potential to relieve educators' concerns about what they are 'allowed' to engage with in respect to GSD inclusivity and to guide their proactive efforts to support gender and sexuality diverse (GSD) students. Unfortunately, policies enabling…

Recent years have witnessed growing acceptance of gender and sexuality diversity in Australia; yet, its inclusion in the school curriculum remains contentious. Despite evidence to the contrary, there is a commonly held belief that parents consider the inclusion of such topics inappropriate. In the light of this, this paper focuses on an analysis…

Research which attends to LGBTQ+ students' experiences in Higher Education (HE) asserts that they are more likely to be targets of physical, verbal and symbolic violence than non-LGBTQ+ students, have poorer mental health and wellbeing, and report university settings and systems as generally exclusionary and unsafe. The Australian body of research…

Fertility information is an important component of comprehensive sexuality education, but the extent to which adolescents are taught or informed about fertility is unknown in Australia. This study examined knowledge of fertility using an anonymous, online survey of > 2,600 adolescents aged 15-18 across Australia. Respondents represented diverse…

Inclusive post-secondary education (PSE) delivers positive personal, social and academic outcomes. However, there is limited support for students with intellectual disability (ID) to participate in higher education, particularly in Australia. This study investigated the expectations and experiences of students with ID in an inclusive individual…

Objective: Using student narratives of experiences of exclusion and non-inclusion at university, this paper builds an evidence base for, and explores ways in which universities can respond to, the contemporary concerns of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/transsexual, intersex and queer/questioning (LGBTIQ+) undergraduate students. Design:…

The editors of this special collection of the "Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy" open this introductory essay with the words of Margaret Mead in order to underscore an important message contained in all of the essays of this collection: education administrators and policy makers are paramount to creating learning…

Sex education and diverse sexualities are controversial topics within the primary school arena. Concepts of childhood innocence have influenced sex education curriculum, policy development and teaching practices within schools. However, research shows that primary school-aged students are aware of and talk about sexualities. The aim of this…

Reliance on teacher assistants (TAs) in mainstream schools to support students with disability and learning difficulties is an increasing trend in Australia. In 2011, over 80,000 TAs were employed costing approximately $3billion per annum [DEEWR. 2012. Job Outlook. Accessed June 2013. http://joboutlook.gov.au/default.aspx]. This paper reports on…

Advocates of different approaches to inclusion are often adamant that there can be only one true form of inclusion--yet advocated forms differ. Ultimately, inclusion is about empowering students to succeed and wrapping them with the support necessary to do so. This article presents the story of Forrester Hill State School where varied approaches…