This article explores a century and a half of supporting students with disabilities in Australian higher education, spanning the introduction of mass public education legislation in 1872 through to 2022. The article documents the transition from a paradigm in which disability was not integral to universal public instruction to systemic approaches…

More and more students attend university and a large number of those experience difficulties at some point throughout their degree. Furthermore, many students who experience difficulties in need of help from the universities' support services do not disclose their additional needs and/or disabilities (AND), and thus, little is known about this…

Expansionary policies to widen participation in higher education have led to a growth in alternative entry pathways into university. This study considers the experiences and retention outcomes of those entering Australian universities through different pathways, and how these vary across diverse student groups. Data were drawn from linked student…

This paper presents an analysis of two surveys that were conducted in an Australian university's School of Education, investigating how students and staff understood the inherent requirements of their courses. The survey results highlight that despite there being no explicit written inherent requirement statements for these courses both staff and…

The number of students with disability enrolled in tertiary education has increased significantly in the last decade. This has prompted a move to make learning and teaching more accessible to all students. Universal Design for Learning, or UDL, can be used as a framework to guide tertiary educators in the planning and delivery of their courses.…

This article explores the interplay between perceived employability (PE), mental health, and equity group membership amongst students at a large public urban university in Australia. The article reports from a study conducted between 2017 and 2022, during which students self-assessed their PE. Differences in PE by equity group membership were…

Work-integrated learning (WIL) or university placements are valuable opportunities for students to apply their knowledge in an authentic work setting and help support their transition from university to employment. However, as our study evidenced, students with disability face significant and unique barriers to securing and completing WIL…

The aim of this review is to provoke discussion around the ways in which disability is addressed in Australian university learning and teaching. Focusing on online delivery, it presents three separate, but related thematic sections based on higher education policy, the student voice, and universal design for instruction (UDI). The themes are…

Even though distance education from the home environment has seemed comfortable and economic for students with disability in formal higher education during the pandemic, insufficiency in their academic self-efficacy, satisfaction and an increasing tendency to drop out were observed. This quantitative research is based on development of the scales…

Higher education is moving towards being more inclusive. However, students with disabilities continue to report that their assessment experiences are less than optimal. In these situations, if an assessment format does not enable demonstration of achievement due to aspects irrelevant to the capabilities of interest, then such students are unfairly…

Universities now have more students with disabilities enrolled in their programs. The pursuit of a higher degree could be because universities have responded to increasing online programs that make it accessible to students with diverse needs. However, with change come the challenges of catering to diverse needs and how universities make strategic…

Research suggests that tertiary students with dyslexia are less likely to achieve high or passing marks in their studies than students without dyslexia. The aim of this investigation was to discover the nature of barriers faced by students with dyslexia at an Australian regional university where two thirds of the overall population had a distance…

Inclusive work-integrated learning (WIL) requires collaboration between universities, host organizations and students, particularly, when designing and delivering WIL for students with disabilities. Host organizations, however, are not often included in the collaborations. This study explored host organization knowledge, capacity and challenges to…

Background: COVID-19 influenced education delivery worldwide. The Up the Hill Project (UTHP), a university mentoring program in Australia for people with intellectual disability, transitioned from a face-to-face to online format during 2020. Results: The experience of transitioning online for one semester (12-week period) had positives and…

Extracurricular activities (ECAs) and their impact on student employability has become a focus of the higher education sector, with a recent emphasis on experiences such as global exchange and skill acquisition that prepares graduates for the workforce. Despite the initiatives and effort put into supporting the general student population, students…