The role of the support teacher in Australia

In Australia, similar to European countries, there has been a continuing increase in the number of students with special needs who are now being educated in regular schools. Regular classrooms have become more diverse with the inclusion of a greater proportion of students with a range of disabilities and learning difficulties. Support for these students is provided through a number of different avenues and varies between the states and territories. All jurisdictions, to some extent, provide support teachers whose role it is to assist these students. This paper firstly considers the education of students with special needs in the Australian context and the support that is available to them. A more detailed account is subsequently provided on the specific role of the support teacher in Queensland.