Disability Support Services
Disability Advisor Support
All universities have staff who are especially there to help students with disability.
These university staff are known by a few different titles like:
- Disability advisors
- Disability consultants
- Disability coordinators
- Equity officers
A Disability Advisor (DA) is a university staff member dedicated to arranging practical assistance that students with disability need to complete their university course.
What can a DA do for me?
- The DA is the main person who can tell you about the services and facilities helpful to students with disability at that university. They can also put you in touch with other staff at university who can help answer your questions about the course and life at university
- DAs can help you work out what practical arrangements you may need and what is available at the university of your choice
- DAs can give you information about the steps to take and the documentation you will need to get help from that university’s disability services
How to contact DAs?
- You will find contact information on your university’s website, where you can organise an appointment online or phone. Appointments can be scheduled face to face, online or over the phone.
Student Support Services
All universities offer some form of student support services, however supports vary between universities and campuses.
- Details about student supports can be found at:
- The Universities Admission Centre (opens in a new window)
- The Good Universities Guide (opens in a new window)
- Your university Student Services team, or on the university website
- Think about what types of student support services you may need and those that would be most useful to you.
- Compare what is available at each university you are interested in. As the types of supports offered by individual universities may play a part in your final decision about where to study.
An example of student services at university may include:
- Counselling and mental health support
- Academic skills development
- Student advocacy
- Student safety
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student support
- Career centres
- Faith and religion
- Mathematics Learning centre
- Accommodation
- International student services
Community Support Services
Think about what type of help you might need on a daily basis while studying at university. For example, the types of help you may need could be:
- Personal care to get ready in the morning, or personal care throughout the day when at university
- Coaching and counselling to help you to cope with the effect of university pressures and stress
- Help to navigate and arrange public transport options to university
You may already have these arrangements in place to help with school life. These arrangements will probably need to be adjusted to fit university life. You may also need different types of assistance.
You should consider whether there are any ‘gaps’ in your current support arrangements which could be made easier by accessing a support person or service. If this is the case, then write it down, and seek help through university support services, health care providers, family members, or even the NDIS.
National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)
Depending on your ability to meet eligibility criteria, the NDIS may provide funding for supports which lessen the impact of your disability on activities that are not directly related to your education or training.
Some examples of NDIS supports could include: personal care and support, transport to and from campus, assistive technology and equipment, and specialist supports for the transition from school to tertiary education.
The Australian Disability Clearinghouse on Education and Training (ADCET) (opens in a new window) provides people with information on how the NDIS can help support your needs for post-secondary education. A NDIS pre–planning toolkit has been made to guide people through their transition into post-secondary study, and help them to consider their rights and responsibilities when participating in higher education.
Find out about NDIS eligibility and how to apply (opens in a new window).
Resources and other services
- Indigenous Students (opens in a new window) – Here you will find resources to assist indigenous students with disability
- Department of Ageing, Disability and Home Care (ADHC) (opens in a new window) – provides funds and monitors community support services for people with disabilities. The website includes contact details for regional offices and also links to other websites
- Disability support in education training video (opens in a new window) – Here you will find a video of students with disability talking about their experiences using the supports at university
- Get Ready for Study and Work (opens in a new window) – Here you will find information on how to improve transitions for people with disabilities into tertiary education and employment.
- Brain Injury Association of Australia (BIANSW) (opens in a new window)
- The Arthritis Foundation of Australia (opens in a new window)
- Vision Australia (opens in a new window)
- Deaf Society NSW (opens in a new window)
- Mental Health Association (opens in a new window)
- The Northcott Society (opens in a new window)
- ParaQuad NSW (opens in a new window)