Higher Education Disability Support Program

The DSP is an ongoing program that provides funding to eligible higher education providers (Table A public universities) to assist with supporting students with disability to access, participate and succeed in higher education. 

There are three current components of the DSP:

  • Disability Support Fund (DSF)
  • Australian Disability Clearinghouse on Education and Training (ADCET)
  • Capacity Building Fund (CBF)

The Disability Support Fund (DSF)

The DSF provides supplementary funding to eligible higher education providers (Table A  public universities) to support students with disability to access, participate, and succeed in higher education.

As part of the 2024 Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO), the Australian Government quadrupled the DSF to increase support for students with disability in higher education, commencing payment in 2025. New activities have also been made eligible, including staffing costs, implementation of Universal Design Learning (UDL) and the purchase of bulk IT licenses for the benefit of students with disability. Further details on these changes can be found via the DSF fact sheet.

DSF funding is payable to providers in two components:

  1. 55% of DSF funding is allocated based on enrolment numbers of students with disability. Providers may use this funding for e.g. staffing, staff training and for modifications to course content, teaching materials and delivery methods.
  2. 45% of DSF funding provides reimbursement for the costs of educational support and equipment for individual students with disability where those costs are higher than $5,000 per year per eligible student.

Additional information on the objectives of the DSF, the conditions applied to its grants, and the calculation of grant allocations can be found in the Higher Education Support (Other Grants) Guidelines 2022 (sections 36 to 41).

Detailed guidance on applying the Guidelines as discussed in workshops are available here. These FAQs reflect common questions raised by universities:

From 1 January 2027, changes to governance, accountability, transparency and reporting will apply to all universities in receipt of DSF funding. The changes are to align the sector to establish a strategic national approach to higher education disability inclusion and support.  The changes are intended to strengthen oversight, not adversely impact service delivery.

In summary, the Ministerial Determination requires universities to establish the following in order to be eligible to DSF funding:

  • A disability governance committee as a subcommittee of the university’s principal governing body (including publishing the membership and terms of reference);
  • Draft and have in place disability education and workforce strategies outlining activities and key performance indicators to improve disability support and inclusion (including publishing of the strategies on externally accessible university websites);
  • The removal of indexation of the high-cost claims threshold, fixing it at $5,000 ongoing into the future.

For further information, please email: disability@education.gov.au

The Australian Disability Clearinghouse on Education and Training (ADCET)

The DSP provides funding to ADCET, a website hosted by the University of Tasmania that provides information, advice and online resources to disability practitioners, teachers and students with disability on inclusive teaching and learning practices within the higher education sector.

Additional information can be found at  Australian Disability Clearinghouse on Education and Training.

The Capacity Building Fund (CBF)

The CBF provides capacity and capability building support to higher education providers (Table A public universities) to assist them in strengthening their internal skills, abilities, processes and resources to support students with disability to access, participate and succeed in higher education.

Additional information can be found at Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success - ACSES.

For further information on all higher education disability related programs, email: disability@education.gov.au.