Funding responsibility for the provision of personal care generates a lot of discussion amongst tertiary disability practitioners. For instance does a university have any responsibility for funding personal care for a student who uses an electric wheelchair and assistance with going to the toilet & eating? The short answer appears to be no.
The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission states that the education provider must enable non-discriminatory access to the education and other services they provide but are not obliged by the DDA to expand their services to students into areas such as this.
The Disability Standards for Education take the same position on this issue, providing as follows:
7.2 Standards for support services
(1) The education provider must take reasonable steps to ensure that the student is able to use support services used by the students of the institution in general on the same basis as a student without a disability, and without experiencing discrimination.
(2) If a specialised support service is necessary for the student to be able to participate in the activities for which he or she is enrolled, and is of a kind that is provided by the education provider, the provider must take reasonable steps to ensure that the student has access to the service (but may arrange for it to be provided by another person or agency).
(3) If a specialised support service is necessary for the student to be able to participate in the activities for which he or she is enrolled, and is of a kind that is not provided by the provider, the provider must take reasonable steps to facilitate the provision of the service to the student by another person or agency.