ADCET Webinar: What We're Learning - Empower Disability Services in Australian Higher Education

Wed 25 Mar 2026 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm AEDT

Online

Event details

Despite supporting over 98,000 plus students with disability, we know remarkably little about the experiences and needs of disability practitioners in Australian universities. This ACSES Equity Fellowship is changing that.

In this webinar, Darlene McLennan will share early findings from the ACSES fellowship on disability services in Australian higher education. The research uses participatory action methods to understand three key questions: What does disability support provision actually look like across the sector? What is the experience of practitioners working in this field? And what skills and conditions do practitioners need to effectively support students?

Drawing on national surveys of disability service managers and practitioners, in-depth interviews with students with disability, and consultation with sector stakeholders, the webinar will present emerging insights about service structures, staffing patterns, workload challenges, and professional development needs. Importantly, it will centre the voices of both practitioners and students with disability about what works, what doesn't, and what needs to change.

Early themes include significant variation in how services are structured and resourced, gaps between practitioner needs and available support, the complex relationship between compliance and genuine inclusion, and questions about what actually drives institutional change. The webinar will also explore tensions between individual student support and systemic advocacy, and what students themselves say matters most in their interactions with disability services.

While the fellowship continues through to the end of April 2026, these preliminary findings offer valuable insights for practitioners, service managers, university leaders, and students. The session will include time for questions.

This research is funded by the Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success (ACSES)

Presenter

Darlene McLennan has been the manager of ADCET since 2013 and been working in the further education and disability sector since 2005, initially as a National Disability Coordination Officer for Tasmania. Darlene is passionate about improving linkages, transitions and participation for people with disability in tertiary education and was awarded a life membership for ATEND in 2020 and a lifetime membership award for EPHEA for her contributions to the sector. Darlene’s lived experience as a person with a Specific Learning Disability gives her a personal insight into the challenges and opportunities faced by students with disability. She holds a Master of Business from the University of Tasmania and a post-graduate degree in Careers Education from RMIT. Darlene is currently on a leave of absence from ADCET while working on her 2025 ACSES Equity Fellowship.

The webinar is free to attend, and it will be live-captioned.

Registrations for this webinar are now open

Webinar Connection Info

ADCET webinars use Zoom. In order to participate you will need to have access to the Zoom platform.

• Download and create a free account at Zoom
• How to attend a Zoom event and use audience controls
• Accessibility features in Zoom

ADCET is hosted by the University of Tasmania

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