Dr Samara Hand
School suspensions in NSW are rising at an alarming rate. In 2024, NSW government schools suspended approximately one in every 50 primary school students and one in 10 secondary school students. More than 100 students were expelled. These numbers are not just a discipline statistic; they are a human rights concern.
The burden of exclusion falls disproportionately on those already facing systemic disadvantage. In 2024, one in four suspensions involved an Aboriginal student, and one in four a disabled student, making both groups approximately 2.5 times more likely to be suspended than their peers. Data on students in out-of-home care, LGBTQIASB+ students, and refugees from other states suggests similar patterns of disproportionate exclusion, though NSW’s limited data collection makes the full picture difficult to see.
The consequences of exclusion go far beyond missed school days. Researchers and policymakers increasingly use the term “school-prison nexus” to describe the well-documented correlation between school exclusion and subsequent contact with the criminal justice system. NSW data reveals that almost 96 per cent of young people in NSW youth custody had been suspended at least once and about 45 per cent had been expelled. One in two young people in NSW custody identified as Aboriginal, despite only making up 4.5 percent of the NSW youth population.
Despite these figures, suspension continues to be used as a behaviour management tool. A 2017 NSW Ombudsman inquiry found no evidence that the general use of suspensions reduces disruptive behaviour and that suspension may actually worsen outcomes for students experiences disability or trauma. Yet in 2024, NSW reversed earlier reforms aimed at reducing suspension rates, expanding grounds for immediate and long-term exclusion.
A new policy paper from the Australian Public Policy Institute titled Disrupting the school-prison nexus in NSW, co-authored by myself and Dr Archie Thomas, argues there is a better way. Drawing on case studies from Chicago, Scotland, Toronto, and NSW’s own Community Restorative Centre, the research demonstrates that evidence-based alternatives exist and are working.
For example, Scotland has reduced permanent school exclusions to near zero through a national commitment to relationship-based discipline policies and multi-agency collaboration. Chicago has embedded restorative justice in thousands of schools, improving graduation rates and reducing suspensions. Toronto saw suspensions fall 24 per cent and expulsions drop 53 per cent after removing police from schools. In NSW, the Community Restorative Centre’s Pathways program, which provides wraparound support for justice-involved young people, has contributed to recidivism reductions of up to 66 per cent in some cohorts.
The policy paper calls for six policy shifts: Redirect resources from punitive measures to school-based support; adopt a NSW discipline policy centred on keeping students in school; embed restorative and trauma-informed approaches in legislation and practice; develop collaborative, community-led policymaking; reduce police involvement in schools; and improve data collection to drive accountability.
The economics are also compelling; a day in NSW you custody costs $2,500, while a day in school is approximately $11. But beyond the dollars, school exclusion is fundamentally a human rights issue. Access to education is enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, yet thousands of children in NSW are being pushed out of school. Every suspension, every expulsion, especially of already marginalised students, represents a failure of the state’s obligation to uphold the right to education without discrimination. Keeping young people in school is not only the most cost-effective investment NSW can make, but also what human rights demand.
Dr Samara Hand is a Worimi/Biripi woman, a lecturer at UNSW Law & Justice and an Australian Human Rights Institute Associate.