WA policy cuts school diabetes support after Year 2, sparking parental outcry
Parents argue WA rule ending funding for diabetes care after Year 2 forces eight-year-olds like Declan Marshall to manage the condition alone at school.
Declan Marshall, a five-year-old diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, uses an insulin pump and continuous glucose monitor, yet at Capel Primary School the state’s Individual Disability Allocation funding that supports his care stops after Year 2. His mother Alana Marshall explains that without dedicated assistance, Declan must handle low-blood-sugar episodes himself, exposing him to risks such as hypoglycaemia or ketoacidosis.
To keep funding beyond Year 2, schools must submit applications backed by medical letters, a procedure Alana says took weeks of coordination with Perth Children’s Hospital and the Department of Education. Although the school provided exceptional support, the policy’s outdated clinical guidance—based on a decade-old Princess Margaret Hospital recommendation—creates inequity, she argues. Opposition Education Minister Liam Staltari criticised the rule, calling it unsafe and launching a petition to scrap the age cut-off, while Education Minister Sabine Winton said she is seeking further advice on the extension process and defended the existing framework against claims of political posturing.
