Victoria, Australia — A WOMAN who claimed her disabled child was unfairly discriminated against at school has lost her legal battle with the education department. Jenny Harrison said her 11-year-old daughter Lindsay Sutherland, who has severe cerebral palsy, was denied the same learning opportunities as her classmates because of her disability. Ms Harrison filed a discrimination complaint with the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) <http://www.vcat.vic.gov.au/> seeking compensation and the appointment of a full-time qualified teachers' aide to help Lindsay, who is wheelchairbound and cannot speak. The claim was dismissed today following a 23-day hearing. "It's a very disappointing result, everything has been dismissed," said Ms Harrison, who refuses to send her daughter to a specialist school. "It's a real indictment, and parents of children with disabilities should be really concerned about their kids' education and this Government's commitment to it," she said. The complaint was lodged with the Equal Opportunity Commission <http://www.eoc.vic.gov.au/> in 2004 when Lindsay was a pupil at Hobson's Bay Primary School in suburban Newport. Her mother said Lindsay's education was compromised because the school did not enable her to equally participate in the classroom and socialise with other pupils, including being excluded from school camps. In 2005, Lindsay - who communicates with a knee-activated electronic device - moved to Spotswood Primary School because the fallout from the complaint made her school "unbearable". In her 73-page finding, VCAT deputy president Anne Coghlan dismissed the claims. She said she was not satisfied that the school was responsible for Lindsay's diminished learning outcomes, "rather than her cognitive and physical impairments". A spokeswoman for Victoria's education department declined to comment before reviewing the findings. Ms Harrison is considering an appeal. Source news.com.au, 19 January 2006 - Catherine Best ###