A combined approach from every level of government will be needed to determine the best course of action for special schools in the wake of the disability royal commission, the NDIS Minister says.

Bill Shorten said states and territories would need to work closely with the federal government to properly implement the findings of the marathon federal inquiry, which were handed down on Friday.

The final report saw commissioners split on whether to phase out special schools by 2051 to stop segregation, or if it wasn’t needed.

Mr Shorten said while an inclusive education system was needed it would still take time to figure out the right approach.

“You can’t just click your fingers and make things happen, we need the states to be engaged in that,” he told ABC Radio on Monday.

“The federal government doesn’t run any schools, so we need states to decide that’s where they want to go.”

The commission put forward 222 recommendations for change within the disability sector, which included the creation of a disability rights act.

Mr Shorten said he was “upset and shocked” by the report’s findings of there being 400 avoidable deaths annually.

“The idea that there are 400 avoidable deaths each year is a number which we’ve got to understand why that happens and then reduce it,” he said.

Alastair McEwen, one of the commissioners for the four-year inquiry, said while the commissioners were split on the best approach for special schools, fundamental changes were needed in many aspects.

“All commissioners agree that mainstream society needs to be more inclusive,” he told ABC Radio.

“We saw that there was violence across so many things in people’s lives, where people live, where people go to school where people are in the community.”

Dr McEwen was among the three commissioners who said segregated education had no place in society.

He said the issues could not be fixed overnight.

“We couldn’t in all good conscience continue to not be able to do something about something that will bring harm to a disabled kid for their life,” he said.

While some commissioners said special schools should be phased out by the end of 2051, Greens senator and disability advocate Jordon Steele-John said the phase out could be completed by the end of the decade.

“Thirty years (to phase it out) is wildly inadequate,” he told ABC’s Insiders program on Sunday.

“To put that in perspective, that would mean a disabled child born today would be likely to see their child educated in a separate, segregated setting.”

A taskforce is considering the implementation of all findings from the royal commission.

– AAP