Commission Hears 10,000 Stories of Neglect, Abuse of Disabled in Major Report

A man wheels his wheelchair along Mitchell street in Darwin, Australia, on June 30, 2021. Helen Orr/Getty Images

Placing safeguards for people living with disabilities will be one of the immediate actions the Albanese government will take following the release of a Royal Commission in the disability sector report on Sept. 29.

Speaking to ABC Radio National on Sept. 29, Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth said while the federal government would work through the 222 recommendations outlined in the report, the evidence was of particular concern.

“[I]t was clear that there is not enough safeguards, for example, in place for people with disability in the service provision they get,” Ms. Rishworth said.

Currently, disabled persons outside the NDIS are not getting “appropriate safeguarding” as those who are under the scheme, Ms. Richworth said.

For example, Ian Waller, a person with epilepsy who is legally blind and has a guide dog, said in the report (pdf) that he wanted to have “easy and respectful access”—the same as those received by individuals in the workplaces, government, NDIS, and in society.

“[T]hat would allow me to participate in, and contribute to, my community in a meaningful way,” Mr. Waller said.

Ms. Rishworth said while the Albanese government did not have the constitutional power to address the need for safeguards, legislative frameworks were already in place.

Over 200 Recommendations

Among its 222 recommendations, the federal disability Royal Commission proposed reforms in a range of areas, including advocacy, guardianship, schooling, employment, the justice system, housing, and human rights law.

It called on the government to enact a Disability Rights Act to embody the principles outlined in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The Disability Discrimination Act, in its current form, has limited incentives for institutions like schools and service providers to prevent discrimination.

Moreover, the report recommended “transformational change” in phasing out and ending segregated education by 2051.

The Commission heard mainstream schools were “gatekeeping” children with disabilities from enrolling or staying in a school of choice.

Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John said the Commission was a “significant milestone for disabled people” in Australia; however, he has called for an earlier end to segregated schooling.

“The report recommends waiting until 2051 to end segregated schooling. This is widely inadequate. We can not as a society allow children, for another 30 years, to be separated from their peers. This is beyond shameful,” Mr. Steele-John said.

The Commissioners also recommended all states and territories establish legal frameworks to reduce restrictive practices while calling for a ban on non-therapeutic and non-consensual sterilisation of those with disabilities.

Additionally, the Commission recommends that disabled persons, organisations representing disabled persons, Indigenous people, children, and young people, where appropriate, be consulted for any planning of policies affecting disabled people.

Another point was to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14 and establish laws so people with disabilities who work in Australian Disability Enterprises were paid at least the minimum wage by 2034.

Commission Hears Stories of Violence, Abuse

The findings were generated after the Commission heard almost 10,000 stories of violence, abuse, neglect, and exploitation.

The report found more than half of people with disabilities have been physically or sexually abused since age 15, compared with 38 percent of adults without disabilities.

Forty-six percent of people with disabilities have been subjected to violence by a stranger.

Additionally, every year, approximately 550 people with disabilities experience a potentially avoidable death as a direct result of neglect and exploitation within the health system.

“People with disability often confront dehumanising attitudes and are treated as ‘different,’ ‘other’ and ‘less than,’” the report said.

“Low expectations about what people with a disability can do and achieve also shape their experiences in schools, workplaces, the community and other settings.”

The Commission’s chair, Ronald Sackville, said the report highlights the need for Australia to be “a more inclusive society that supports the independence of people with disability and their right to live free from violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation.”

“As many people with disability told us—at public hearings, in submissions, private sessions and responses to issues papers, and at community engagements—there is not much point to a lengthy Royal Commission if its recommendations do not lead to transformational change.”

Australian Network on Disability CEO Corene Strauss said the report was “distressing” but significant for Australians living with disabilities.

“It demonstrates that we have a long way to go to change attitudes towards people with a disability, including the bigotry of low expectations,” Ms. Strauss wrote on social media platform X (formerly Twitter).

Social Service Minister Rishworth said that the Albanese government would work through the report in a “diligent way” and with the states and territories.

“Obviously we need to also make sure people with disability have choice and control,” she said.

“But certainly how we build a more inclusive society so that people with disability don’t constantly have barriers to their participation in wider society is really important.

“And that involves, as the Commissioner or the Chair has already said, breaking down some of the very strongly held in some places, community attitudes.”

Shadow Minister for Social Services Michael Sukkar said he expects the Albanese government to respond “meaningfully and thoroughly” to the report.

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