People with disabilities are experiencing violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation across all aspects of their lives, including in education, health care and justice settings, and in their homes, workplaces and communities, the Disability Royal Commission’s Interim Report says.
The Interim Report of the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability was presented to Governor-General David Hurley, AC DSC (Rtd) on October 30, 2020. A copy of the Interim Report has been tabled in Federal Parliament.
The report says people with disability experience attitudinal, environmental, institutional and communication barriers to achieving inclusion within Australian society. It shows that a great deal needs to be done to ensure that the human rights of people with disability are respected and that Australia becomes a truly inclusive society.
The Interim Report sets out what the Royal Commission has done in its first 15 months, the cut-off point being 31 July 2020. That date was too soon for the Royal Commission to make firm recommendations on the issues discussed in the report. They will come later. However, a report containing findings and recommendations arising out of the Commonwealth’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic will be published in November 2020.
The 561-page document details the experiences of many people with disability, as well as the reasons they are exposed to violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation.
The report records the high rates of violence towards people with disability. The most recent data from 2016 shows that almost 2.4 million people with disability aged 18–64 years (almost two in three) had experienced violence in their lifetime. In a 12-month period, people with disability are twice as likely as people without disability to experience violence.
“The Interim Report is an important milestone in the work of the Royal Commission,” Mr Sackville said. He said that the pandemic has hampered the work of the Royal Commission, particularly its public engagements, but the Interim Report has been presented within the time specified in the Terms of Reference.
The report explains the approach the Royal Commission is taking. The task confronting us is formidable, but we are committed to completing the work in a way that will help bring about transformational changes in the laws, policies and practices affecting people with disability.”
The Royal Commission has held seven public hearings and published nine issues papers and six research reports since it was established in April 2019, although the COVID-19 pandemic which forced public hearings to be held online.
It was set up in response to community concerns and is investigating, among other things:
- Preventing and better protecting people with disability from experiencing violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation
- Achieving best practice in reporting, investigating and responding to violence against, and abuse, neglect and exploitation of, people with disability
- Promoting a more inclusive society that supports the independence of people with disability and their right to live free from violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation.
“In the past 50 years, significant progress has been made in addressing the harsh – at times cruel and inhuman – treatment of people with disability,” Mr Sackville said.
“Many horrific institutions have been closed and people with disability now have a voice through their representative organisations. The NDIS has been established. But welcome as those changes are, a great deal remains to be done
The report says First Nations people face double discrimination because they are both First Nations and a person with disability; they are more likely to experience harm than the general population and they lack culturally appropriate services and supports.
