Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I rise to acknowledge the release of the final report of the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability. Three weeks ago, the Minister for the NDIS and I were handed the final report of the disability royal commission. It contained 12 volumes, 6,788 pages, over three million words and close to 10,000 personal experiences. After 4½ years and 32 substantive hearings, the six commissioners handed their report to the Governor-General on 28 September. The release of the report is a significant milestone that millions of people all over the country had been waiting for. One in six Australians are living with disability. That's 4.4 million people. For many of us, they're our friends, they're our colleagues, they're our family members and they're our children.

The royal commission highlighted the horrible experiences many of them have faced through violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation. Many felt their experiences had finally been heard for the first time. It wasn't easy for their stories to be shared, and, at first, many felt too afraid to come forward. But the royal commission undertook a massive task of using this evidence and undertaking extensive research to examine the matters affecting the lives and experience of Australians with disability.

The commission's work was particularly focused on the critical areas of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of people with disability in Australia. This work was commissioned by all Australian governments—Commonwealth, state and territory—and it's important that all levels of government heed its call.

The evidence presented to the royal commission has been deeply confronting, whether it was Quaden, who spoke of his experience of extensive bullying because of his disability, or Rebecca, who experienced abuse in a group home. To everyone who shared their stories with the royal commission: we thank you. Your contributions have already made a difference and have led to change. To the commissioners and their staff: this work is not easy and was not easy, and we thank you for your commitment. You had to hear the harrowing experiences of people with disability, who had been let down by services, systems, institutions, government and the community.

The disability royal commission has made 222 recommendations. These recommendations can be divided into those that are directed to the Commonwealth, those that are solely directed to states and territories, and those where there is joint responsibility. The volumes released should be read. They should be reflected on by all of us for years to come. We welcome the disability royal commission's final report and its vision for a more inclusive society, where people with disability are included in all aspects of society and where violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of people with disability are not acceptable. Its message is clear: as a nation, we must do better.

Over the past 4½ years, the outpouring of experiences of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation has shocked and disturbed Australians. Around 55 per cent of people with disability aged between 18 and 64 have been sexually or physically abused since the age of 15. This is significantly higher than adults without disability in that age group. Of course, these are not just statistics; they are the experiences of real people. That's why the first volume of the final report rightly focuses on the nearly 10,000 stories, shared with the royal commission, of people with disability and their families, carers and advocates.

There is the experience of Rebecca, a woman with autism and an intellectual disability, who had a large clump of her hair pulled out as she was dragged across the floor by another resident in a group disability home in Melbourne. There's also the experience of Hashem, who lives with chronic pain, chronic fatigue, anxiety and depression. He was assaulted and abused on a daily basis in his neighbourhood and even in his own home. He had bottles and rocks thrown at his house, his possessions were urinated on, and he even experienced death threats. There are broader stories of exclusion. Zoya, in her early 50s, has a physical disability and vision impairment. She shared how she often experienced barriers to employment when she disclosed to workplaces the adjustments that she needed. Despite being clearly qualified for the role, or the preferred candidate, she was not accepted for the role.

There are two overarching themes across the royal commission's report. The first is the importance of ensuring the rights of people with disability are upheld and that there are appropriate safeguards and protections in place so they can live their lives free from abuse and neglect. The second overarching theme is the importance of the inclusion of people with disability across all aspects of society, including employment, education, health and housing. To achieve this, it's important that we always ensure the views and preferences of people with disability are supported, heard and respected, and that these preferences inform decision-making and service delivery. It's also about ensuring supports enable full and active participation in economic and social endeavours, facilitate access to appropriate services and support health, wellbeing and autonomy.

The royal commission proposes a vision for an inclusive Australia, in which people with disability live free from harm, where human rights are protected, and where individuals live with dignity, equality and respect. Achieving this vision will take a coordinated effort from all of us, including attitudinal change through greater community understanding about disability, greater visibility of people with disability and more contact between people with and without disability. This is critical to building a more inclusive society, because it will take a whole-of-society approach to achieving the change that goes beyond government to respond to the royal commission's findings, an approach that sees everyone in our community pulling in the same direction to achieve the level of inclusion that is required to drive change.

The Albanese government will take the final report of the disability royal commission very seriously. As an immediate action, and in recognition of the significance of the scale of these reforms recommended by the disability royal commission, we've established a Commonwealth Disability Royal Commission Taskforce. The taskforce will coordinate the Commonwealth's response, particularly on the recommendations that are focused on the Commonwealth. The taskforce will be critical in assessing how individual recommendations link together, understanding the broader implications of the recommendations and sequencing of the government's response. As many of the recommendations are directed to the Commonwealth, the taskforce will play an important role in assessing how the response to the recommendations could be implemented. Of course, we are committed to consulting with the disability community and key stakeholders to inform our response. We will have a comprehensive stakeholder engagement plan to inform what actions we will take next.

While the disability royal commission has been running, our government hasn't waited to start work to improve the lives of people with disability in Australia and promote better inclusion. I am pleased that, as minister, I've been working very closely with all my state and territory counterparts, who have a shared commitment to improving outcomes for people with disability, particularly through Australia's Disability Strategy. We will continue to work together to address recommendations with this shared responsibility. The disability royal commission will also be given ongoing attention at future meetings between the Commonwealth and state and territory governments.

While the government is taking action through Australia's Disability Strategy, our national framework to improve the lives of people with disability, I have been particularly focused on making sure that this strategy is not just words on a piece of paper but actually brought to life. On Tuesday, I announced the public consultation on the design of the Disability Employment Centre of Excellence to improve employment outcomes for people with disability and increase the capacity of employment service providers and employers. This will complement the work I've been leading to drive a focus on quality in disability employment services through the new quality framework, undertaking pilots focused on career pathways in the NDIS and disability employment services interface, ahead of introducing a new specialised disability employment service. For supported employees, we are supporting the evolution of the supported employment sector and are developing an information and advocacy service, as well as structural adjustment funding, to ensure that supported employment services can evolve. We've also introduced the Disability Services and Inclusion Bill into this parliament to enable the delivery of inclusive, accessible and safe services for people with disability outside the NDIS and to strengthen regulation to protect their safety and rights.

Our approach to the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children recognises and elevates that women and children with disability are at a higher risk of violence and can find it harder to access help when they need it. We are looking at solutions to address this. Through the safe and supported action plans, we've made children and young people with disability a priority, as they have a particularly higher risk of suffering from harm and neglect. We have doubled the government's investment in systemic advocacy to the disability representative organisations. This is to name just a few of the actions our government has taken.

Given the breadth and scope of the final report, the government will take a considered and staged approach to responding to its recommendations. Responding to the disability royal commission will take a whole-of-government response. This work will be done in close consultation with the disability community and other stakeholders. As the final report indicated, government, service providers, employers, education and health bodies, schools, advocates and representatives and all of the Australian public must work together on this. We all have a role to play.

This royal commission has highlighted the harms and exclusions experienced by people with disability. It has enabled us as a nation to better understand what needs to change to prevent violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of people with disability.

The Albanese government is committed to driving change across the country to ensure that the right of people with disability to live free from harm is upheld. We will continue to listen and to act. We recognise the hurt and the trauma that people with disability have experienced, and we are committed to creating a safer, more inclusive Australia for all people with disability.

Michael Sukkar (Deakin, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I acknowledge the statement made by the Minister for Social Services here this morning. As the minister outlined, the establishment by the former coalition government of the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability marked a significant milestone in addressing what has been a long-standing issue in this nation and one that has been recognised by many people in this chamber—that is, the issue of violence, neglect and exploitation of people with disabilities.

It's a matter of record that the royal commission's genesis was a direct response to the growing concerns of Australians about the treatment of some of the most vulnerable people in our community. The royal commission, as we envisaged it as a coalition government, set out to achieve a number of crucial objectives, including preventing and better protecting people with disabilities from experiencing harm; improving the processes for reporting and investigating incidents that fell short of the bar; and promoting a more inclusive society that ultimately supports individuals with disabilities to live independently and to be, overall, be free from violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation.

As I said, the royal commission was established by the coalition in April 2019 and began to accept public submissions from 30 June that same year. We put in place a comprehensive suite of measures to support the people affected by the royal commission and committed to providing counselling services and other support to people with disability in connection with their, at that time, impending participation in the royal commission. It was an acknowledgement by the then coalition government of the impact it would have on people when we were asking them to bring forward their stories and experiences and to help us to use those negative experiences to inform the royal commission. During this process the former coalition government also agreed to Commissioner Sackville's request to extend the royal commission, at that time, a further 17 months until September this year. This highlighted the enormity of the task and the sheer number of people who wanted to tell their story and inform the commission of its work.

In having commenced the royal commission, I say to the minister that we expect, and I have no reason to doubt, that the government will meaningfully, thoroughly and, importantly, in a timely manner respond to the royal commission's 222 recommendations. I know there's a lot here. I know there's a lot of work. But this has to be addressed as quickly as possible, and we will support the efforts of the government to quickly do that. We will wait to see the government's response to the more than 200 recommendations. We accept that they are complex. We reserve the right to disagree with either the recommendations themselves or the response of the government. But I will be informed by how we can support the government to act in a timely fashion, because I accept that, for those people participating in the royal commission since 2019, it has been an exhaustive process, albeit an important one, to get to where we are now. I have no reason to believe that it could have been done any faster. There's a lot there, but the government, in our view, needs to move as quickly as possible.

The commission clearly examined a wide range of behaviours that constitute violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation in a number of settings. That obviously includes physical assault, sexual assault, various forms of constraints, restrictive practices, forced treatments and interventions, harassment, and financial and economic abuse as well as significant violations, which came out in the evidence, of the privacy and overall dignity of people who absolutely deserve dignity, as does every other Australian. The disability royal commission didn't limit its inquiry to a specific range of settings but rather sought to understand it in all its contexts. This included schools, workplaces, jails and detention centres, secure disability and mental health facilities, group homes, boarding homes, family homes, hospitals and day programs.

By examining such a wide range of environments, the coalition's view is that the commission was able to provide to the government a comprehensive assessment of various challenges faced by people. Good people can take different interpretations of the evidence that has been presented and can disagree on the way forward, but we're confident everyone will be motivated by the lofty goals that underpinned the royal commission. As the minister outlined—and I will not repeat what the minister said in detail—we want to acknowledge and thank everybody who assisted with the royal commission. It was a long and winding road. There were nearly 8,000 submissions and nearly 18,000 phone inquiries. Issue papers were published, and there were nearly 2,000 private sessions held. So it's a huge, exhaustive set of recommendations. It was a testament to those involved.

I just reiterate that there's a huge amount to deal with here. Having had some experience, I can say that, for a minister in government, there are always things that come out of left field. There are always issues of the day that you have to address that can throw you off track, but we have to move as quickly as possible on this. And we will be, to the greatest extent possible, facilitating a swift response because every day we wait, everyday issues that have a meaningful and negative impact on Australians with a disability go unaddressed in the settings that have been looked at. I just reiterate that, in terms of the process that has been laid out by the minister and the government thus far in relation to examining and progressing these issues, many of which interact with state governments and their responsibilities, the opposition will be placing a premium on decisions and processes that can result in outcomes as soon as possible, and we will be very keen to facilitate those.

Finally, I reiterate my gratitude and thanks to everybody who told their story and who relived some element of trauma in their life. They should know that, by doing that, they will have prevented somebody in the future from suffering in a similar way.