Jordon Steele-John (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Let us be very, very clear: the government have known for no less than nine months that there exists an impediment to disabled people, to organisations and to other individuals wishing to give evidence to our royal commission into disability abuse. The chair of the royal commission flagged this as an issue at the hearings in November. The chair subsequently wrote to the government, in February of this year, stating clearly that the absence of appropriate privacy protections—the absence of legislative amendments to the Royal Commission Act that would protect the confidentiality of people's submissions beyond the life of the royal commission—was an impediment to the commission's ability to do its job.

Let us be absolutely clear what the impact of the failure to act that we have seen from the government is upon people. Disabled people, having been through trauma, having been through abuse, having been subject to discrimination by their employer or by individuals, now wish to come before their royal commission and tell their story. And yet, in this very moment when they should be able to feel supported to do it, they are afraid. They are afraid that, should they speak, they will never work again. They are afraid that, should they speak, their families will be impacted. They are afraid that, should they speak, the situation that they find themselves in will get worse. And they are not telling their stories. They are calling hotlines run by the royal commission to be told: 'Do not tell your story, because in the absence of these amendments it is not safe.' The minister says this is under consideration, that they've been looking into it: that is the same answer you gave me in estimates in February. It is not good enough for you to have been looking at this issue for this long and to have failed to act. If you do not introduce this legislation into the parliament, then we Greens will.