“The buck needs to stop”: Disability advocates call for Royal Commission recommendations to be implemented
Image: National Disability Sector advocate, River Night. Image: Developing Australian Communities/Facebook
By JUSTIN COOPER
The final report from the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability has been released, with activists seeking recommendations to be swiftly considered and implemented.
On Friday, the Royal Commission released their report and recommendations, following 4 and a half years of investigations into the numerous incidents of abuse and heinous crimes towards people with disability. Since 2019, over 800 witnesses and more than 10,000 submissions were received and examined by the Royal Commission.
222 recommendations were made directed towards improving support systems, the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), and educational sectors for people with disability.
Some of the key recommendations included the removal of segregated employment and education, phasing out group home accommodations, and drastically improving the NDIS quality and safeguards.
NDIS Safeguards
Developing Australian Communities co-founder and National Disability Sector Advocate, River Night, expressed the anticipation towards the final report and ensuring governments are quick with implementing recommendations.
“We needed a way for all Australians to wake up and see what state the sector is in and appreciate why reform is necessary,” said Night.
“The Report is full of terrible things that should never have happened but did. The legacy and generational trauma and impact on the people who have experienced these acts is ongoing and it’s compounded because this is not history it’s still happening. Every day. Right now,” Night continued.
“And now the buck needs to stop. Many of the cases and matters raised cannot wait another day for action and they certainly cannot wait till the next election year.”
Night said that the recommendations can not be stalled, saying the ongoing NDIS has the potential of being “the next Robodebt.”
“While the recommendations are many, we are waiting on the basics. Government has the basics. Some of the recommendations are for safeguards and programs that were in place before the rollout of NDIS 10 years ago,” said Night.
Over forty recommendations were made towards fixing safeguards and overall access for the NDIS, with the report highlighting families, First Nations people and rural communities currently being effected.
Segregation as a “form of discrimination”
Some recommendations were more divisive amongst the commissioners, including the removal of segregated employment and education.
However, Down Syndrome Australia CEO Darryl Steff expressed the significance for “a commitment to end separate workplaces, and special schools.”
Steff explained the conditions of current workplaces for people with disability, noting experiences of “isolation” and “being paid a pittance of $3 an hour.” Furthermore, they expressed the “form of discrimination” which segregated education is harming students with disability.
“It is time to transform our system and end separate workplaces so that people with Down syndrome and people with disabilities can be socially and economically included. That’s the future of Australia,” said Steff.
NSW forum into recommendations
In late October, The Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) and the Disability Council NSW are expected to hold a forum with disability sector stakeholders on the Royal Commision findings.
NSW Government officials will be joining the forum, including Minister for Disability Inclusion Kate Washington.
“Over the past four years, the Royal Commission has shone a light on the serious abuse, exclusion and injustice that people with disability face across our society,” said Washington.
Thanking the people who spoke out during the hearing, Washington expressed that the Royal Commission represented that “we all have to do better” towards people with disability.
“We want to honour everyone’s contribution to the Royal Commission by carefully and methodically considering each of the 222 recommendations,” Washington continued.
The NSW Government is expected to provide a formal response to the findings within the next six months.
