Posted March 22, 2021
From the information gathered in this report it is clear that people with disability remain at much greater risk of experiencing physical violence than people without disability. In the last year women with disability were more than twice as likely to report sexual violence as women without disability. A quarter of young people with disability reported violence in the last year compared to 11% of those in older age groups. And people with cognitive and psychological impairments reported higher rates of all types of violence compared to people with other types of impairments.
Posted March 19, 2021
Advocates are calling for change after a report found people with a disability are twice as likely to experience sexual and physical violence than those without a disability.
Posted February 26, 2021
Advocates for a First Nations man detained for 14 years in a “hopeless and desperate situation” say they will renew his case for justice with the United Nations to move him to accommodation where he can live his life with “dignity”.
Posted February 26, 2021
The latest round of hearings in the Disability Royal Commission, this time into the experience of people with disability in the criminal justice system, will wrap up today. Over the past seven days, the Commission’s heard of the shocking situation many people, particularly those with cognitive disability, face in jails and other places of detention.
Posted February 26, 2021
The disability royal commission needs a dedicated First Nations hearing to investigate the overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the criminal justice system, Indigenous leaders say.
Posted February 22, 2021
The lack of testimony from people with disabilities comes amid ongoing concerns over the way the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability has been managed, including calls for greater privacy safeguards.
Posted February 19, 2021
The UN has twice called on Australia to dismantle its indefinite detention system for people with cognitive impairments and mental illness, which disproportionately affects Indigenous people. Indefinite detention is what happens to defendants in criminal cases when they are deemed unfit to stand trial.
Posted February 19, 2021
Melanie’s story was revealed as part of the disability royal commission’s examination of the experiences of people with cognitive disabilities in the criminal justice system who are locked in indefinite detention in forensic mental health facilities.
Posted February 12, 2021
The Third Progress Report summarises the work carried out by the Royal Commission during the period 1 July to 31 December 2020 including conducting six important public hearings, despite the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, through the use of remote technology The Progress Report notes that the Chair of the Royal Commission wrote to the Prime Minister on 30 October 2020 requesting a seventeen-month extension to the Royal Commission. If the request is granted, the Final Report and recommendations will be due by 29 September 2023.
Posted December 3, 2020
The Australian Government welcomes the COVID-19 report of the Disability Royal Commission. The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic has seen significant challenges in the way all Australians live our lives, however, the Government recognises the unique factors that need to be considered when managing the health care needs of people with disability.
Posted December 3, 2020
Closing date: February 26, 2021
The Disability Royal Commission is considering all forms of violence and abuse in the home (often referred to as domestic and family violence) inflicted by intimate partners, other family members and First Nations kinship networks as well as support workers, professionals, housemates, and co-residents in shared accommodation and group homes. The issues paper on Violence and abuse of people with disability at home is asking the public to share their views about how people with disability experience violence and abuse where they live. The issues paper asks 13 questions to help people and organisations to provide responses.
Posted December 1, 2020
Closing date: February 1, 2021
This consultation is investigating how people with disability experience safeguards, what promotes quality in services, and how these may prevent and reduce exposure to violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation. An issues paper has been developed and includes 11 questions to help people and organisations to provide responses. The paper is available in Easy Read, PDF and DOCX.
Posted December 1, 2020
The Disability Royal Commission’s issued a scathing report into how government agencies failed disabled Australians during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings point to failures by government officials to consult with people with a disability in the early stages of the pandemic and to even consider what was needed to protect them from the virus. And that left people with disability feeling anxious and stressed, and forgotten by both governments and wider
Posted December 1, 2020
It was a “serious failure” that no Australian Government agency with responsibility for disability policy, including the Department of Health, made “any significant effort” to consult with people with disability or their representative organisations during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, a report by the Disability Royal Commission says.
Posted December 1, 2020
The report makes 22 wide-ranging recommendations in light of evidence from people with disability, advocates, experts and government representatives during the Royal Commission’s fifth public hearing held in August. Chair Ronald Sackville AO QC said it was clear that official lines of communication had failed between decision-makers and people with disability, leaving them feeling “forgotten and ignored”.
