Restrictive practices limit a person’s rights or freedom of movement and come in various forms. Seclusion, such as locking someone in a room, using restraints like handcuffing someone to a bed or medicating someone to control their behaviour are all examples of restrictive practice.
Restrictive practices are used in different settings, including residential homes, group homes, schools, health settings (eg hospitals) and the justice system (eg gaols). Some respondents suggested First Nations people with disability are more likely to experience restrictive practices.
Respondents said restrictive practices can have negative effects on people with disability. This includes trauma, poor health, shorter lifespan and death. They said using restrictive practices can be degrading and cruel. Their use can create a culture which does not value people with disability, and make denying them their rights seem normal.
People responding to the paper discussed a range of ways to prevent, reduce or stop the use of restrictive practices. These included:
- changing workplace cultures to support human rights
- improving training and education
- ensuring services that may use restrictive practices are properly monitored
- ensuring disability sector professionals and the NDIS are properly trained and accredited, and accountable for how they treat people with disability.
- Topics:
- Disability Royal Commission, violence, Abuse and Neglect
- Author:
- Disability Royal Commission
- Date published:
- Tue 13th Apr, 2021