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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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”.
Babies are being removed at birth from First Nations mothers living with disabilities, the disability royal commission has heard. Giving evidence in Brisbane, Ms Schwartz said she had witnessed the removal of Indigenous babies first hand. “I would call it a heinous practice,” she said.
“We are among the most seriously disadvantaged members of the Australian community, and are also experts on the impact of policies on us,” says First Peoples Disability Network Chief Executive Officer Damian Griffis. “This week, a number of First Nations people with disability will give evidence about the different racist and ableist systems that harm our children.”
The essential functions and value of advocacy and representation in the protection and advancement of rights are described throughout the report and evidenced through The contribution advocates made at hearings, and submissions received from advocacy organisations.
Supporting the rights and needs of people with disability for equal access to safe, nutritious and enjoyable food is the call behind Dietitians Australia’s latest submission to the Disability Royal Commission.
This report was commissioned by the Disability Royal Commission and suggests that ‘paternalistic presumptions’ of people with disability is preventing them from living lives on their own terms. It shows how disability theories and models can contribute to promoting a more inclusive society.
This report was commissioned by the Disability Royal Commission and looks at how First Nations people with disability speak about their experience of violence and abuse. It finds that First Nations people with disability are less likely to discuss issues of violence and abuse with others outside their community because their experiences are too ‘raw’ to talk about. They often mention the terms ‘loss’ and ‘lost’ in reference to traumatic events.
This report was commissioned by the Disability Royal Commission to explore how people with disability use language, as well as concepts such as safety, inclusion, belonging and self-determination. The report finds that people with disability interpret the terms violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation in a very broad way. They could even construe help from others as violent or abusive behaviour.
The report sets out what the Royal Commission has done in its first 15 months, the cut-off point being 31 July 2020. The report says people with disability experience attitudinal, environmental, institutional and communication barriers to achieving inclusion within Australian society. It shows that a great deal needs to be done to ensure that the human rights of people with disability are respected and that Australia becomes a truly inclusive society.
The disability royal commission’s interim report was handed down on Friday, detailing how people with disability were experiencing violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation across all aspects of their lives. The 561-page report outlines the attitudinal, environmental, institutional and communication barriers people with disability face when seeking inclusion within Australian society.