Approximately 1,600 NDIS participants are amongst 4,000 people living in 115 SRS’ across Victoria. The interim report to be released today – which was triggered by whistle-blowers and commissioned by the Federal Government – found rife practices against NDIS participants by unscrupulous SRS providers including limiting access to supports, neglect, emotional manipulation, bribery, financial abuse and kidnapping.
The ABC highlight some of the biggest takeaways from the disability royal commission after four years of hearings.
Workers in the family violence prevention and disability sectors will be better equipped with the skills to prevent violence against women with disabilities thanks to a funding boost to Women with Disabilities Victoria (WDV).
The president of People with Disability, Nicole Lee, says the commission has shone a light on the level of violence some people have experienced.
Two brothers with disabilities were discovered severely malnourished, naked and locked in a room with no food or furniture, the disability royal commission has been told. The commission heard on Monday about the shocking case of two young men, aged 17 and 19, who authorities found living in squalid conditions in May 2020.
Victorian organisation Women’s Health in the South East said forced sterilisation was often performed to prevent pregnancy, that it breached “every international human rights treaty to which Australia is a party” and “constitutes torture”.
People with Disability Australia and Advocacy for Inclusion have called for Hanson to withdraw the video and apologise. The People with Disability Australia president, Nicole Lee, said the video showed “insensitive cruelty” and it contained “offensive, inappropriate and inaccurate depictions of disability supports under the NDIS”. “People with disability experience high levels of abuse as it is and now we’re being used as cheap shots for political point scoring,” she said.
“It is criminal. It is so abusive. If you are going to remove a child from care, particularly a child with a disability, you have an ethical responsibility to ensure that the child’s access to support comes with them,” she said.
The damning findings against Afford, the Australian Foundation for Disability, were released after the royal commission heard evidence about a carer who abused two disabled men. The company also faces legal battles over allegations a young woman drowned in a bath while in their care.
People with disabilities in the criminal justice system feel like they exist in a “black hole” after an international torture prevention body cancelled a visit to Australia. “We’re locking them up and throwing away the key … their behaviour is misinterpreted as wilful defiance or criminal intention but it’s often just the product of their disability.”
This first Inquiry focused on the experiences of NDIS participants living in supported accommodation. The Inquiry examined reportable incidents and complaints that have been made to the NDIS Commission in connection with the supported accommodation services provided by 7 of the largest providers of these services over the period 1 July 2018 to 30 September 2022. The inquiry report describes trends in issues that are occurring in supported accommodation, what is causing those issues, models of best practice to eliminate or address these issues, and how the NDIS Commission can use its powers to support the delivery of higher standards of support in these settings.
The submission is informed by the collective knowledge and experience of independent disability advocacy member organisations. It explores the context, key barriers and challenges for the disability advocacy sector and outlines recommendations to support achieving positive outcomes for people with disability throughout Australia by eliminating the risk of experiencing violence, abuse, neglect or exploitation.
There have been more than 7,000 serious incidents — including sexual misconduct, serious injury, abuse and neglect — in disability group homes over the past four years, according to a startling new report from the NDIS complaints watchdog. The report followed an inquiry into disability group homes, set up to identify trends among issues occurring in the sector and how best to address them.
A bleak new report has revealed the scale of issues in Australia’s supported accommodation system. The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission’s inaugural ‘Own Motion Inquiry’ into Aspects of Supported Accommodation found that people with disability had experienced thousands of incidents in group homes run by seven of the nation’s largest providers.
This report draws on de-identified stories that starkly illustrate the impact of the system failures on adults who are at-risk. It identifies gaps and failures in the current framework and makes seven recommendations to improve Victoria’s safeguarding laws and practices for all at-risk adults. The recommendations aim to ensure that we do not lose sight … Continued