Australians with disabilities will have greater protection from discrimination and increased inclusion in society, the federal government has pledged in its long-awaited response to the disability royal commission.
The Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability (Disability Royal Commission) was Australia’s largest inquiry into the experiences of people with disability.
Almost a year after the commission’s final report was handed down, Labor said it would move to enact large amounts of the recommendations put forward.
Of the 222 recommendations in the final report, the government has full or joint responsibility for 172, of which it will accept 130 either in full or in principle.
It is still considering 36 recommendations – the federal government has noted six – with the remaining recommendations in the hands of states and territories.
ACT response
129 recommendations are relevant to the ACT. The ACT Government accepts 19 recommendations, accepts in principle 93 recommendations, notes two recommendations, and requires further consideration of 15 recommendations.
The ACT Government has not rejected any of the recommendations, and is working closely with the Commonwealth and all states and territories on recommendations that require a national response.
“Responding to the recommendations from the Disability Royal Commission forms part of the ACT Government’s commitment to building a community that values all people with disability,” Chief Minister Andrew Barr and disability minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said.
The ACT Government says that work is already underway in response to the Disability Royal Commission’s recommendations, supported by a more than $13.9 million investment in the 2024-25 ACT Budget. This includes funding to implement the First Action Plan of the ACT Disability Strategy 2024-2033.
That Strategy guides how the ACT Government aims to create a more inclusive Canberra, changing attitudes and building capacity across the community.
The Budget also supports the establishment of an ACT Government taskforce to progress disability reform work, including implementing the Disability Royal Commission recommendations and developing and delivering foundational supports in response to the NDIS review.
The 2023-24 Budget Review allocated $14.4 million to implement the Inclusive Education: A Disability Inclusion Strategy for ACT public schools 2024- 34 and the Disability Health Strategy First Action Plan 2024-2026.
“The formal response to the Disability Royal Commission recommendations, together with work under these action plans, will work to promote and protect the human rights of people with disability in the ACT,” the ministers said.
“The ACT Government will continue to engage closely with people with disability, carers, families and representative organisations as we implement the recommendations.”
Federal government
Federal Labor has yet to finalise its response to calls from some royal commissioners to phase out segregated schools and group homes for people with disabilities.
The government has agreed to the royal commission’s call to modernise disability discrimination laws, which have not been updated since 2009.
Almost $40 million has also been set aside to set up a disability advocacy program to bring together different support services.
A further $227 million will go towards setting up a specialist disability employment program, which will start in July 2025, following calls by the commission to improve job opportunities, with a disability employment centre of excellence also to be created.
As well, all jurisdictions, including states and territories, have agreed to review Australia’s disability strategy.
Safeguarding mechanisms will also be put in place, with a further $15.6 million to unify arrangements for people with disabilities across Australia.
National approaches to accessible information, such as Auslan, will also be improved for people with disabilities, with $12.3 million to go towards the strategy.
Amongst the more contentious elements of the royal commission’s report were calls for special schools or segregated education to be phased out, with no new classes being included from 2025.
Those recommendations were only agreed to by some of the royal commissioners.
In its response, the federal government only noted the recommendations while saying states and territories would continue to be responsible for how education systems are run.
The government said calls to raise the minimum wage for people with disabilities would be considered.
“The Australian government requires further consultation with a range of stakeholders before committing to broad reform for supported employee wages,” the response said.
Commissioners were split in the final report on whether group homes for people with disabilities should be phased out, with the government saying those calls needed further talks with the industry before an approach was put forward.
Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth said the government’s response to the royal commission was an important step in making Australian society more inclusive for people with disabilities.
“We are committed to continued and sustained effort across all jurisdictions, and all levels of government, to ensure the implementation of agreed recommendations leads to real and lasting change for people with disability,” she said.
“Ensuring people with disability are at the centre of the work we do is paramount.”
About one in five Australians, or 4.4 million people, identify as having a disability, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics data.
More than 10,000 stories were heard by the disability royal commission over four years of hearings and private submissions.
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