The Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability released its final report in September 2023. The final report summarises the findings and recommendations of the Royal Commission’s inquiry held from April 2019 to September 2023.
The central goals of the report were to:
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better prevent and respond to violence against, and abuse, neglect and exploitation of, people with disability in Australia.
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create a vision for a more inclusive society that supports the independence of people with disability.
Report recommendations
The Report makes 222 recommendations on how to improve laws, policies, structures and practices to create a more inclusive and just society that supports the independence of people with disability and their right to live free from violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation.
First and foremost, the Commission recommended the Australian government establish an Australian Disability Rights Act that embodies the principles set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
To create a more inclusive society, the report identified that mainstream housing, education and employment systems must be “significantly reformed to remove barriers to people with disability”.
Recommendations focused on disability housing
Many of the recommendations were focused on housing for people with disability, including:
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Mainstream housing, education and employment systems must be “significantly reformed to remove barriers to people with disability”, the commissioners said.
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All commissioners agreed major improvements were needed in the practices of group homes, with four stating group homes should be systematically phased out.
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People with disability were “conspicuously absent” from national housing and homelessness policy frameworks, the commission found. It recommended the proposed National Housing and Homelessness Plan and the National Housing Supply and Affordability Council include people with disability “as a priority group in developing reforms”.
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Recommended changes to tenancy legislation in all Australian jurisdictions to go beyond restricting no-grounds evictions, and require landlords of private rentals to “demonstrate a good reason for terminating any tenancy of residential accommodation”, and for state and territory administrative tribunals to take into account a tenant’s disability in possession rulings.
More broadly, the report recommends the establishment of a new system for reporting and investigating issues and complaints as well as the creation of a program that supports standardising disability worker training and registration.
Inclusive Housing Australia supports the findings
The Disability Royal Commission was incredibly hard for all involved. Particularly the people with disability who told their stories. Stories of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation, it is now our job to make sure these stories are not repeated, to create the more inclusive and just society that the Commission has challenged us to create.
A more inclusive and just society is central to Inclusive Housing Australia’s purpose, the homes that we create, the relationships we develop with the people we support are our contribution to this vision.
Click here for the final report.