In September 2023, the Disability Royal Commission released its Final Report.

Beginning in 2019, the Royal Commission heard more than 10,000 stories through its public hearings, submissions, and private sessions. 

It’s the largest-ever investigation into disabled experiences of abuse, neglect and exploitation.

The Final Report makes 222 recommendations to improve life for the Australian disabled community.

Please note: this article will explore stories and statistics of abuse, assault, neglect and exploitation.

It’s okay to seek help

We understand that it can be an overwhelming experience to read this report. 

If you need help, the Blue Knot Foundation offers specialist counselling support for anyone affected by complex trauma. You can call their national hotline on 1800 421 468 or visit their website.

You can also call 1800 Respect’s 24-hour hotline if you are impacted by sexual assault, domestic violence and abuse. Call them on 1800 737 732, or visit their website.

Highlights from the Final Report

In this article, we have put together some of the highlights from the report. 

Education

The Final Report noted the segregated education system is failing many disabled students. 

This is resulting in poor educational outcomes, limited choice, social isolation and difficulty joining non-segregated society. 

In many schools, requests for reasonable adjustments and flexibility are rejected. Poorly understood and inconsistently applied standards prevent disabled students from fully participating.

Recommendations from the Final Report include:

• Improving teaching standards with an inclusive education framework 
• From 2025, no new segregated schools will be created, with no new enrolments by 2031
• By 2052, there will be no segregated schools in Australia.

Housing

Where there is segregation, there is often an increased risk of abuse and neglect. And that’s something we’ve seen consistently throughout the Disability Royal Commission.

Around 17,000 Australians currently live in group homes. These are mostly people with intellectual disabilities. 

The Royal Commission found many people in disability accommodation have experienced poor and abusive treatment. This includes:

• Not having necessities 
• No way to connect with people and build relationships 
• Not being able to access the community
• Abuse and neglect that have resulted in severe harm or death 
• Forced sedation, seclusion and reports of people being kept in cages.

Housing outside of group homes is also difficult. It is hard to get safe and accessible housing because of:

• Long wait times 
• Lack of suitability 
• Cost 
• Difficulty getting accessibility modifications.

Recommendations from the Final Report include:

• Letting people choose where they live and how they use their accommodation funding
• End to segregated housing by 2038 
• Changing the National Construction Code 2022 to include minimum accessibility requirements 
• Government should adopt access standards for all new social housing.

Employment

Around 20,000 Australians, mostly people with intellectual disabilities, work in Australian Disability Enterprises, where they can be paid well below minimum wage, sometimes as little as $2.37 per hour. 

Disabled people also experience many barriers in the workplace:

• Stigma, ableism and discrimination
• Inaccessible workplaces and communication methods
• Lack of reasonable adjustments and flexible work options
• Structural barriers, like programs, policies and procedures that make it harder for disabled people to work.

There are also concerns over low payment, lack of career progression options and difficulties getting out of segregated employment. 

Recommendations from the Final Report include:

• Employment services based on a new inclusive and flexible model co-designed by disabled people. It will be introduced from 1 July 2025 
• There is also a push for inclusive employment reforms and increased accessible opportunities for disabled people to work in the public sector.
• Increasing payment rates to at least 50% of the minimum wage (to be subsidised by the government). The result of this change will be evaluated, and then wages will be raised to be 100% of the minimum wage by 2034.

Health

The Final Report noted the disabled community does not have equal access to healthcare. 

Many services are not accessible or suitable, and disabled people are often not listened to or given a choice on their health matters. 

Recommendations from the Final Report include: 

• A more inclusive healthcare system 
• More protections and autonomy for disabled people 
• Changing laws around forced sterilisation.

Abuse

Abuse can take many forms. 

People have experienced threats, intimidation, being followed or physically blocked, being touched or moved without consent, being photographed without consent, bullying, as well as physical and sexual abuse.

The Final Report states, for example, that: 

• More than half of disabled people between the ages of 18 and 64 have experienced physical or sexual violence, compared to 38% of non-disabled people in this age group
• Disabled women and girls are twice as likely to experience sexual abuse before 15
• 90% of women with intellectual disabilities have experienced abuse.

These statistics become even more concerning when you take LGBTQIA+ disabled people, First Nations people, and people of other cultural backgrounds into account.

Recommendations from the Final Report include:

• Better data collection to understand the extent of abuse 
• More information on how to seek support
• Better accessibility in crisis accommodation
• Funding to research and address risk factors
• A more accessible justice system.

First Nations experiences

The Final Report notes that First Nations disabled people are uniquely marginalised. It says that disability cannot be separated from the ongoing impacts of colonisation, intergenerational trauma, and racism.

It also found that many First Nations people: 

• May not want to identify as disabled
• Experience a lack of culturally safe services
• Are denied or have limited access to services
• Are unable to access services while living in remote areas.

Recommendations from the Final Report include:

• Having First Nations organisations involved in all stages of the child protection system
• Having culturally safe services and assessments 
• Funding for cultural supports 
• Establishing a First Nations Disability Forum.

An Australian Disability Rights Act

The report found that international human rights laws and domestic disability discrimination legislation are not sufficient to protect the rights of disabled people in Australia. 

Recommendations from the Final Report include:

• Introducing an Australian Disability Rights Act. The Act will clearly state the human rights of disabled people, and how to implement them.
• A new independent body to support compliance with the proposed Disability Rights Act called the National Disability Commission.
• A stronger national disability policy and strategy 
• Better responses to complaints through the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission.

What happens now?

State governments will need to publish a written response to the Final Report by 31 March 2024. The Federal government has already established the Commonwealth Disability Royal Commission Taskforce to coordinate these responses and work closely with the disability community.

You can find the complete Final Report on the Disability Royal Commission website.

About the author

Zoe Simmons is a disabled journalist, copywriter, speaker, author and advocate. She writes to make the world a better place. You can find out more about Zoe on her website, or follow her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn or Tik Tok.