The Albanese government will focus on improving job pathways for Australians with disabilities as part of a broad $371m package in response to the harrowing stories that emerged from the royal commission.
But disability representative organisations said the long-awaited joint federal, state and territory response was “deeply disappointing”, and “fails to respond to the scale of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of people with disability”.
Human rights was at the centre of the landmark report, recommending urgent reforms across housing, education, health, employment, criminal justice and disability services to make Australia a more inclusive society.
Of the report’s 222 recommendations, which spanned 12 volumes and had more than 5,000 pages, the federal government agreed to 13 recommendations in full, while 117 had been accepted in principle. It was considering another 36 and had noted six recommendations.
Those agreed to in full included a review of the national disability strategy, improvements to the employment services model and transition guidelines for NDIS participants entering custody and returning to the community.
In the final report, the royal commission noted the evidence of “appalling treatment” in some group homes – where people with disabilities and on the NDIS live together with access to support and care workers – along with a lack of autonomy.
Four of the commissioners recommended they be phased out in 15 years while another commissioner suggested the arrangements be wound up over a generational timeframe. The federal government said these proposals remain under consideration.
The NDIS minister, Bill Shorten, said he didn’t have a “final view” but added arrangements depended on a person’s needs and wishes.
“Without being definitive about the future of group homes, what we are doing is we want to make sure that the money which is given to people in support independent living focuses on quality outcomes for them, and that’s where we think the most productive use of our energy can be,” he said.
Similarly, the royal commissioners were split on how to deal with segregated schools for students with disabilities. Three commissioners called for the end of such arrangements by the end of 2051 while another two commissioners and the chair recommended maximising interactions between segregated and mainstream schools.
The social services minister, Amanda Rishworth, noted the report’s division but committed to “a more inclusive schooling system”.
A recommendation to establish a new disability rights act, and a standalone disability commission to enforce it, is still under consideration, with Rishworth saying it was down to “sequencing” with other possible human rights reforms and further consultation.
“There is mixed views in the disability community about whether they would prefer a Disability Rights Act or for disability to be embedded in a Human Rights Act,” she said on Wednesday morning.
The royal commission’s recommendation to create a standalone minister and department for disability inclusion was not accepted. The government said while it supported strong national leadership on disability policy and programs, there were already two cabinet positions – social services and the NDIS – with responsibility for national disability policies and programs.
Asked why a simple title change wasn’t considered, Rishworth said it was a job for many ministers.
“I think it’s important that if we are going to shift the dial when it comes to disability inclusion in this country, there is a responsibility on every minister in the commonwealth, along with states and territories,” she said.
In a joint statement issued on Wednesday afternoon, 12 major national representative and advocacy organisations said the royal commission had been “a once-in-a-lifetime examination of the scale of violence so many people with disability experience and deserves and demands a response of the same scale.”
Key recommendations about preventing that violence and exploitation – which the organisations noted included national coordination, reform of disability service providers, changes to the law, increased access to support and leadership of people with disability in driving these changes – had not been adequately addressed.
“There is little concrete commitment or funding for any of these areas,” the joint statement said.
“One of the most important reforms that is needed to safeguard people with disability against violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation is the establishment of a federal Human Rights Act, which our organisations support. Disappointingly, this recommendation has not been fully accepted.”
The lion’s share of the initial funding – $227.6m – would go toward designing a specialist disability program announced in the May budget. It would help those with disabilities to prepare for, find and maintain suitable jobs. Another $23.3m was earmarked to create a Disability Employment Centre of Excellence to help providers deliver effective employment services.
Rishworth urged employers to look outside the box when hiring, adding “businesses are missing out on talent people with disability because they are not offering them the same opportunities”.
Almost $7m would be set aside to review the Disability Discrimination Act with the aim of modernising rules that had not been substantially changed since 2009. Another $39.7m would go toward redesigning and streamlining the national disability advocacy program to offer information and support to those in the community.
Grassroots efforts to improve community attitudes and reduce stigma around disabilities would receive $19.6m. A $25.8m package would go towards safety improvements, such as unifying national disability quality and safeguarding arrangements and continuing an abuse and neglect hotline.
The funding of disability services outside the NDIS has been at the centre of a battle between the commonwealth and the states and territories. Rishworth said she couldn’t speak on behalf of them, but insisted she was “very confident” the jurisdictions would continue to collaborate.
The disability spokesperson the Greens, Jordan Steele-John, said the governments’ response “disrespects the immense contributions and emotional labour of the disability community” to the royal commission.
“We need the government to commit funding for the radical transformation required to end ableism and discrimination in this country. We need a minister for disability to ensure this reform happens. We need collective liberation: to immediately raise the DSP, and end segregation in our workplaces, schools, and homes,” Steele-John said.
