Submission to the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with a Disability

In April 2021, the RACP provided its submission to the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with a Disability (the Commission).

The Commission’s terms of reference cover what should be done in all settings such as the home, schools, out-of-home care, the justice system, as well as the health sector and disability support system to:

• prevent, and better protect, people with disability from experiencing violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation
• achieve best practice in reporting and investigating of, and responding to violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation
• promote a more inclusive society that supports the independence of people with disability and their right to live free from violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation.

The RACP submission recognises that the health disparities experienced by people with disability and the ensuing stress to family members and carers is totally unacceptable and that the health sector, including medical colleges and health professionals, has a responsibility to demonstrate leadership in this area.

Individually, and via health and medical organisations, medical practitioners across Australia have the capacity to influence perceptions and attitudes to people with disability at all levels of society. Healthcare policies and programs should include specific consideration of how the needs of people with disability will be met.

In line with these principles, the RACP submission provides 35 recommendations to improve health outcomes for people with a disability and their experience of the healthcare system. This includes five proposed areas of transformational change to the health and disability sectors necessary to improve the healthcare of people with a disability:

1. Ensuring a human rights centred approach – A human-rights centred approach should be central to the planning and delivery of services for people with a disability, and all services should include reasonable adjustments, strategies to access health literacy and the inclusion of people with disability at all levels of decision-making.
2. Reducing levels of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of people with a disability – Health services should provide clinicians with adequate support to better understand and respond to potential abuse of people with disability and the specific needs of people with disability should be addressed in the National Standards for Disability Services, including information and safeguarding and support services.
3. Providing person centred, integrative care - Collaboration and cooperation between providers and services across primary, secondary and tertiary care would significantly improve health care for people with disability.
4. Improving the National Disability Insurance Scheme (the NDIS) – The NDIS must improve access and navigation of the scheme, implement the Tune Review recommendations and ensure adequate training and expertise of staff and service providers.
5. Enhancing the systems which support the health and disability sectors – Data should be consistently collected from a range of sources to contribute to a greater understanding of disability in Australia. The proposed Disability and Health Sector Consultation Committee should be established to ensure coordination of policy initiatives across Government.

In its submission, the RACP also acknowledges the needs and experiences of specific population groups and provides recommendations that, if implemented, would enhance health care for people with a disability across the lifespan. These groups include:

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
• children and young people
• adults and older people
• people in rural and remote areas
• people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
• carers.

In drafting this submission, the RACP consulted with members from a range of specialities with a specific interest in disability including paediatricians, neurologists, rehabilitation medicine physicians, general medicine physicians, public health physicians and geriatricians.

In October 2020, the Chair of the Commission requested a 17-month extension which, if granted by the Australian Government, will mean the Final Report and recommendations are published by September 2023.

Read the RACP submission

Read the Easy Read Summary