River Night Spoke To Annie Gaffney On ABC Sunshine Coast’s Drive
The Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability released its Seventh Progress Report on Tuesday 14 March 2023 and we have now seen over 7000 submissions received so far with more than 1500 private sessions held. Some important research has also been released into various key areas being looked at, including, complaints mechanisms and violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of LGBTQA+ people with disability.
The previous period of the Royal Commission saw public hearings into NDIS and First Nation people, homelessness, detention and criminal justice, public places, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, Guardianship and substitute decision making and a vision for an inclusive Australia.
“We are looking forward to the next step which is action and solutions. While this Royal Commission is going on these problems are occurring and the violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation we are hearing about can’t wait. I work with thousands of service providers and people living with disability around Australia and I know many of them have solutions and strategies right now to manage these issues and the risks people living with disability face.
With 4.4 Million Australians living with disability we need to get to the next stage fast. The one big theme I keep seeing throughout this process is the need for independent agencies to monitor and respond to these issues, which is a service that has lost capacity and not expanded with the roll out of NDIS. It is a crucial part of any system of checks and balances, Mr Night said.
For more information about the Royal Commission, you can visit here – https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/