Three years after the release of the DRC report, disability advocacy groups say none of the key recommendations have been implemented by government. Photo: @DRC_AU Twitter.
Disability advocate organisations have come together to call out a lack of action from federal and state governments in implementing the recommendations from the final report of the Disability Royal Commission (DRC) into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with a Disability.
The report was handed down in September 2023 and formally responded to by governments in July 2024.
The report made 222 recommendations after hearing more than four years of evidence from 10,000 submissions, many of which documented violence and abuse against the disabled community.
The Federal Government responded to 172 recommendations which fell under its responsibility, while state and territory governments responded to the remaining 50 recommendations.
But in a report card released on 29 September, a national coalition of Disability Advocacy and Representative Organisations said many of the recommendations were yet to be implemented.
The coalition said a taskforce had been established by the Federal Government to monitor progress of the DRC report, but said it was revealed in Senate Estimates that the taskforce had been disbanded.
As a result, the coalition has launched ‘The DRC Still Matters’ campaign to highlight what they say is a lack of action and what work remains to deliver on the DRC’s recommendations.
A summary of the campaign assesses progress on 10 key recommendations from the DRC, and measures them against evidence of what has actually changed.
In short, it says zero have been fully delivered, two show some progress, three remain in the early stages of delivery, four show no real action, and one has gone backwards.
It says the 10 recommendations were selected because they reflect issues consistently raised by people with disability and its member organisations. These cover disability rights and leadership, supported decision-making, inclusive education, advocacy, restrictive practices, domestic and family violence prevention, First Nations inclusion, NDIS safeguards, and government accountability.
It says, while the DRC had called for an independent disability-led National Disability Commission to monitor implementation and report publicly on progress, this is yet to be established.
It also found what it calls significant concerns across several areas including, following the recent changes to the NDIS, progress on improving support coordination and safeguards for people at heightened risk within the NDIS appears to be moving further away from the intent of the DRC.
As a result of its findings, the coalition says it is calling on Australian governments to commit to on-time and transparent annual public reporting on every DRC recommendation. To establish independent disability-led oversight of implementation, to publish clear implementation timelines and milestones, and to accelerate action on recommendations already accepted by governments.
It says it intends to build an online tracker to continue building a public record of progress on implementation of the DRC recommendations, until every recommendation has been addressed.
Chief Executive of Physical Disability Australia Suzanne Gearing said the three-year mark was not just an anniversary.
“It is a reminder of the promises made to thousands of Australians with disability who are still waiting for change,” she said.
“The Disability Royal Commission still matters. The people who shared their stories still matter. The recommendations still matter.”
DRC Commissioner Dr Alastair McEwin said it was very disappointing to see such a low acceptance rate of the DRC recommendations.
“Such a low uptake means that we are still seeing disabled people experiencing unacceptably high levels of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation in our country, three years after the DRC ended,” he said.
“I urge all governments to implement the more than 220 recommendations from the DRC final report that outline practical ways to ensure we don’t see this violence continue into the future for our disabled members of the community.”
Chief Executive of Queensland Advocacy for Inclusion, Matilda Alexander added, “You cannot claim transparency while missing reporting deadlines and failing to establish the independent oversight mechanisms the Commission recommended”.
“If governments are serious about implementing the Royal Commission, they should welcome independent scrutiny.”
