Key Points
- The final report of the disability royal commission will be publicly released Friday.
- The royal commission heard evidence from more than 10,000 Australians over four-and-a-half years.
- Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek says she expects the report will make for "disturbing reading".
This article contains references to abuse.
The long-awaited final report of the federal disability royal commission has been handed to the governor-general ahead of its public release.
The commissioners delivered the report on Thursday to David Hurley at Government House in Canberra, where it will be passed to the federal government and tabled in parliament for public release on Friday.
The royal commission heard evidence from more than 10,000 Australians through written submissions, private sessions and public hearings over four-and-a-half years.
People shared experiences of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation.
Minister warns that report may disturb
Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said she expected the report would make for "disturbing reading".
"The important thing now is to make sure people with disabilities can live safely, can be part of our community in safety, that the institutions that are supposed to support and look after them are surely doing that," she told Sky on Thursday.
The government would examine the report recommendations closely, Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth previously said.
"We will take this report seriously," she said.
"Inclusion needs to be embedded right across community because that is how we ensure people with disability are properly included and inclusive across our whole society."
The report should highlight the human rights breaches experienced by people living with a disability in every state and territory, People with Disability Australia president Nicole Lee says.
"Our laws must change so disabled people have equal access to human rights just like everyone else," she said.
"We need robust laws that ensure our basic rights are upheld - like our right to be educated alongside our peers, to live independently in the community, to not be subjected to physical restraint, seclusion or forced treatment."
Educational inclusion, worker registration and improving accountability
David Armstrong, one of the education experts referred to in the royal commission, expects the report to recommend improved regulation of the education sector to better support students with disabilities.
"Educational inclusion is failing, as many schools struggle to meet the basic needs of students with a disability," he said.
Any recommendations must take the changing landscape of schooling into account, Mr Armstrong said.
"The Australian public school system is in crisis due to a perfect storm of failed education policy and underinvestment, plus the impacts of COVID-19," he said.
"The report recommendations - and the success of this royal commission... - must now be judged against these changing realities."
Victoria's disability worker commissioner has also called for a national worker registration scheme to improve the safety of people with a disability.
"The royal commission has highlighted in shocking detail how little accountability there is in the sector," Dan Stubbs said.
"With around only half of support workers operating under the NDIS, it's clear we need workforce regulation beyond that."
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