Two Years On From the Disability Royal Commission: A Frank look at the Government Response from the Disability Discrimination Commissioner
At PWDA's national online forum 'Two Years On From the Disability Royal Commission', Disability Discrimination Commissioner, Rosemary Kayess pre-recorded message gave a clear assessment of how governments have responded to the Royal Commission so far. Rosemary emphasised the importance of strong legal protections, accountability and independent monitoring to prevent violence, abuse and neglect.
The government response to the Disability Royal Commission has been underwhelming at best and a moral failure at worst.
Disability Discrimination Commissioner, Rosemary Kayess
Watch the full recording or read the transcript below.
Full Transcript
Hello, everyone. I'm Rosemary Kayess, the Disability Discrimination Commissioner. And a member of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities. I would firstly like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands on which we are all meeting on today. I'm on the land of the Eora nation. I pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging, and to all First Nations people who are online today.
It is not an understatement to say the government response to the Disability Royal Commission has been underwhelming at best and a failure at worst. My initial reaction is that the response is business as usual and there has been nothing since then to suggest otherwise.
I may not agree entirely with all the recommendations and I do think a number of recommendations could have been much stronger. However, the Disability Royal Commission exposed to government and the community the considerable evidence of inequality and discrimination experienced by people with disability and the violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation that is part of our daily lives and built into systems and society. The broad breadth of areas included education, employment, housing, the justice system, disability services, oversight and complaint mechanisms, supported decision making, exercising legal capacity and National Disability policies and strategies. We were all hoping for a comprehensive response from government but after two years we are left with a very limited reform agenda that is unlikely to be able to address inequality and discrimination.
The only significant big ticket item of reform with any momentum is the current review of the Disability Discrimination Act, the DDA. Reform of the DDA is long overdue and I'm pleased that we now have an opportunity to advocate for strong reforms that would include a positive duty obligation to prevent discrimination, reverse the burden of proof from individuals with disability and to address the diverse interpretation of the DDA that has led to negative outcomes for people with disability.
While DDA reform is critical, it should only be one piece of a suite of legislative reform to address violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation. Antidiscrimination legislation can only go so far. A national human rights Act based on the Australian Human Rights Commission's Free and Equal Project would be a much stronger response given it would explicitly include a right to be free from violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation.
There is a strong imperative to address the accountability of governments in implementation of monitoring of the Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities with the collapse of the geopolitical, multi lateral order, monitoring and accountability is paramount. It is the CRPD that affirms the human rights standards and principles for people with disability. Yet Australia is still not designated an independent monitoring mechanism, an IMM, to assess Australia's implementation. A key priority area for me is advocating for the Australian Human Rights Commission to be designated as an IMM to undertake this monitoring.
My preference would be for a consortium IMM model which would include the Commission, organisations of people with disability and the Commonwealth ombudsman. This will require leadership within organisations of people with disability and coordination to decide on a representative model and a strong partnership with the Australian Human Rights Commission. I'm very keen to work with PWDA in pursuing designation for an IMM and would welcome further discussion on an IMM model with you. Thank you.
