Wednesday 24 September
PWDA held a disability-specific roundtable with the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery during his visit to Melbourne last November.
The Special Rappoteur's 'Australia country visit report' has now been released. The report contains strong recommendations on disability, largely informed by PWDA's joint submissions and roundtable discussions.
PWDA welcomes the UN Special Rapporteur's report, raising alarm about disturbing forms of modern slavery perpetrated against people with disability in Australia.
During his most recent visit, the Special Rapporteur received troubling information about people with disability being forced into housework and subjected to physical and sexual violence within private homes. He heard that women, children, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and other minorities with disability are at even greater risk of exploitation.
The report also noted:
- unscrupulous individuals siphoning off National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) funding and , sometimes moving residents to undisclosed locations;
- inadequate inspections and audits of premises where abuse occurs; and
- a heightened risk of forced marriage among people with intellectual disability.
These findings reflect what PWDA and our partner organisations previously raised in submissions and at roundtables with the Special Rapporteur. Concerns about abuse, neglect, and exploitation in group homes and segregated employment have long been documented by the Disability Royal Commission and advocacy groups. The exploitation of people's NDIS funding has also been reported in media investigations..
Modern slavery support services have told us that they are often left scrambling to find options for survivors with disability, because mainstream crisis systems are rarely accessible. This loophole leaves people without the very protections they need most.
Migrants with Disability Face Even Greater Risks
Migrant and refugee people with disability are even more vulnerable to exploitation because they often do not have access to the NDIS or Medicare. This means that when they escape situations of abuse or forced labour, they cannot access the disability supports - such as safe housing, mobility aids, or support workers - that are critical to recovery and independence.
Without these supports, migrants with disability are often left at risk of re-exploitation, as they may be forced to return to unsafe environments or depend on exploitative arrangements for survival.
Migrants with disability who cannot access the NDIS or Medicare are particularly exposed - they are effectively abandoned by the system and left to fend for themselves.
Frontline organisations are often left scrambling to find safe and accessible options for survivors with disability. For migrants without formal entitlements, these options are almost non-existent.
PWDA is calling on the Australian Government to act swiftly and adopt the Special Rapporteur's recommendations in full, with consultation with people with disability.
People with disability are disproportionately subject to exploitation and abuse, yet our systems are failing them. The Government must take decisive action to close these dangerous gaps.
