The Albanese government will focus on improving job pathways for Australians with disabilities as part of a broad $371m package that comes in response to the harrowing stories that emerged from a royal commission.
The long-awaited response to the royal commission into violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of people with disability comes 10 months after its final report shed light on the harm, exclusion and discrimination many experience.
Human rights was at the centre of the landmark report, recommending urgent reforms across housing, education, health, employment, criminal justice and disability services to make Australia a more inclusive society.
Of the report’s 222 recommendations, which spanned 12 volumes and had more than 5,000 pages, the federal government agreed to 13 recommendations in full, while 117 had been accepted in principle. It was considering another 36 and had noted six recommendations.
Those agreed to in full include a review of the national disability strategy, improvements to the employment services model and transition guidelines for NDIS participants entering custody and returning back to the community.
In the final report, the royal commission noted the evidence of “appalling treatment” in some group homes – where people with disabilities and on the NDIS live together with access to support and care workers – along with a lack of autonomy.
Four of the commissioners recommended they be phased out in 15 years while another commissioner suggested the arrangements be wound up over a generational timeframe. The federal government said these proposals remain under consideration.
The NDIS minister, Bill Shorten, said he didn’t have a “final view” but added arrangements depended on a person’s needs and wishes.
“Without being definitive about the future of group homes, what we are doing is we want to make sure that the money which is given to people in support independent living focuses on quality outcomes for them, and that’s where we think the most productive use of our energy can be,” he said.
Similarly, the royal commissioners were split on how to deal with segregated schools for students with disabilities. Three commissioners called for the end of such arrangements by the end of 2051 while another two commissioners and the chair recommended maximising interactions between segregated and mainstream schools.
The social services minister, Amanda Rishworth, noted the report’s division but committed to moving to “a more inclusive schooling system”.
A recommendation to establish a new disability rights act, and a standalone disability commission to enforce it, is still under consideration with Rishworth saying it was down to “sequencing” with other possible human rights reforms and further consultation.
“There is mixed views in the disability community about whether they would prefer a Disability Rights Act or for disability to be embedded in a Human Rights Act,” she said on Wednesday morning.
The royal commission’s recommendation to create a standalone minister and department for disability inclusion was not accepted. The government said while it supported strong national leadership on disability policy and programs, there were already two cabinet positions – social services and the NDIS – with responsibility for national disability policies and programs.
Asked why a simple title change wasn’t considered, Rishworth said it was a job for many ministers.
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“I think it’s important that if we are going to shift the dial when it comes to disability inclusion in this country, there is a responsibility on every minister in the commonwealth, along with states and territories,” she said.
The lion’s share of the initial funding – $227.6m – would go toward designing a specialist disability program announced in the May budget. It would help those with disabilities to prepare for, find and maintain suitable jobs. Another $23.3m was earmarked to create a Disability Employment Centre of Excellence to help providers deliver effective employment services.
Rishworth urged employers to look outside the box when hiring, adding “businesses are missing out of talent people with disability because they are not offering them the same opportunities”.
Almost $7m would be set aside to review the Disability Discrimination Act with the aim of modernising rules that had not been substantially changed since 2009. Another $39.7m would go toward redesigning and streamlining the national disability advocacy program to offer information and support to those in the community.
Grassroots efforts to improve community attitudes and reduce stigma around disabilities would receive $19.6m. A $25.8m package would go towards safety improvements, such as unifying national disability quality and safeguarding arrangements and continuing an abuse and neglect hotline.
The funding of disability services outside the NDIS has been at the centre of a battle between the commonwealth and the states and territories. Rishworth said she couldn’t speak on behalf of them, but insisted she was “very confident” the jurisdictions would continue to collaborate.
At the final ceremonial sitting of the commission last year, the chair, Ronald Sackville, said the abuses exposed by the royal commission demanded an “urgent and comprehensive response from all Australian governments”.