The Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability (DRC) has completed two public hearings since returning from their postponement due to COVID-19.
The first hearing, held between 18-21 August, looked into experiences of people with disability during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This follows on from the Commission’s Statement of Concern about the impact of COVID-19 on people with disability released earlier this year. The hearing heard from a variety of individuals and organisations with key themes being:
Questions to be followed up as a result of this hearing include:
The second public hearing, examining the use of psychotropic medication, behaviour support and behaviours of concern, ran from 22-25 September. Themes highlighted include:
The next public hearing is scheduled for 12-16 October in Brisbane. It will focus on barriers experienced by students with disability in accessing and obtaining a safe, quality and inclusive school education and consequent life course impacts. We will provide an update of this hearing in our next newsletter.
For further information on the Royal Commission’s hearings, go to the website: https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/