Introduction
Submission to Department of Social Services
12 January 2024
Acknowledgement of Country
National Legal Aid acknowledges Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures; and to Elders both past and present.
Introduction
National Legal Aid (NLA) welcomes the opportunity to provide our views on the recommendations made by the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with disability (the DRC). About National Legal Aid and Australia’s legal aid commissions NLA brings together the practice experience of the eight Australian state and territory legal aid commissions (LACs). In the 2022-23 financial year, LACs provided over 1.7 million legal services to people across the country. These included services to people with disability through Your Story Disability Legal Support supporting the Disability Royal Commission, and services to assist people in relation to the National Disability Insurance Scheme, mental health advocacy and guardianship, disability discrimination, accessible community legal education, and services in the criminal, family, family violence and child protection justice systems. NLA recognises that people with disability are from diverse cultural groups and backgrounds, and have needs, priorities and perspectives related to their age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, race, and cultural and linguistic backgrounds, among other factors. We acknowledge the diversity of disability and the diversity of experiences of people with disability. We also acknowledge the impact of structural racism and colonisation on First Nations peoples living with disability, and the importance of trauma-informed care, cultural strengthening, and self determination.
Submission
National Legal Aid (NLA) welcomes the opportunity to provide our views on the prioritisation of the recommendations made by the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with disability (the DRC). We acknowledge the incredible breadth and depth of the Royal Commission’s report and recommendations, and the contributions by so many lived experience experts through individual submissions, roundtables and provision of evidence to the DRC that led to the development of these recommendations.
We strongly support the calls and submissions from people with lived experience and disability advocates, and defer to their prioritisation of recommendations. We also recognise that prioritisation of the recommendations is challenging, given each of the recommendations addresses the key issues identified related to ending violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of people with disability, including access to fundamental rights, including to life and safety, including cultural safety.
To that end, we consider it critical to prioritise recommendations that:
- Address safety for people living with disability
- Improve supports and services for First Nations people with disability, with an emphasis on upholding and enlivening the principle of self determination
- Resource the holistic service system response to adequately implement DRC recommendations, including recommendations related to the NDIS, education, health and corrective services, and
- Support lived experience leadership and co-design in the implementation of systems change.
Beyond this, NLA have focused on relevant law reform recommendations from the DRC given our practice expertise. We consider the following will be needed to support implementation of the law reform recommendations:
Alignment of the DRC recommendations with existing federal and state reform agenda.
The DRC recommendations should consider existing reforms underway, such as the consultation regarding a national Human Rights Framework, the draft Administrative Reform Tribunal Bill and the NDIS Review. For example, it will be important to consider how a standalone Disability Rights Act might interact with a national Human Rights Framework and recommendations from the relevant consultation. Ensuring consistency and staged implementation of the intersecting reforms must however be balanced with not delaying the implementation of priority DRC recommendations.
Collaboration with the legal assistance and advocacy sector is required to implement DRC recommendations.
The DRC recommended a high number of law reform. This is important to prioritise to improve access to justice and remove systemic barriers faced by people with disability, as outlined throughout the DRC report. It will be important for government to consider and collaborate with the legal assistance and disability advocacy sector, to draft or amend relevant legislation. We also anticipate increased funding of legal assistance and advocacy will be required to support the implementation of new and amended laws. The priority should be continuation of funding for a National Disability Legal Service and funding to assist with the recommendation to establish a new National Disability Commission including to implement a new complaints process (Rec 5.5, 4.18 & 4.19).
Conclusion
Thank you for the opportunity to provide a feedback on the Disability Royal Commission Report recommendations.
Should you require any further information from us please be in touch with the NLA Secretariat on 03 6236 3813 or nla@legalaid.tas.gov.au