The draft Terms of Reference for the Commonwealth Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability are
RECOGNISING that people with disability have the right to respect for their worth and dignity
and the right to fulfil their potential as equal citizens.
AND that people with disability have the same rights as other members of Australian society
to live and participate in safe environments free from violence, abuse, neglect and
exploitation.
AND all forms of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation against people with disability are
abhorrent.
AND Australia has international obligations to take appropriate legislative, administrative and
other measures to promote the human rights of people with disability, including to protect
people with disability from all forms of exploitation, violence and abuse under the Convention
on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
AND to give effect to those obligations and broader responsibilities to all Australians, all
Australian Governments provide funding and services for people with disability, and have
implemented laws to protect and enhance the wellbeing of people with disability.
AND it is important that violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of people with disability in
all settings and contexts are exposed and examined.
AND it is important that best practice is identified to inform future decision making on what all
Australian Governments and others can do to prevent and respond to violence, abuse,
neglect and exploitation of people with disability.
AND all Australian Governments have expressed their in-principle support for, and
undertaken to cooperate with the inquiry.
NOW THEREFORE appoint you to be a Commission of inquiry, and require and authorise
you, to inquire into the following matters:
a) what governments, institutions and the community should do to prevent, and better
protect, people with disability from experiencing violence, abuse, neglect and
exploitation, having regard to the extent of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation
experienced by people with disability in all settings and contexts;
b) what governments, institutions and the community should do to achieve best practice
to encourage reporting and effective responses to violence, abuse, neglect and
exploitation of people with disability, including addressing failures in, and
impediments to, reporting, investigating and responding to such conduct;
c) what should be done to promote a more inclusive society which supports the
independence of people with disability and their right to live free from violence,
abuse, neglect and exploitation;
d) any matter reasonably incidental to a matter referred to in paragraphs (a) to (c) or
that you believe is reasonably relevant to the inquiry.
AND We direct you to make any recommendations arising out of your inquiry that you
consider appropriate, including recommendations about any policy, legislative, administrative
or structural reforms.
AND, without limiting the scope of your inquiry or the scope of any recommendations arising
out of your inquiry that you may consider appropriate, We direct you, for the purposes of
your inquiry and recommendations, to have regard to the following matters:
e) all forms of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of people with disability,
whatever the setting or context;
f) all aspects of quality and safety of services, including informal supports, provided by
governments, institutions and the community to people with disability, including the
National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and the NDIS Quality and Safeguarding
Framework agreed by all governments in 2017;
g) that people with disability have specific needs, priorities and perspectives based on
their personal circumstances, including their age, sex, gender, sexual orientation,
intersex status or race, acknowledging the particular situation of Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander people and culturally and linguistically diverse people with
disability;
h) the critical role families, carers, advocates, the workforce and others play in providing
care and support to people with disability;
i) examples of good practice and innovative models of preventing and/or responding to
violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of people with disability;
j) the findings and recommendations of previous relevant reports and inquiries.
AND We further declare that you are not required by these Our Letters Patent to inquire, or
to continue to inquire, into a particular matter to the extent that you are satisfied that the
matter has been, is being, or will be, sufficiently and appropriately dealt with by another
inquiry or investigation or a criminal or civil proceeding.
AND, without limiting the scope of your inquiry or the scope of any recommendations arising
out of your inquiry that you may consider appropriate, We direct you, for the purposes of
your inquiry and recommendations, to consider the following matters, and We authorise you,
as you consider appropriate, having regard to the date by which you are required to submit
your final report, to take (or refrain from taking) any action arising out of your consideration:
k) the need to establish accessible and appropriate arrangements for people with
disability, and their families, carers and others, to engage with the Royal
Commission, and to provide evidence and information to you about their
experiences;
l) the need to establish mechanisms to facilitate the timely communication of
information, or the furnishing of evidence, documents or things, in accordance with
section 6P of the Royal Commissions Act 1902 or any other relevant law, including,
for example, for the purpose of enabling the timely investigation and prosecution of
offences;
m) the need to ensure that evidence that may be received by you that identifies
particular individuals as having been subject to violence, abuse, neglect and
exploitation is dealt with in a way that does not prejudice current or future criminal or
civil proceedings or other contemporaneous inquiries;
n) the need to establish appropriate arrangements in relation to current and previous
inquiries, in Australia and elsewhere, for evidence and information to be shared with
you in ways consistent with relevant obligations so that the work of those inquiries,
including, with any necessary consents, the testimony of witnesses, can be taken into
account by you in a way that avoids unnecessary duplication, improves efficiency
and avoids unnecessary trauma to witnesses.
AND We declare that in these Our Letters Patent:
The term people with disability refers to people with all kinds of impairment from birth or
acquired through illness, accident or the ageing process. It includes cognitive impairment, as
well as physical, sensory, intellectual, and psycho-social disability.
The term government refers to the government of the Commonwealth or of a State or
Territory.
