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<\/p>\nAfter four-and-a-half years of work, the disability royal commission’s final report and recommendations look set to become public this week.<\/p>\n
Advocates say we can’t afford to take the recommendations lightly.<\/p>\n
The ABC has been closely following the inquiry’s many shocking and traumatic stories over the past four-and-a-half years.<\/p>\n
So, if you missed it, or need a refresher on\u00a0how we got here and what comes next, let us get you up to speed.<\/p>\n
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First, let’s define what a royal commission is.<\/p>\n
It’s a\u00a0forensic, independent investigation\u00a0<\/strong>that makes recommendations to the government about things that need to change.<\/p>\n This inquiry \u2014\u00a0formally known as\u00a0the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014\u00a0was broad-ranging, even for a royal commission.<\/p>\n It was set up in 2019, given about $600\u00a0million and tasked with investigating experiences and conditions in:<\/p>\n READ MORE:\u00a0‘Raped, beaten and treated like a dog’: The most shocking stories from the disability royal commission<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The inquiry held 32 public hearings and travelled to every state and territory in the country collecting evidence.<\/p>\n Of the 837 witnesses who spoke at public hearings,\u00a0just 209 (25 per cent) were people with disabilities<\/strong>, senior counsel assisting Kate Eastman told the final sitting of the commission.<\/p>\n Overall,\u00a0more than 10,000 people\u00a0shared their stories<\/strong>\u00a0via public hearings, submissions or private sessions.<\/p>\n The commission was given an extension in 2021, following disruptions caused by COVID-19, and by the time it reports,\u00a0will have been active for more than 1,630 days.<\/strong><\/p>\n Stories about horrific treatment of people with disability are not unique\u00a0<\/strong>\u2014\u00a0they’ve long experienced violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation at\u00a0much higher rates than the rest of the community<\/a>.<\/p>\n Disability advocates had been calling for a royal commission for decades<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Christina Ryan helped fight for the establishment of the\u00a0disability royal commission for about a decade.<\/p>\n “It was a long campaign to get it going,” says Christina Ryan. She was a part of the campaign for the royal commission and is now CEO of the Disability Leadership Institute.<\/p>\n “There was an incredible level of violence going on in the disability community … and we couldn’t just continue to accept that this is the way disabled people live their lives,” she says.<\/p>\n It heard\u00a0shocking testimony<\/strong>.<\/p>\n We’re talking about:<\/p>\n While they were hard to hear about, for many witnesses who shared their stories,\u00a0they were even harder to recount.<\/strong><\/p>\n The evidence wasn’t all confined to a dark chapter of Australian history, either \u2014\u00a0these horrors are still happening today.<\/strong><\/p>\n “People have died in our community. People are still dying in our community. People are experiencing appalling violence and trauma,” Ms Ryan says.<\/p>\n The royal commission’s final\u00a0report and recommendations, as well as the government’s response, appear set to\u00a0become public on Friday.<\/p>\n Advocates are demanding major reform,<\/strong>\u00a0saying that otherwise, the trauma and tears of the last four-and-a-half years\u00a0will have all been for nothing<\/a>.<\/p>\n “It will be an incredible failure … if the vast majority of these recommendations are not implemented as quickly as possible,” Ms Ryan says.<\/p>\n “We don’t want another situation like the Aboriginal deaths in custody royal commission, where 30 years later, we’re still looking at the same problems because the recommendations weren’t implemented.<\/p>\n “This is our only shot. We’re only going to get one royal commission.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n
Why was the Disability Royal Commission needed?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
What kind of stories did\u00a0<\/strong>the Disability Royal Commission\u00a0<\/strong>hear?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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What is next on <\/strong>the Disability Royal Commission<\/strong>?<\/strong><\/h2>\n