Disabled given a voice in inquiry

AUSTRALIANS with disabilities are essentially living under a system of apartheid that sentences them to exclusion, inequity and violence, a longawaited inquiry has heard.

But the royal commission examining the abuse, neglect and exploitation of people with a disability has vowed to put one of the nation’s dark shames in the spotlight.

Chair Ronald Sackville has finally opened the first sitting of what will be a three-year inquiry, wider in scope than the one that examined institutional child abuse.

He has vowed to methodically examine how Australia is living up to UN conventions safeguarding the human rights of people living with a disability. He will look at why past inquiries haven’t resulted in the improvements advocates have been demanding for decades.

And he will delve into traumatic, personal accounts of physical, sexual and other types of abuse wherever it has happened, from private households to shared homes, schools to workplaces, and prisons to hospitals.

“It is truly formidable,” he said in Brisbane yesterday, as he outlined the task ahead of the royal commission.

“But we cannot complete that task successfully unless people are prepared to tell their stories. We have to ensure that unheard voices are finally heard.”

Indigenous commissioner Andrea Mason said people with a disability were effectively living under a system of apartheid, with two sets of rules for people where there should be only one. But the line in this instance was not about race but physical and mental capabilities.

“This royal commission, with all of its powers and protections, is a safe place for you to speak your truth,” she said yesterday.

A series of public inquiries will be held in the coming years, with one or two planned before the end of this year.

The session yesterday did not take evidence but the room was full of people who hold great expectations about what the inquiry must achieve.

For Michelle King, it’s about future-proofing the life of her stepdaughter Daelle Bunker, who is 20 and has a genetic condition that affected the development of her brain. She cannot walk or speak and requires 24-hour care.

“We’ve been very lucky. She has never really experienced abuse or neglect in care but it is why she still lives at home,” Ms King said.

THIS ROYAL COMMISSION, WITH ALL ITS POWERS AND PROTECTIONS, IS A SAFE PLACE FOR YOU TO SPEAK YOUR TRUTH.

ANDREA MASON