5 years ago
ROYAL COMMISSION INTO VIOLENCE, ABUSE AND NEGLECT OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITY
BILL SHORTEN MP
I congratulate the Prime Minister on what he said then, in terms of supporting a Royal Commission.
First of all, I would like to acknowledge the presence of so many disability advocates in the gallery. You are most welcome.
Many of you have waited seven and ten years and, indeed for some of you, all your life, for this discussion. So I understand that today is a good day for you and I acknowledge that - but for you - we wouldn't be having this discussion here today.
I acknowledge our guest from the Senate too, and I congratulate you on your advocacy as well, Senator.
This problem of disability and the way we let people suffer abuse and neglect and violence, is not a new problem.
When I was Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities, I thought I'd seen disadvantage in Australia's workplaces, but nothing had prepared for me for what I encountered with the second-class existence that people with disabilities and their carers were all too often receiving amongst ourselves in this country.
There is no doubt in my mind that there has been plenty of reports into how do we prevent the abuse and neglect of people with a disability. But I'm firmly of the view, and I was very persuaded by the Senate report which was released in 2015 in November, where its first recommendation - and I'm going to read it out - its first recommendation and we've known this now for over three years:
"The committee recommends that a royal commission in violence, abuse and neglect of people with disability be called, with terms of reference to be determined in consultation with people with disability, their families, supporters and disability organisations."
The abuse and mistreatment of people with disability is Australia's hidden shame.
We have been on notice about the issues for a very long time.
I am pleased that by May of 2017 Labor joined the call that others have been calling for, for a Royal Commission. And I'm pleased now that the Parliament is voting this way.
But the reason why I'm pleased is that we need to address what is the core reason why people with a disability suffer disproportionate abuse, neglect and violence.
It's because, as a nation, despite progress we might have made on the National Disability Insurance Scheme, and other things, we still as a nation devalue people with disability.
We must recognise that one of the fault lines in this country is about the way we treat people with a disability.
It’s not that we're ungenerous to family members, it's not that we're ungenerous generally to people to doing it hard. But at some point we must realise that for some Australians the thought of people with disability is deeply uncomfortable because they are unfamiliar and they devalue people with disability. They don't understand the lives that people with disability have.
So I believe that this Royal Commission must address that problem.
I believe that in the way we talk about a Royal Commission and people with a disability, it can't be talking about people with disability, it must be talking topeople with disability.
And I think we've got to recognise that all too often, for perhaps the best of reasons, this country has dehumanised people with a disability.
We take away their legal capacity to make decisions. We use the prism of protection.
We infantilise people with a disability.
We use benign language and a benign approach quite often, and we seek to control them.
But the problem with that approach, if we don't treat people with disability as true equals, if we let their impairment define their whole persona, their whole identity, is that once we start engaging in the attitude of control, then we create the ability for malicious control to occur. Where people can exert untoward and inappropriate control over people's lives.
Once we have a debate where we don't acknowledge the legal capacity of people with disability, their legal identity, then we make decisions about their life. We make decisions where they live. We make decisions who they live with. We make decisions what they can eat, what they can see, indeed, control of their bodies.
Now, none of this is easy or comfortable. But what I also understood from the time when I was Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities is that in amongst Australia, the lucky country, every night, there are literally tens of thousands, indeed, hundreds of thousands, of parents of adults living with a disability and these parents are in their seventies, eighties and nineties and they wonder who on earth will protect them, who on earth will look after them, respect them, love them, when they no longer can, this is the midnight anxiety.
The National Disability Insurance Scheme was an endeavour to provide greater control, to redefine people with disabilities from charity to consumers, to give their family some economic power in the relationship they have with the system.
But we know that abuse is going on, if we can't tell you exactly where and when, unfortunately, we can be absolutely certain that it is going on right now.
And it can be done in the best of claims or the best of interests or indeed, it can be just straight out malice and violence.
Therefore we need to have this Royal Commission.
It needs to be broad. It needs to go to education, it needs to go to health, it needs go to rehabilitation.
We need to look at the situation of Indigenous people living with disability in our country.
It needs to go to the ability to access services in remote and provincial and regional Australia.
It needs to, not only go to the way that institutions interact with people with disability, it needs to also just go to the way people with disability are treated in our community generally.
This is a very politically-contested time in Australia's politics as we end the 45th Parliament.
Debate last week about what was the right or wrong thing to do. I'm unequivocal that what we're doing today is the right thing do.
Of course, only the Executive can implement a Royal Commission, we understand that.
But what I would just say to the Government is, this is a good step forward but we need to provide a timeline.
And, yes, the states and territories need to provide their co-operation but it wouldn't be the first time that a state and territory has said no to a Commonwealth Government and the Commonwealth Government has still steamed ahead.
So, I accept there needs to be some discussion, that's good.
But I really think we're capable of allocating a budget and work out how much it costs.
We've allocated, if we form government, $26 million. But if the Government has a different view about a higher quantum, we're obviously not going to quibble with that.
What we've made clear is that people with disability need to be at the centre of the drawing up of the terms of reference. We get that.
And that's one reason why Labor has chosen to, whilst we put out principles - and we did that two years ago - we want to hear the voices of the voiceless in this debate.
I think this afternoon, this is a good resolution. I'm really pleased.
I have a particular passion and interest in terms of disability, for what people with a disability have taught me and in some way, this is us giving back.
It has been on the books for too long, this proposition. I'm very pleased we're doing it.
But we do so on the basis that we recognise that this isn't just about examining a particular institution, we need people to go through their historical experiences. People who have never been heard deserve the chance to tell their story.
But fundamentally, I and Labor, are voting for this Royal Commission because it is the right thing to do, because the evidence says it is the right thing to do.
It's been our stated policy for the best part of two years to do so.
But even beyond all of that, we must redefine Australia's relationship with Australians who live with disability, we've got to revalue and re-evaluate our relationship.
We have to recognise that while we are a nation who devalues people with disability, then we will never actually get to the root cause of violence and the prevention of violence, abuse and neglect.
But this is a very good moment and I'm very pleased to support it.
First of all, I would like to acknowledge the presence of so many disability advocates in the gallery. You are most welcome.
Many of you have waited seven and ten years and, indeed for some of you, all your life, for this discussion. So I understand that today is a good day for you and I acknowledge that - but for you - we wouldn't be having this discussion here today.
I acknowledge our guest from the Senate too, and I congratulate you on your advocacy as well, Senator.
This problem of disability and the way we let people suffer abuse and neglect and violence, is not a new problem.
When I was Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities, I thought I'd seen disadvantage in Australia's workplaces, but nothing had prepared for me for what I encountered with the second-class existence that people with disabilities and their carers were all too often receiving amongst ourselves in this country.
There is no doubt in my mind that there has been plenty of reports into how do we prevent the abuse and neglect of people with a disability. But I'm firmly of the view, and I was very persuaded by the Senate report which was released in 2015 in November, where its first recommendation - and I'm going to read it out - its first recommendation and we've known this now for over three years:
"The committee recommends that a royal commission in violence, abuse and neglect of people with disability be called, with terms of reference to be determined in consultation with people with disability, their families, supporters and disability organisations."
The abuse and mistreatment of people with disability is Australia's hidden shame.
We have been on notice about the issues for a very long time.
I am pleased that by May of 2017 Labor joined the call that others have been calling for, for a Royal Commission. And I'm pleased now that the Parliament is voting this way.
But the reason why I'm pleased is that we need to address what is the core reason why people with a disability suffer disproportionate abuse, neglect and violence.
It's because, as a nation, despite progress we might have made on the National Disability Insurance Scheme, and other things, we still as a nation devalue people with disability.
We must recognise that one of the fault lines in this country is about the way we treat people with a disability.
It’s not that we're ungenerous to family members, it's not that we're ungenerous generally to people to doing it hard. But at some point we must realise that for some Australians the thought of people with disability is deeply uncomfortable because they are unfamiliar and they devalue people with disability. They don't understand the lives that people with disability have.
So I believe that this Royal Commission must address that problem.
I believe that in the way we talk about a Royal Commission and people with a disability, it can't be talking about people with disability, it must be talking topeople with disability.
And I think we've got to recognise that all too often, for perhaps the best of reasons, this country has dehumanised people with a disability.
We take away their legal capacity to make decisions. We use the prism of protection.
We infantilise people with a disability.
We use benign language and a benign approach quite often, and we seek to control them.
But the problem with that approach, if we don't treat people with disability as true equals, if we let their impairment define their whole persona, their whole identity, is that once we start engaging in the attitude of control, then we create the ability for malicious control to occur. Where people can exert untoward and inappropriate control over people's lives.
Once we have a debate where we don't acknowledge the legal capacity of people with disability, their legal identity, then we make decisions about their life. We make decisions where they live. We make decisions who they live with. We make decisions what they can eat, what they can see, indeed, control of their bodies.
Now, none of this is easy or comfortable. But what I also understood from the time when I was Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities is that in amongst Australia, the lucky country, every night, there are literally tens of thousands, indeed, hundreds of thousands, of parents of adults living with a disability and these parents are in their seventies, eighties and nineties and they wonder who on earth will protect them, who on earth will look after them, respect them, love them, when they no longer can, this is the midnight anxiety.
The National Disability Insurance Scheme was an endeavour to provide greater control, to redefine people with disabilities from charity to consumers, to give their family some economic power in the relationship they have with the system.
But we know that abuse is going on, if we can't tell you exactly where and when, unfortunately, we can be absolutely certain that it is going on right now.
And it can be done in the best of claims or the best of interests or indeed, it can be just straight out malice and violence.
Therefore we need to have this Royal Commission.
It needs to be broad. It needs to go to education, it needs to go to health, it needs go to rehabilitation.
We need to look at the situation of Indigenous people living with disability in our country.
It needs to go to the ability to access services in remote and provincial and regional Australia.
It needs to, not only go to the way that institutions interact with people with disability, it needs to also just go to the way people with disability are treated in our community generally.
This is a very politically-contested time in Australia's politics as we end the 45th Parliament.
Debate last week about what was the right or wrong thing to do. I'm unequivocal that what we're doing today is the right thing do.
Of course, only the Executive can implement a Royal Commission, we understand that.
But what I would just say to the Government is, this is a good step forward but we need to provide a timeline.
And, yes, the states and territories need to provide their co-operation but it wouldn't be the first time that a state and territory has said no to a Commonwealth Government and the Commonwealth Government has still steamed ahead.
So, I accept there needs to be some discussion, that's good.
But I really think we're capable of allocating a budget and work out how much it costs.
We've allocated, if we form government, $26 million. But if the Government has a different view about a higher quantum, we're obviously not going to quibble with that.
What we've made clear is that people with disability need to be at the centre of the drawing up of the terms of reference. We get that.
And that's one reason why Labor has chosen to, whilst we put out principles - and we did that two years ago - we want to hear the voices of the voiceless in this debate.
I think this afternoon, this is a good resolution. I'm really pleased.
I have a particular passion and interest in terms of disability, for what people with a disability have taught me and in some way, this is us giving back.
It has been on the books for too long, this proposition. I'm very pleased we're doing it.
But we do so on the basis that we recognise that this isn't just about examining a particular institution, we need people to go through their historical experiences. People who have never been heard deserve the chance to tell their story.
But fundamentally, I and Labor, are voting for this Royal Commission because it is the right thing to do, because the evidence says it is the right thing to do.
It's been our stated policy for the best part of two years to do so.
But even beyond all of that, we must redefine Australia's relationship with Australians who live with disability, we've got to revalue and re-evaluate our relationship.
We have to recognise that while we are a nation who devalues people with disability, then we will never actually get to the root cause of violence and the prevention of violence, abuse and neglect.
But this is a very good moment and I'm very pleased to support it.