Australians with disabilities facing high rates of abuse, exploitation: report
Australia needs major reforms to create an inclusive society for people with disabilities, a landmark report revealed on Friday. The federal government tabled the final report of the Independent Royal Commission on Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disabilities in Parliament, Xinhua news agency reported. After a four-and-a-half-year investigation, the commissioners concluded that people with disabilities faced high rates of violence and abuse, many forms of neglect, and sexual and financial exploitation.
“The social change needed to make Australia truly inclusive requires us to take into account the history of exclusion that has shaped the settings, systems and daily lives of people with disability to date,” the report says. “Inclusion involves social change that enables people with disabilities to live, learn, work, play, create, and connect with people without disabilities.” The 12-part report made 222 recommendations for change, including the government establishing a Disability Rights Act that would incorporate the principles of the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
It calls for phasing out segregated employment by 2034 and ending segregated education by 2051. Ronald Sackville, chair of the commission, wrote in the report, “The human rights of people with disabilities have informed all our work and underpinned many of our recommendations.” “Transformational improvements cannot occur without fundamental changes in community attitudes toward people with disability.”
Canberra, Sep 29 (IANS) Australia needs major reforms to create an inclusive society for people with disabilities, a landmark report revealed on Friday. The federal government tabled the final report of the Independent Royal Commission on Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disabilities in Parliament, Xinhua news agency reported. After a four-and-a-half-year investigation, the commissioners concluded that people with disabilities faced high rates of violence and abuse, many forms of neglect, and sexual and financial exploitation.
“The social change needed to make Australia truly inclusive requires us to take into account the history of exclusion that has shaped the settings, systems and daily lives of people with disability to date,” the report says. “Inclusion involves social change that enables people with disabilities to live, learn, work, play, create, and connect with people without disabilities.” The 12-part report made 222 recommendations for change, including the government establishing a Disability Rights Act that would incorporate the principles of the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It calls for phasing out segregated employment by 2034 and ending segregated education by 2051. Ronald Sackville, chair of the commission, wrote in the report, “The human rights of people with disabilities have informed all our work and underpinned many of our recommendations.” “Transformational improvements cannot occur without fundamental changes in community attitudes toward people with disability.”
