Federal government puts recommendation for disability rights act on hold

The federal government’s response to the landmark disability royal commission has put on hold the recommendations for a disability rights act and a separate minister and department for disability inclusion.

After 4½ years of hearings, six commissioners called for a major legal overhaul in September 2023 to protect the rights of 4.4 million Australians with disabilities.

Nearly a year after the commission made its findings, Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth released the federal government’s response on Wednesday, saying it was committed to a more “inclusive future” for people with disabilities. It will accept 13 of the commission’s 222 recommendations.

Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth says the federal government wants a more “inclusive” future for people with disabilities.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

As part of its response, the government announced a further $117.5 million for a specialist disability employment program.

All six commissioners agreed to a recommendation for a disability rights act which would broadly protect people from exploitation, violence, abuse or any human rights violations.

Rishworth said there were “mixed views” in the disability community on whether there should be a separate act or for disability to be embedded in a human rights act. She said there should be a focus on amending the Disability Discrimination Act.

“One of the things that we want to get on with … is to modernise the Disability Discrimination Act,” she said.

“It’s been 15 years since any substantive work has been done on modernising that act, so that’s work that we’ll undertake immediately while we do the sequencing work on a human rights act versus a disability rights act.”

The 13 recommendations the government has accepted in full are minor changes such as requiring all levels of government to review and update Australia’s disability strategy to ensure it reflects the issues raised in the commission, regular government reporting to the Department of Health and Aged Care on the progress of implementing recommendations and a new disability employment services model.

The royal commission also called for a minister for disability inclusion and a department of disability equality and inclusion but that was only noted by the government.

“The Australian government supports strong national leadership on disability policy and programs. The government currently has two cabinet positions with responsibility for national disability policies and programs: the Minister for Social Services [Rishworth] and the Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme [Shorten],” the response said.

The opposition spokesman for social services and the National Disability Insurance Scheme Michael Sukkar said the Coalition would “closely consider” the government’s response.

Greens spokesman for disability rights Jordon Steele-John criticised the government’s response, saying it “insults” the disabled community.

“Labor’s continued inaction disrespects the immense contributions and emotional labour of the disability community to the Disability royal commission,” he said.

“We need the government to commit funding for the radical transformation required to end ableism and discrimination in this country. We need a minister for disability to ensure this reform happens.

“We need collective liberation to immediately raise the disability support pension and end segregation in our workplaces, schools and homes.”

Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.