Disability royal commission told of perceived inequity about rights of Australians

Australians with disabilities ‘are too often seen as undeserving of the same education as other people’.

Disability royal commission chairman Justice Ronald Sackville says the inquiry will expose poor policy.

Australians with disabilities are too often seen as undeserving of the same education as other people, the new disability royal commission has heard.

On its first day of hearings, counsel assisting the commission Kerri Mellifont QC said submissions so far received “paint the very real and stark picture that, in many places, persons with disabilities are not receiving equity in their education (and) are not being treated as people with the right to an equitable education.”

“The devaluation of some within our society of people with disability can lead them to ask the intolerable and ignorant question of why does a proper education for a person with a disability even matter?” Dr Mellifont said.

“This commission hopes to bring about a transformational change with Australia to render that kind of thinking a thing of the past.”

Dr Mellifont said adverse education experiences had a pervasive and significant effect on anyone’s life journey, but particularly so for a person with a disability. “Getting education right is the starting point for the prevention of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation and for creating an inclusive society,” she said.

The commission chose Townsville as the venue for its first public hearings as it begins a marathon public hearing process, which will culminate in the delivery of a final report due in April, 2022.

Dr Kerri Mellifont QC addresses the Townsville hearing at the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability. Picture: AAP

Commission chairman Ronald Sackville QC said he and his six fellow commissioners were taking on the difficult task of formulating solutions to the abuse, neglect and exploitation of people with disabilities rather than simply restating the problem.

Mr Sackville said there had been an “extraordinary number of inquiries that have been held relating to the disadvantages experienced by people with disability … (which) identified a range of issues and problems requiring attention.”

“It will be much harder to formulate solutions that will actually bring about fundamental changes in policies, practices and social attitudes,” he said. “That is our job. In performing that job, we intend not only to expose abuse and poor policies and practices but to highlight innovative programs that yield good outcomes.”

Mr Sackville said that beyond this week’s focus on education, the commission would undertake a range of hearings on other issues including interactions with the health system, the criminal justice system, housing, transport and employment.

He said Australia had ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which created international obligations to protect people with disabilities from all forms of exploitation, violence and abuse, and to promote their human rights, including the right to education.

“Despite Australia having ratified the Convention, no Australian jurisdiction – Commonwealth, State or Territory – has passed legislation expressly recognising a right to inclusive education for students with disabilities. This is an issue the Royal Commission will need to address,” he said.

He said the commission would be hearing differing viewpoints on how people with disabilities can best be supported to achieve an education.

“The evidence at this hearing is likely to indicate there are different views, for example, as to whether there is any role for special schools in the public education system,” Mr Sackville said.