Support for disability royal commission gathers steam

Labor states have backed demands from Bill Shorten and the Greens to establish a royal commission into abuse of the disabled.

Labor states are backing a royal commission into abuse of the disabled.

Labor states have backed demands from Bill Shorten and the Greens to establish a royal commission into abuse of the disabled after ­Attorney-General Christian Porter declared that the state governments would have to co-operate before pushing ahead with any ­national inquiry.

Scott Morrison will wave through a non-binding Labor-Greens motion in the House of Representatives today calling on his government to set up the ­inquiry into violence, abuse and neglect of disabled people, despite the ­Coalition voting against the same motion in the Senate last week.

Mr Porter noted the royal commission would look into state ­facilities and require their sign-off ahead of a drafting of terms of reference.

In Western Australia, where the previous Barnett Liberal government resisted joining the ­National Disability Insurance Scheme and the McGowan Labor government signed up in December 2017, state Disability Services Minister Stephen Dawson said he supported a royal commission into abuse in the disability care sector.

Daniel Andrews’s Victorian Labor government also backed calls for the federal inquiry, ­“particularly as we transition to the full NDIS”.

“We call on the minority ­Morrison government to follow Bill Shorten’s lead and we stand ready to work with the federal government on this initiative,” a Victorian government spokesman said.

Queensland Disability Services Minister Coralee O’Rourke was more circumspect, saying if federal politicians wanted a royal commission, “that’s a decision for them”.

“What I would hope to see come is a focus on supporting ­people with disability … providing a positive environment and making sure we do everything possible to make sure that happens,” she said.

The South Australian and NSW Liberal governments did not say whether they supported a royal commission but wanted more detail on what the inquiry would look like; they said they took all matters of disability abuse seriously.

The Prime Minister, who holds just 73 out of 150 votes in the lower house, left open the prospect of ­establishing a commission but said the terms of reference must be “quite specific”.

“You’ve got to give your royal commissioner very clear guidelines as to what you want them to do, otherwise it is just a general conversation which runs the risk of not landing any quite targeted recommendations that you can act on,” he said.

Additional Reporting: Jared Owens