19 February 2019
STATEMENT
Major provider of services for people with disability, Life Without Barriers, has joined the chorus of support for the establishment of a disability Royal Commission.
Chief Executive of Life Without Barriers, Claire Robbs, said that as one of the largest national providers of services to people with disability, the organisation stands ready to support and assist with the Royal Commission and hopes bipartisan support will see the Commission established as a matter of priority.
“We stand with people with disability in their calls for a Royal Commission.”
“We need to unpack and acknowledge that violence, abuse and neglect that people with disability have experienced. It is now time for people with disability to be given the opportunity to be heard and for these experiences to influence how support services are provided.
“We believe the whole country would benefit from listening to their personal experiences in order to recognise the standard of support for people with disability should be uncompromisingly high.”
“With the recent establishment of the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, and with the NDIS approaching full rollout, the Royal Commission will be a unique opportunity to shape the program so that it better serves people with disability into the future.”
Ms Robbs said that although the terms of reference are yet to be discussed and agreed, they should be broad enough to encompass all the settings where abuse towards people with disability has occurred, including educational and rehabilitative settings
“As the government works with the states and territories on the terms of reference, we urge them to have an open mind and heed the calls of disability advocates to not make the inquiry too narrowly focussed.
“We stand ready to assist the Royal Commission in whatever form it takes. People with disability and their carers have waited long enough.”
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