Speaker 1: Already and this is the Daily This is the Daily
Speaker 1: oas Oh now it makes sense.
Speaker 2: Good morning and welcome to the Daily OS. It's Thursday,
Speaker 2: the first of August.
Speaker 1: I'm zara, I'm harry. The government has handed down its
Speaker 1: long awaited response to the Disability Royal Commission, an inquiry
Speaker 1: that lasted four and a half years and heard from
Speaker 1: more than ten thousand people who spoke of their experiences
Speaker 1: of abuse and neglect. The inquiry suggested ways the government
Speaker 1: could change laws and policies to improve the lives of
Speaker 1: people with disabilities after hearing it had failed to uphold
Speaker 1: their human rights in some instances. Today we'll take you
Speaker 1: through some of the changes that have been accepted and
Speaker 1: more importantly, what's been put on the back burner. But first, Sarah,
Speaker 1: what's making headlines?
Speaker 2: Un Your inflation data rose by three point eight percent
Speaker 2: in the twelve months to June, up from three point
Speaker 2: six percent in May. This means prices arising at a
Speaker 2: faster rate than before. The data from the Australian Bureau
Speaker 2: Statistics found increases in the price of alcohol, tobacco, healthcare
Speaker 2: and housing all contributed to higher rates of inflation. Treasurer
Speaker 2: Jim Chalmers said the figures show that inflation is both
Speaker 2: sticky and stubborn, while Shadow treasurer Angus Taylor blamed high
Speaker 2: costs on the government's handling of the economy.
Speaker 1: Doctors a warning of arise in STIs across Australia, urging
Speaker 1: people to get tested. The Royal College of Pathologists AUSTRALASIAS
Speaker 1: says there's been an increase in syphilis, gonerrhea and HIV
Speaker 1: over recent years. While testing rates have flatlined, data shows
Speaker 1: are nearly twenty percent jump in gonorrhea cases between twenty
Speaker 1: twenty two and twenty twenty three. A spokesperson for RCPA,
Speaker 1: Associate Professor Caitlin Keighley, said the organization is concerned about
Speaker 1: many people being at risk unknowingly and is urging regular
Speaker 1: testing to stop a further spread of STIs.
Speaker 2: First Nations artifacts will be returned to Queensland from Canada.
Speaker 2: A deal was struck with the Museum of Vancouver to
Speaker 2: send hundreds of historic items, including ancestral remains and sacred objects,
Speaker 2: back to Queensland Museum. The state government said the artifacts
Speaker 2: will then be returned to First Nations communities, Aboriginal and
Speaker 2: Torres Strait Islander Partnerships Minister Leanne Enoch described it as
Speaker 2: a crucial step on the truth telling, healing and reconciliation
Speaker 2: journey of Queensland.
Speaker 1: And in today's good News, Supernetball organizers have confirmed three
Speaker 1: hundred and thirty two thousand fans have shown up to
Speaker 1: games so far this season, a twenty five percent jump
Speaker 1: compared to last year. It tops out the previous record
Speaker 1: of attendance at a women's sporting season set by the
Speaker 1: A League's women's soccer season of TWI twenty twenty three
Speaker 1: to twenty twenty four. The Grand Final is set for
Speaker 1: Suncourt Stadium this weekend.
Speaker 2: So, Harry, I remember there was this extremely long inquiry
Speaker 2: into the experiences of people with disabilities and we heard
Speaker 2: some really harrowing stories. There was a lot of media
Speaker 2: interests all about this Royal Commission. Can you just give
Speaker 2: me I guess a bit of a high level rundown
Speaker 2: about that Royal Commission.
Speaker 1: Before I begin. I think it's just worth noting that
Speaker 1: I couldn't give it full justice in a single podcast episode.
Speaker 1: It lasted four and a half years. The Royal Commission
Speaker 1: traveled right around the country and heard from approximately ten
Speaker 1: thousand people with disabilities. So that's around ten thousand stories
Speaker 1: that were heard during this time and it was set
Speaker 1: up in twenty nineteen and it took about four and
Speaker 1: a half years before it could hand down its final
Speaker 1: report COVID nineteen obviously disrupt things a little bit when
Speaker 1: it came around in twenty twenty, but ultimately it took
Speaker 1: so long because there was just so much evidence to
Speaker 1: sift through and there were so many people telling their
Speaker 1: stories of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation. And it's worth
Speaker 1: noting that the powers of the Royal Commission itself are
Speaker 1: quite significant, so it is the highest form of inquiry
Speaker 1: that you can possibly have in Australia, and it has
Speaker 1: the powers to request information, to call on witnesses and
Speaker 1: to consult with experts. So it does take time, and
Speaker 1: time it did take.
Speaker 2: But then we got this Disability Royal Commission. It was
Speaker 2: really long, but it had these really rich stories of
Speaker 2: the experiences of people with disability. What did it tell us?
Speaker 2: What did it find?
Speaker 1: The top line out of this inquiry was that people
Speaker 1: with disability suffered higher rates of violence, neglect and abuse
Speaker 1: than the rest of the population of Australia. And this
Speaker 1: was in the form of exclusion and discrimination in sectors
Speaker 1: like housing, employment and education. And there was also some
Speaker 1: quite shocking evidence of physical and sexual abuse, so much
Speaker 1: so that the final report accused multiple levels of government
Speaker 1: of failing to meet its international obligations to protect people
Speaker 1: with disability from human rights abuses.
Speaker 2: And those are some really serious claims, but there were
Speaker 2: you know, highlighting what was wrong. But then this Royal
Speaker 2: Commission also took it one step further and it had
Speaker 2: a bunch of recommendations about what needed to change.
Speaker 1: That's right, and that was the essence of the final Report,
Speaker 1: and it came through with two hundred and twenty two recommendations.
Speaker 1: It's not exactly a light read, but that's because it
Speaker 1: does speak to the complexity of some of the issues
Speaker 1: that we heard during the Royal Commission and also the
Speaker 1: depth of the inquiry itself. So some of the recommendations
Speaker 1: focused on just making sure that government policy and legislation
Speaker 1: factor in the rights of people with disabilities, noting that
Speaker 1: it had fallen by the wayside before and so for example,
Speaker 1: it said the government has a role to play in
Speaker 1: making sure that people with disabilities have more choice when
Speaker 1: it comes to housing, so they shouldn't just be offered
Speaker 1: to stay in what's known as a group home with
Speaker 1: other people with disabilities. And I'll come back to that point,
Speaker 1: because that was a pretty key recommendation and the response
Speaker 1: was significant from the government on that one, but also
Speaker 1: on the point of housing, the recommendation said that people
Speaker 1: with disabilities need to be considered when the government's developing
Speaker 1: something like a homelessness strategy, because right now, crisis accommodation
Speaker 1: for people fleeing domestic violence is not fully accessible in
Speaker 1: some circumstances, so they might not have adequate handrails, or
Speaker 1: might not have the bathroom facilities that someone with disability
Speaker 1: might need. And so the recommendation said that this all
Speaker 1: needs to come into the government's thinking when it's starting
Speaker 1: to develop those plans.
Speaker 2: And so all of those recommendations, all two hundred and
Speaker 2: twenty two of them, were handed down to the government
Speaker 2: in September last year. What has the response from the
Speaker 2: government been to those recommendations.
Speaker 1: Well, the government initially promised to respond earlier this year.
Speaker 1: It has faced a bit of questioning, a little bit
Speaker 1: of criticism for taking so long to respond, but it's
Speaker 1: more than ten months later and we got the official
Speaker 1: response from the government yesterday, and so the federal government
Speaker 1: broke down the recommendations into two main categories, so those
Speaker 1: that fell within its powers and responsibilities and those that
Speaker 1: fell under the scope of the States and territories. The
Speaker 1: government said one hundred and seventy two out of two
Speaker 1: hundred and twenty two recommendations were in its patch and
Speaker 1: it accepted thirteen of them and quote accepted in principle
Speaker 1: one hundred and seventeen others in quotations.
Speaker 2: What does that mean?
Speaker 1: So basically is the government's way of saying, in quotations,
Speaker 1: we like this idea, we intend to follow through with it,
Speaker 1: but we just need to figure out how we'll do it.
Speaker 2: Okay, So that's the principle stuff, and we'll get to
Speaker 2: that a bit later, but can we just first go
Speaker 2: over what the government very clearly did accept, what they
Speaker 2: said they would act on immediately.
Speaker 1: The main thing it'd agreed to do was reform Australia's
Speaker 1: disability strategy. That's the Keynote policy when it comes to
Speaker 1: the way in which the government wants to improve inclusion
Speaker 1: for people with disabilities right across Australia. It also agreed
Speaker 1: to boost the number of Osland interpreters for people who
Speaker 1: might have difficulty with hearing. And it also wants to
Speaker 1: see better training for people wanting to become interpreters so
Speaker 1: that they can help out in more complex environments, so
Speaker 1: think in a hospital or in a court appearance, people
Speaker 1: who struggle to hear might need a bit more of
Speaker 1: an explainer or in tone when it comes to that
Speaker 1: really technical language. And another recommendation that the government accepted
Speaker 1: was to publish data on the prescription of antidepressants and
Speaker 1: mood stabilizer medications to people with disabilities because the Royal
Speaker 1: Commission did hear that these kind of drugs were being
Speaker 1: overprescribed for people with cognitive disabilities.
Speaker 2: It's really really interesting. And so those are just a
Speaker 2: few of the recommendations that the government did accept. What
Speaker 2: about the ones that you mentioned earlier, those ones that
Speaker 2: kind of didn't make it through.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so that leaves about forty two suggestions that will
Speaker 1: be under further consideration or that the government has quote noted,
Speaker 1: meaning it won't take further action. So the main recommendation
Speaker 1: that won't change is what's known as and I quote
Speaker 1: here segregated settings in housing, schools and workplaces. So that's
Speaker 1: when we're thinking of specialists schools or group homes for
Speaker 1: people with disas abilities. And before I get into it,
Speaker 1: I come back to that term segregated because I think
Speaker 1: it's important to note that some of the commissioners did
Speaker 1: take issue with using that word, and that's when we're
Speaker 1: talking about spaces specifically designed four people with disabilities outside
Speaker 1: the so called mainstream. So when the final report was
Speaker 1: handed down, the commissioners were kind of split here. Three
Speaker 1: were in favor and four were against a proposal to
Speaker 1: scrap what some of them called specialist and some of
Speaker 1: them called segregated education for students with disabilities. So some
Speaker 1: of them had argued that these kind of specialist schools
Speaker 1: promote separation and legitimize devaluing of people with disabilities in
Speaker 1: society and from a young age as well. So those
Speaker 1: who were defending these schools were also saying it's a
Speaker 1: way to help those people who might have more complex needs.
Speaker 2: And where did the government fall on.
Speaker 1: That They didn't agree to scrap it. They said that
Speaker 1: there is a place for some of these schools in Australia,
Speaker 1: and they said that it's important for quote providing choice
Speaker 1: for students with disabilities and their families. There was also
Speaker 1: a bit of discussion about group homes and some of
Speaker 1: the commissioners wanted them phased out within fifteen years. They
Speaker 1: gave a very specific timeline on this, but the government
Speaker 1: didn't accept that. It agreed that there needs to be
Speaker 1: some reform to the way that group homes are functioning
Speaker 1: at the moment. So the government in its response said
Speaker 1: that there needs to be more opportunities for people with
Speaker 1: disabilities living in these homes to socialize and to participate
Speaker 1: in the community outside the home itself, getting them out
Speaker 1: and doing more activities, but also making sure that these
Speaker 1: kind of homes don't end up feeling like segregated spaces
Speaker 1: from the rest of society. And just finally, another thing
Speaker 1: that the government hasn't quite committed to yet, which was
Speaker 1: a big feature of the Royal Commission's final report, was
Speaker 1: creating a Disability Rights Act, and that was to quote
Speaker 1: recognize the human rights of people with disabilities. Instead, the
Speaker 1: government spooked its own record on passing laws to improve
Speaker 1: the rights of people with disabilities. So that's like making
Speaker 1: sure that those who aren't covered under the National Disability
Speaker 1: Insurance Scheme can get more support and funding for the
Speaker 1: services that they might need.
Speaker 2: We've spent a lot of this podcast talking about the government,
Speaker 2: how the government's thought about it, how the government's responded,
Speaker 2: and that's of course because when a Royal Commission is
Speaker 2: handed down, it is the role of the government to respond, adopt, reject,
Speaker 2: do whatever they like with those recommendations. However, this is
Speaker 2: an issue that goes beyond just the current government of
Speaker 2: the day. What's the reaction been like so far to
Speaker 2: how the government has responded to the Royal Commission?
Speaker 1: So the Shadow Social Services Minister Michael Suka said that
Speaker 1: the Coalition's going to be looking very closely at the
Speaker 1: government's response. As I mentioned, it's quite detailed and it
Speaker 1: does cut across state and territory politics as well as
Speaker 1: federal politics. Looking at the Greens's response, their disability rights
Speaker 1: spokesperson Jordan steel John, who is the first Senator to
Speaker 1: use a wheelchair, thinks the government could have gone further.
Speaker 1: He described the response as quote lackluster, and said that
Speaker 1: the government's not really following through what he believes is
Speaker 1: an adequate level of action because he said that there
Speaker 1: was a bit of a desire for the government to
Speaker 1: balance the budget, so that means it's trying to focus
Speaker 1: on spending as well as responding adequately to this Royal commission.
Speaker 2: Always a fine balance to try and get right and
Speaker 2: certainly one that people will be looking at the government
Speaker 2: to see what happens from here and how those recommendations
Speaker 2: that they have accepted are implemented. Thank you so much
Speaker 2: for joining the Daly Ods today. If you learned something
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Speaker 2: It's the way more people get to listen to the
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Speaker 2: give us. We'll be back again tomorrow, but until then,
Speaker 2: have a wonderful day.
Speaker 1: My name is Lily Madden and I'm a proud Arunda
Speaker 1: Bungelung Kalkotin woman from Gadighl country. The Daily odz acknowledges
Speaker 1: that this podcast is recorded on the lands of the
Speaker 1: Gadighl people and pays respect to all Aboriginal and Torres
Speaker 1: Strain island and nations. We pay our respects to the
Speaker 1: first peoples of these countries, both past and present.