Today the 4.4 million members of the disability community woke holding our breath.
After four and a half years of the disability royal commission into violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of people with disability, the final report was tabled in parliament and released to the public.
It was the formal response to the almost 10,000 people with disability who shared stories from the worst days of their lives with the royal commission: from being emotionally, physically and sexually abused by the people paid to care for you, to relentless bullying at school that left them isolated and segregated from other kids. From working in workshops where they were paid just over $2 an hour, to being wheeled into surgery thinking they were getting their kidney out only to later discover they were sterilised without consent.
People with disability who spoke to the commission relived their trauma all in the hope that it would lead to change – in the hope that it would mean one less person with disability would have face the same violence.
In the hours before the final report was released there was a palpable fear among the disability community that it would all be for nothing. No matter what, this all couldn’t be for nothing.
When the report hit the web and I began pouring over the 222 recommendations, it became clear what I was reading was monumental.
It’s far from perfect, but if implemented, these recommendations give us a vision of what a more inclusive society looks like. And ultimately, this isn’t a report just for people with disability; this is a report for everyone.
All Australians need to confront what was done in name of care for people with disability, and then commit to looking at how we have all put up barriers and find solutions for how we tear them down.
The report confirms what disabled people have told us throughout the 32 public hearings – that abuse and violence thrives where people with disability are isolated and separated from the rest of the community. Whether in group homes, sheltered workshops or special schools, it is environments that are segregated from mainstream society where abuse festers without the transparency and accountability needed to keep people safe.
So it comes as no surprise the disability community watched closely as the recommendations rolled out to see what the commission had to say on segregation.
On group homes, where people with disability live together often with no choice on where they live or who they live with, the royal commission has called for these mini-institutions to be phased out in 15 years.
On Australian disability enterprises – the nice name given to sheltered workshops where people with disability are paid as little as just over $2 an hour – the recommendation is that they are phased out by 2034.
Finally, on special schools, despite the overwhelming consensus of people with disability that harm is done when children are separated from their peers without disability, the royal commission was split on phasing out segregated education. In the end, three commissioners, including two who live with disability, recommended phasing out special schools by 2051.
The next few weeks and months will see ongoing debate over whether these plans to end segregation move quickly enough and pressure will be put on governments at all levels to commit to specific timeframes.
But the truth is, segregation isn’t turned on or off.
We can move all disabled people into open employment, but that doesn’t end segregation if workplaces won’t adapt to meet a person’s disability accommodations.
We can move all disabled students into mainstream schools, but that doesn’t end segregation if parents are teaching their children that disabled kids are a disruptive burden on the classroom.
We can move all disabled people into homes of their choice, but that doesn’t end segregation if their local neighbourhoods aren’t welcoming and won’t include them in everyday life.
It is on all of us to embrace our fellow human beings as equal and worthy as they are. The disability royal commission gives us a pathway to break down systems that harm people with disability.
The question remains: will the Australian people join us on a journey to breakdown the cultural barriers that harm people with disability, so that we can all benefit from an inclusive Australia?
• Elly Desmarchelier is a disability rights activist
