A group of over 120 Australian academics have today penned an open letter to Prime Minster Malcolm Turnbull calling for a Royal Commission into violence against people with disability, as recommended in 2015 by the Senate Community Affairs References Committee.
An excerpt of the letter is provided below.
We write to express deep concern at the recent Australian Government announcement that it does not intend to proceed with a Royal Commission into Violence Against People with Disability as recommended in 2015 by the Senate Community Affairs References Committee (the Committee). Australians were confronted, yet again by the Four Corners program on 27th March, ‘Fighting the System’, by the violence and abuse perpetrated against people with disability in group homes. As academics experienced in conducting research around violence, abuse and neglect of people with disability, or in the related areas of violence, human rights and social justice more broadly, we are dismayed that the Australian Government would choose to neglect this vital opportunity to comprehensively understand the extent and prevalence of violence towards people with disability within the community so that it can be addressed.