INVESTIGATIVE

DISABILITY & VIOLENCE IN AUSTRALIA

Violence against people with disabilities is a serious issue in Australia with 1 in 20 people with a physical disability experiencing violence and 1 in 7 with an intellectual or psychological disability experiencing violence within a one-year period.

Disability is the largest minority; 8.9 million Australian households include a person with disability and 1 in 5 people will have a disability themselves.

Disability statistics in Australia are incomplete resulting in much of the underbelly that is violence under-reported and un-recorded.

The Morrison Government has committed $527 million to the Royal Commission into the violence, abuse and neglect into the disability care centre.

People with Disabilities Australia (PWDA), Senior Policy Officer for Violence Prevention, Dr Megan Clement-Couzner says PWDA has been calling for a Royal Commission for years.

She and other disability advocates are hoping that the Royal Commission will provide leverage for more accurate data to be collected on rate of violence against those living with a disability.

“[The Royal Commission] is really vital because we know there is widespread violence against people with disability across society,” Dr Clement-Couzner said.

“Children with disability are about three times more likely to experience abuse than other children and Women with disability are up 38% more likely to experience domestic violence than other women.

That is possibly even higher because of the problems with the statistics.”

An ABS survey of Experiences of Violence and Personal Safety of People with a disability released in December 2018 has been critiqued for leaving many Australians uncounted.

The survey does not disaggregate the data by disability, Indigenous status or mental illness and only recruits those currently residing in private homes which excludes institutional, residential settings.

The Royal Commission which is set to begin in December has promised that all survivors of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation will have an opportunity to have their voices and stories heard.

Current ABS data suggests 5.7% of people with a disability have experienced some form of violence, but it is believed that this statistic could be much higher.

Disability Advocate Tracey Gibb lives with Locked-in Syndrome, a disability in which the body and most of the facial muscles are paralysed but consciousness remains and the ability to perform certain eye movements is preserved.

Tracey says that while she has never been abused, she welcomes the Royal Commission as she believes that it will provide an opportunity for better care.

“I have been put under a lot of stress, due to the lack of regular staff, which makes me feel uncomfortable,” Ms Gibb said.

Tracey’s concern that of the revolving door of staff makes her vulnerable is emphasised by the treatment she has received from people who don’t know her communication style.

She says that people often assume ‘nobody is home’ as her face is paralysed, and she is unable to verbally talk.

This has made her particular vulnerable while waiting for public transport and taxis.

“I have been left waiting, until way past midnight, a couple of times, my chair, hasn’t been properly locked in several times and they drive, carelessly,” Ms Gibb said.

Ms Gibbs claims are constant with the national concern that people with disabilities fear public transport and going out after dark.

She hopes the Royal Commission along with the rollout of the National Disability Insurance Scheme will allow all voices to be heard and a difference to be made.

The Royal Commission will aim to reduce the rate of violence against those living with a disability, a necessity to end what some a calling Australia’s dark underbelly of violence.