In Australia, there is no specific legal, administrative or policy framework for the protection, investigation and prosecution of exploitation, violence and abuse of people with disability (see also Articles 12, 13, 14, 15 and 17). The Federal Government has established a National Disability Abuse and Neglect Hotline (the Hotline), which is primarily a notification and referral mechanism for people with disability experiencing exploitation, violence and abuse. However, the Hotline is a relatively weak safeguard for people with disability as it operates without any legislative base and therefore has no statutory functions, powers and immunities.241
The National Disability Strategy (NDS) recognises “that people with disability are more vulnerable to violence, exploitation and neglect”; are “more likely to be victims of crime”; that those living in institutional environments where violence is more common fare worse than others; and women with disability “face increased risk”.242 However, the NDS contains limited measures to address these issues, and it only identifies that there is a need to “develop strategies to reduce violence, abuse and neglect of people with disability”.243
The National Disability Agreement (NDA), the disability services funding agreement between the Federal and State and Territory Governments does not contain initiatives associated with exploitation, violence and abuse as part of the ten priority areas for reform.244
All Australian governments require disability services to comply with Disability Services Standards, which set out principles for the delivery of quality disability services. While protection from abuse and neglect is contained in the Standards, they are concerned primarily with the collection of quantitative data, they are un-gendered and adult focussed, and they rely on disability service providers to identify and respond to exploitation, violence and abuse.245
The National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010–2022 (the National Plan) contains two initiatives specifically focused on improving access and responses of specialist domestic violence and sexual assault services to women with disability.246These initiatives are welcome, however the National Plan does not as yet address linkages between domestic violence and sexual assault services and the disability or mental health service systems. It also does not address specific forms of violence experienced by women with disability, such as forced sterilisation and abortions. (See also Article 23)
Domestic and family violence legislation differs across States and Territories providing different levels of protection and definitions of what constitutes a ‘domestic relationship’. Broader definitions include residential settings, such as group homes and institutions, where people with disability are likely to live and interact domestically with co-residents, support workers and service managers. However, even where there are broader definitions, domestic and family violence legislation is rarely understood as applying to both men and women with disability living in disability service residential settings and is therefore not utilised.247 Where narrower definitions apply, people with disability who live in residential settings are entirely excluded from these protections.
The National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children 2009-2020 includes a very limited number of initiatives that specifically focus on protecting children and young people with disability from abuse and neglect. Only two of the five initiatives have a national focus, and none provide a comprehensive approach to identifying the incidence, prevention or response of violence, abuse and neglect experienced by children with disability. All the initiatives are included under an outcome for addressing “parental risk factors”, including “childhood disability, mental health and / or behavioural problems”.248
All Australian governments have legislation that prohibits physical and sexual assault. However, there are significant barriers to the justice system that prevent people with disability from reporting crimes and having them successfully prosecuted. One study reported that 40 percent of crimes against people with mild or moderate intellectual disability and 70 percent of crimes against people with severe intellectual disability went unreported to police.249 There are significant misconceptions about the reliability of evidence of people with disability resulting in difficulty in securing convictions.250 (See also Article 13)
