Report: Outcomes associated with ‘inclusive’, ‘segregated’ and ‘integrated’ settings for people with disability

Published 15th March 2023

People with disability, their families and advocates have provided the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability overwhelming evidence of how they have been segregated and excluded from Australian society, and how they have been the victims of neglect, exploitation, violence and abuse. The Commission has revealed that it has been the policies and service systems that we in Australia have established and supported, and which have enabled and hidden the acts of individuals, that are the cause of such abuse. It is these policies and systems that need reform, along with a change in the hearts and minds of the community, if people with disability are to achieve full citizenship and life free from violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation.

This research was instigated by the Royal Commission to complement the evidence before it and to answer the question, based on the prevailing evidence base and consistent with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Article 16); ‘what should be done to promote a more inclusive society that supports the independence of people with disability and their right to live free from violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation?’ (Letters Patent, 2019).

Based on the Royal Commission’s brief, and acknowledging the complexity of that brief, the research was divided into three domains: accommodation and community living; employment; and education. This report reflects these domains, their complexity and nuance. However, it integrates the findings and subsequently proposes evidence-informed ways forward for policy and practice to promote the inclusion of people with disability in Australian society with reference to where they live and spend their time, together with their opportunities for education and employment.

Authors: Keith McVilly, Susan Ainsworth, Lorraine Graham

Publisher: Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability