Disability Royal Commission

Providers should prepare for the Royal Commission with the intent of maximising this opportunity to inform the Commissioners in respect to disability service provision, so that post-Commission people with disability are supported by a better, and safer service system.

THE

DISABILITY

ROYAL

COMMISSION

On the 5th April 2019 the Prime Minister announced the establishment of the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability.

The Royal Commission’s terms of reference include reporting on what can be done to:

prevent, and better protect, people with disability from experiencing violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation
achieve best practice in reporting and investigating of, and responding to violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation
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.

Lessons from the Aged Care Royal Commission

To date the Commission has identified an interest in investigating and exploring:

Abuses of all kinds in a wide variety of settings
Prevention and protection
Best practice (in reporting, investigating and responding to instances of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation)
Inclusion
Identifying systemic and recurring issues

We can expect a similar approach to the Aged Care Royal Commission in terms of:

The Commission writing to Disability Providers to invite providers to:
- Self-report instances of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation in a prescribed template
- Self-report complaints related to violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation in a prescribed template
Submit responses that inform the Commission of both best-practice, and practical approaches, to prevention, protection and inclusion.
A large investment in data analysis within the Commission resources
The Commission having a expectation the providers will provide a response to the written invitation within the required timeframes (NB this was approximately 8 weeks in the Aged Care Royal Commission).

While there are many risks, providers should prepare for the Royal Commission with the intent of maximising this opportunity to inform the Commissioners in respect to disability service provision, so that post-Commission people with disability are supported by a better, and safer service system.

Four tips to ensure you are prepared:

If you are a Disability Service Provider, it is time to start preparing. Having recently prepared a submission to the Aged Care Royal Commission, I have four tips for Service Providers:

Involve your Board. You will need them. Make them aware of the risks inherent in both the Commission's processes, but also in your incident and complaint recording processes and data sets.
Develop a Response Framework. It’s important to plan your response. Document your organisation's understanding of the requirements, define key terms, and articulate the algorithms, filters and methodologies you will use to respond. It’s also an opportunity to define your decision making and governance arrangements for the response preparation. It will provide a record that may be useful at the hearings. If you would like support with this, please contact me.
Identify your resourcing needs. Responding will take time and resource. You will need to take staff offline to implement the framework, analyse the data and prepare your response. External resources may be needed too, so line them up now.
Start now! Don’t wait for an invitation. Most providers will have large volumes of data and paper to analyse and consider. Take the pressure off and pull your leadership team together and make a start.

We consider the development of a concise but well defined Response Framework is the most important step to prepare for the Royal Commission.

We have prepared a template available for free download.

If you would like support to develop your Response Framework, we are offering fixed fee engagements, and the work can be completed in a matter of days.

To download the free template

click on the adjacent image

and provide your contact details.