The Royal Commission has released a schedule of events (external website, opens in external window/tab) including public hearings and community engagement activities for the first half of 2020.
Upcoming hearings will be held in western Sydney and two will be held in Brisbane. The hearings will investigate health, education and justice.
Community engagement activities will be held in Logan and Ipswich in February, Launceston and Burnie in March, regional Victoria in April and Brisbane in May.
Engagement activities with First Nations people and organisations, throughout the first half of the year will culminate in a hearing in the Northern Territory that will focus on the experiences if First Nations people with disability.
The Royal Commission has also released its first progress report (external website, opens in external window/tab). Since it was established in April 2019, the Royal Commission has:
- Held two public hearings into inclusive education and accommodation, including group homes
- Held nine stakeholder and advocacy workshops across Australia
- Held six community forums in Queensland, Tasmania and South Australia
- Received more than 360 submissions from individuals and organisations
- Received more than 2000 phone enquires through its national hotline
- Released three issues papers on key areas of investigation
- Published its Accessibility and Inclusion Strategy (external website, opens in external window/tab)
In 2020, the Royal Commission will continue to release issues papers on key areas of investigation and present its Interim Report to the Australian Government in October 2020.
Next hearing – western Sydney
Issues Papers
The Royal Commission is currently asking for feedback on three issues papers (external website, opens in external window/tab). One on education (external website, opens in external window/tab) , one on group homes (external website, opens in external window/tab) and one on health care for people with cognitive disability (external website, opens in external window/tab) . The papers are available in Easy Read, PDF and DOCX. Auslan videos for the education and group homes papers are also available and the video for the health issues paper will be available in January.
For more information on issues papers (external website, opens in external window/tab) including how to provide a response, check out our website.
Christmas opening hours and availability of services
Our hotline will be closed from 6.00pm AEDT, Tuesday 24 December 2019 and will reopen on Thursday 2 January 2020.
Free counselling support from Blue Knot Foundation will be available over the holiday period for people with disability, their families and supporters, and anyone affected by the Disability Royal Commission. Call the National Counselling and Referral Service on 1800 421 468 or 02 6146 1468 to find:
- support for your emotional wellbeing
- support for making choices about telling your story
- information on other practical supports available to you.
The service operates 9:00am to 6:00pm weekdays and 9:00am to 5:00pm weekends and public holidays (AEDT), including Christmas Day.
Information about accessing the free counselling service, including how to use the National Relay Service and the free Translating and Interpreting Service (external website, opens in external window/tab) is on our website.
You can also contact:
New website coming early 2020
The Royal Commission is in the final stages of developing a new website. User and accessibility testing is scheduled for early January. As part of the website update, all content has been revised and we will be releasing a new, easier to use submissions form. We are expecting to relaunch the website by the end of January.