Dear Australian Media,
I am writing to you as part of the 20 per cent of Australians with disability who need your help to expose a terrible epidemic and stop it in its tracks. This epidemic has occurred out of sight and out of general public knowledge, and has impacted vulnerable Australians at all ages and in all settings.
Abuse, neglect, exploitation and violence have long permeated the landscape of disability in Australia, behind closed doors, in our schools, healthcare centres, group homes and countless other settings. These stories will shortly be exposed and shared widely through the media, and a light will be shone into dark places.
As you know, the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability (Disability RC) was opened at the Brisbane Convention Centre on 16 September. It was fought for by disability bodies and advocates for over five years. You may even be involved in reporting upon it.
The protracted battle for the RC was a result of the high rates of violence and abuse experienced by people with disability, often behind closed doors. The reported figures are both staggering and shocking, at least for those outside the disability community. These figures are not surprising to those of us with lived experience of disability, for whom abuse, violence, neglect and exploitation are too often our reality. We need the royal commission to hear our experiences of abuse, neglect, violence and exploitation committed against us, and to hear our ideas for what needs to change.
The media played an important role in getting us to a royal commission, with strong, sensitive reporting on violence against us, ensuring that the voices of people with disability were heard loud and clear. Now, the media will play a role in how the royal commission paves the way for lasting change and in reducing rates of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation experienced by people with disability in the future. It will also play a role in enabling survivors of trauma to share and start healing from their experiences.
The royal commission matters to me personally, as I am vision- and hearing-impaired, and like countless other people with disability in Australia, I will be making a submission to the RC about my experiences. I am relieved that people with disability now have a space in which to share their lived experience of the violence and abuse we can experience, particularly when a