New legislation will protect confidential information provided to a Royal Commission beyond the life of the Royal Commission. Amendments to the Royal Commissions Act 1902 were necessary to remove a significant barrier that has prevented people with disability, or people on their behalf, engaging with the Royal Commission.
Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability chair, Ronald Sackville, said prior to the passage of this legislation, the Royal Commission could only guarantee that information provided on a confidential basis outside of a private session would be protected during the term of our inquiry, but not beyond it. This included information provided on a confidential basis in submissions.
“With the passage of this amendment the Royal Commission will now be able to guarantee the confidentiality of submissions and other sensitive information both during and beyond the term of our inquiry,” he said.
“People with disability or people on their behalf, have increasingly been sharing their story with the Royal Commission and the number of submissions received every six months has continued to grow reaching 2,639 as at June 30, 2021. We now encourage anyone who has had concerns about telling their story of violence against, and abuse, neglect or exploitation of, people with disability to contact the Royal Commission. This includes accounts of a person’s, or another person’s, experiences of systemic violence, abuse, neglect or exploitation.”
Submissions can be made in any format, including video and artwork, and in any language.
Private session information is already protected during the life of the Royal Commission’s inquiry and when it is over. The Royal Commission is due to hand down its final report in September 2023 after it received a 17-month extension earlier this year.
Submissions may be made to the Disability Royal Commission by telephone on: 1800 517 199, via email at: DRCEnquiries@royalcommission.gov.au, or through the website at: www.disability.royalcommission.gov.au/share-your-story/make-your-submission.