Emotions high for Ballarat's disability community after royal commission findings

The report, which took four-and-a-half years to complete, contained 222 recommendations to address deficiencies in areas including human rights law, disability advocacy, guardianship, schooling, employment, the justice system and housing.

Dee Banks, whose young daughter Emma has a disability after suffering a stroke before birth, said the findings gave hope for the future of people with disabilities in Australia.

"It's an emotional day for families and people with disabilities," she said.

"It shouldn't have taken this, it should not have taken a disability royal commission for things to change."

"The violation of human rights has been ongoing for years and years, and years."

The report exposed numerous deficiencies in the treatment of people with disabilities including exclusion from schooling, payment below minimum wage and inaccessible housing or homelessness.

This has lead to people with disabilities being excluded from many aspects of Australian life, and has made them more vulnerable to violence, exploitation, abuse and neglect, the report found.

One of the key recommendations was to end segregated schooling by 2051 and segregated employment by 2034.

Ms Banks said she "absolutely" supported the recommendation, after seeing Emma experience the impacts of segregation and inaccessibility in the community.

While Emma goes to a mainstream school, Ms Banks said she still faces daily barriers in a system which doesn't support her.

She said Emma is constantly learning to function in an able-bodied community, while there are no expectations for non-disabled people to fit in with people with disabilities.

"When I say I'm emotional about today, it's because I am hopeful that things might change," she said.

"We fight to get the basic rights of non-disabled children for our children.

"Equal opportunities, that's what it's about. My daughter doesn't have the same opportunities that other eight-year-old kids do."

One example of the discrimination Emma faces in Ballarat is when she goes out in public, her mother said people will often stare at them together, and they hardly ever see other disabled children in the street.

Ms Banks said while in public, they will be subjected to intrusive questions, staring and pitying looks, and there is desperate need for better education and awareness around disability in Ballarat.

"What we need first and foremost, we need people to change their attitudes and beliefs about people with disability," she said.

"[People] have to challenge their own bias, they have to challenge their own internalised ableism, before things can truly effectively change in my opinion."

Following the report, Ms Banks said she wanted people in Ballarat to engage with the findings and develop an understanding of the challenges people with disabilities face.

"I really want people in Ballarat to get on board with this report and read it," she said.

"Particularly if you're in a leadership space, to have a real understanding of the barriers, and of the horrific nature of the findings.

"I'll never understand what it's like to have a disability, I'm a mother of a child with a disability and I certainly never identify with her disability, it's her challenge not mine."

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In a statement to The Courier, Ballarat disability organisation Pinarc chief executive Peter Newsome said violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation have no place in the disability sector.

He said the release of the report was an historical moment, which was brought about after years of campaigning from people with disabilities, their families and carers.

Mr Newsome also said Pinarc would be "fully committed" to ensuring people with disabilities had high-quality and safe services, and would be ensuring the quality of their practices via external audits.

"The royal commission has made 222 recommendation on how people with disability can live free of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation," he said.

"I want to emphasise that as the CEO, I am fully committed to leading our organisation in its unwavering pursuit of excellence and will be discerning thoroughly the implementation and lessons for our services."

With AAP

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