Protecting students' rights
Protecting students' rights
Auslan https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/submissions/Pages/submission-process-in-Auslan.aspx
The Disability Royal Commission wants to hear from all Australians about their experiences of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of people with disability.
We want to make it as easy as possible for people with disability to participate in this Royal Commission and share their stories, so we are now accepting submissions where you can share your experiences with us.
Definition of “violence and abuse” and examples. Violence and Abuse-Definition
Definition of “restrictive practices”. Restrictive Practices-definition
National Legal Aid (NLA) together with the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (NATSILS) will provide a free, national legal advisory service for people engaging with the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability. The legal advisory service will be an independent, trauma informed and culturally safe service that will be delivered nationally.
You can contact NLA on 1800 771 800 between 8.30am-5pm AEST. As well as registering contact details, the helpline will provide basic information, assistance and referrals.
The full range of legal advice services will be rolled out over the coming months and will be available prior to the commencement of public hearings. We will continue to provide updates on all support services as they become available.
An interim website will be available at www.legalaid.nsw.gov.au from Monday 16 September. A national and separate website for the service will also be established in due course.
Do I need legal advice? do you need legal advice
The Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability has released an issues paper on education and learning. The paper is available in Easy Read, PDF and DOCX.
• Education and Learning – Issues paper [PDF 936KB] https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/Documents/education-learning-issues-paper.pdf
• Education and Learning – Issues paper [DOCX 134KB]
• Easy Read Education and Learning – Issues paper [PDF 425KB]https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/Documents/education-learning-issues-paper-easy-read.pdf
• Easy Read Education and Learning – Issues paper [DOCX 45KB]
The issues paper has been adapted from a paper developed for a workshop on education and learning held in Melbourne on 3 October, 2019 with representatives from community and disability organisations and education academics.
The Royal Commission has identified that abuse, neglect and exploitation of people with disability in the education sector is an important topic to address.
Research suggests that children with disability experience higher rates of suspension and expulsion from schools and that children with disability may be excluded from school activities, such as excursions, assemblies, sports carnivals etc.
Over the last decade, the segregation of children with disability into special education units/classes or ‘special’ schools has increased. Students with autism have been disproportionately affected by this increase. First Nations students with disability are also disproportionately over-represented in special schools.
The Royal Commission issues paper on education outlines the Commission’s preliminary understanding of the key issues and barriers experienced by students with disability and asks 13 questions.
The Royal Commission is encouraging responses from individuals and organisations to the issues paper, if possible, by 20 December 2019 although submissions will be accepted after that date.
Responses to the issues paper should be provided, either:
• electronically to DRCEnquiries@royalcommission.gov.au, or
• in writing to GPO Box 1422, Brisbane, Queensland 4001.
Please indicate if you consent to your responses being made public on our website.
At hearings the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability will hear from people identified by Counsel Assisting to appear as a witness and give evidence. People who are expected to appear as witnesses will be contacted by the Royal Commission in advance of the relevant hearing.
The Disability Royal Commission will publish details of hearings on this page to assist parties, witnesses and members of the public.
Upcoming hearings
The Royal Commission will hold its first public hearing at which evidence will be taken, in Townsville from Monday 4 November to Thursday 7 November 2019. The subject of the hearing is education, which includes the following topics:
Inclusiveness in education as it relates to students with disability; and
The implementation of existing policies and procedures relating to inclusive education of students with disability, with a focus on the Queensland government education system.
The Royal Commission intends to call witnesses to give evidence of their experience of the education system from their specific position, including, for example, parents and carers of students with disability, advocates, and individuals with professional experience in the education system and experts.
Commissioners set to appear at the Townsville hearing are:
the Chair
The Hon Roslyn Atkinson AO
Ms Andrea Mason OAM
Dr Rhonda Galbally AC
Leave to appear with respect to the Townsville hearing
The Royal Commission may grant leave to appear to a person(s) or organisation(s) to participate in a public hearing.
If you believe you have a direct or substantial interest in the subject matter of this hearing, you are invited to apply in writing for leave to appear by Monday, 28 October 2019, 5:00pm (AEDT).
To apply for leave to appear at the public hearing:
Fill out the form ‘Application for Leave to Appear at a Hearing of the Royal Commission’
Include a brief summary of your direct or substantial interest in the hearing (see paragraph 7 of Practice Guideline 4 – Conduct of Hearings for examples), and
Forward your form and the brief summary to the Royal Commission to DRCSolicitor@royalcommission.gov.au by Monday, 28 October 2019, 5:00pm (AEDT).
If you are unable or do not wish to apply in writing, or if you need assistance with your application to appear, please contact us on 1800 517 199 or +61 7 3734 1900 (between 9:00am-5:00pm (Australian Eastern Daylight Time [AEDT], Monday-Friday (excluding national public holidays).
To use the National Relay Service to contact us, phone 133 677.
Any application for leave to appear will be determined in accordance with Practice Guideline 4 – Conduct of Hearings, published by the Royal Commission.
Event information
Townsville Hearing
Date: Monday, 4 November 2019 – to Thursday 7 November, 2019.
Location: Townsville Entertainment and Convention Centre, Townsville QLD 4810
The Townsville hearing will be livestreamed on the Royal Commission website.
Support
The Royal Commission is committed to being accessible to all. It will adopt the principles of trauma-informed engagement to assist in recognising and understanding the effects of all types of trauma and to avoid re-traumatisation.
There are a number of Australian Government-funded services available to assist those requiring support during the Royal Commission. These services are provided through agencies external to the Royal Commission.
We understand that people with disability may be concerned about retribution, for example if they make a submission that is critical of an employer or an accommodation provider.
We take this concern very seriously because such retribution can be a criminal offence. If this happens to you because you have provided us with information in response to a notice to produce, or if you have given evidence in a public hearing, please tell us. The Royal Commission will then investigate your report and, if needed, refer it to the Police.
You can get free legal advice to help you understand your options in sharing your experience with the Royal Commission. Please call 1800 771 800 (9:15am-5:15pm AEDT Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays).
You might be worried that any information that you give to the Royal Commission, including in a written, online or audio-visual submission, is in breach of a non-disclosure or confidentiality clause in an agreement you have signed, or is defamatory. If so, you can ask the Royal Commission to issue you with what is called a ‘notice to produce’ your submission.
If the Royal Commission has issued you with a notice to produce (or if you give evidence before the Royal Commission in a public hearing), it is a criminal offence for any person to injure you, cause you disadvantage, or for your employer to take action against you because you have given information to the Royal Commission.
It is therefore against the law for a person to sue you for breach of a confidentiality clause because you gave your information to the Royal Commission in response to a notice. The law also says that any information you provide to the Royal Commission in response to a notice issued by the Royal Commission cannot be used as evidence against you in any civil or criminal proceedings in Australia.
If you are worried about your identity or the information you have provided being disclosed after the Royal Commission has ended, you may be able to share your experience with a Commissioner in a private session.
Anything you tell us in connection with, or during, a private session can be kept confidential even after the Royal commission ends. It is protected from disclosure by law and cannot be subpoenaed or disclosed under Freedom of Information legislation.
At this stage, the Royal Commission does not know how many people might want a private session, so we cannot promise that everyone wanting a private session will be able to get one. More information about private sessions will be available shortly.
If you share your story with the Royal Commission in writing, online or in audio-visual format, we will not publish your information unless you want us to. If you do want us to publish your account of your experience, we can publish it without naming or identifying you.
If you do not want your information or your identity to be shared with anyone outside of the Royal Commission, we can protect your identity and the information you share with us until the Royal Commission ends in April 2022 (when its Final Report is due).
This is because under the current law, the Royal Commission can only guarantee confidentiality while the Royal Commission exists. However, the Royal Commission intends to ask the Government to amend the law so that your information is protected indefinitely, even after the Royal Commission ends. This, however, is a matter for the Australian Parliament to decide.
https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/about/Pages/our-schedule.aspx?fbclid=IwAR24nbDz_MBwtneAOwrneNwWke0MuoyY_niAfImvq_LHnXXgGnnpsBaItQo