National Disability Services (NDS), as the peak body for non-government disability providers, wishes to express its sincere gratitude to the Disability Royal Commission for undertaking a crucial and comprehensive investigation into the violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation experienced by people with disability in Australia.

The deeply distressing instances of abuse, violence, exploitation, and neglect brought to light during this investigation are entirely unacceptable. NDS is fully committed to working collaboratively with both government, people with disability, advocates and sector to ensure that all Australians with disabilities have access to the safe, quality and culturally appropriate services they deserve.

As the peak body speaking on behalf of service providers, we acknowledge the findings of the Royal Commission. We are ready and willing to play a role in reforms and believe providers have a valuable contribution to make. Good quality providers want to be part of the solution.

Whilst we know there are thousands of committed and dedicated people in this industry providing excellent service and support, the Royal Commission has shown many examples of poor practice, which must be addressed.

The findings of the Royal Commission present the sector with an important opportunity to address shortfalls to stop these instances from occurring again.

There are many recommendations in the final report that are relevant to disability service providers and we look forward to working through these in detail with all relevant stakeholders.

It is important that the views of people with disability, their representative groups, providers and government are all taken into account in this next phase of work in implementing the recommendations.

From a provider perspective, given the current state of the sector, off the back of chronic workforce shortages exacerbated by the pandemic, it is critical that service providers have appropriate time and support for changes to be delivered correctly.

A skilled, capable, diverse and sustainable provider landscape is a desirable outcome for people with disability, so we need to be mindful of how we match the timetabling of reforms with the capacity of the sector to respond.

It is our absolute goal and vision to have an inclusive Australia where all people with disability live safely and equitably and we look forward to working with all members of the disability community to see this future realised.

For media enquiries or to arrange an interview please contact Andrew Beswick, NDS Director of Communications, email submit enquiry/feedback, 03 8341 4394.