Day Two of Disability Royal Commission Hearing 32 focuses on workforce issues

Warning: This hearing summary contains information that may be upsetting.  

First to give evidence on Day Two was “Zelda Riddell” (pseudonym).  Zelda has extensive experience of support provision in government and non-government contexts and discussed the application of self-determination and human rights approaches to disability support work.  

Counsel Assisting explored several topics with the witness, including training opportunities, workplace culture, complaints handling, and abuse and neglect in supported living arrangements. Zelda said that workplace incidents that she has witnessed have often occurred due to under-resourced and under-trained staff. The current funding models give insufficient time for administration work or training, particularly for supported decision making, human rights approaches, trauma informed responses, culturally appropriate responses and defensible documentation. Staff should be entitled to professional development; however, Zelda noted that this has decreased in quality and quantity as organisations are under more and more pressure with staff shortages and recruitment.