Public hearing 16 of the Disability Royal Commission will examine the experiences of Indigenous children with a disability in out-of-home care.

September 17, 2021

The royal commission into violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of people with disability will focus on the experiences of First Nations children with disability in out-of-home care.

The 16th public hearing of the royal commission on Friday started with a pre-recorded video of a smoking ceremony performed by four Traditional Owners in Alice Springs (Mparntwe).

The hearing will be the second First Nations-specific public hearing to be held by the royal commission.

It aims to provide an insight into the life course for First Nations people with disability and their experiences of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation, including cumulative and systemic abuse and neglect by multiple systems over time.

About 40 per cent of children on care and protection orders in Australia are First Nations, despite making up only around six per cent of the total number of children in Australia.

“First Nations children were also 10 times more likely to be in out-of-home care than non-First Nations children,” Royal Commission Chair Ron Sackville said.

Mr Sackville said First Nations children with a disability experienced multiple forms of disadvantage that exposed them to greater risk of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation.

“Those disadvantages include the impact of colonisation involving the dispossession of First Nations people, forced assimilation, marginalisation, intergenerational trauma and, not least, the removal of children from families and communities,” he said.

The disadvantages also include social and economic impacts, which have resulted in many disabled First Nations children experiencing poverty, inadequate housing, and poor health.

The public hearing will examine a range of issues, including the policy and practices of child protection departments in identifying and diagnosing disability of First Nations children in out-of-home care.

It will also look at access to supports and services by First Nations children with disability and their carers in out-of-home care, including the NDIS.

The hearing was scheduled to take place in Alice Springs (Mparntwe), however, the ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks and border closures mean the hearing will now be closed and broadcast via video.