Responsibility: Australian, state and territory governments
Joint response: Subject to further consideration
Status: Subject to further consideration
Other related reform work in progress
All governments remain committed to considering this recommendation further.
The Australian Government has committed $15.6 million over 5 years from 2024-25 for the design and implementation of a Disability Support Quality and Safeguarding Framework (the Framework) and a Disability Support Ecosystem Safeguarding Strategy (Strategy).
The Commonwealth Department of Health, Disability and Ageing (the department) is leading the Framework and Strategy, which will establish a coordinated and unified approach to quality and safeguarding across the disability support ecosystem. This measure will build on existing efforts to ensure that any reforms to quality and safeguarding arrangements are person-centred and designed in step with community expectations.
The department will work with states and territories to develop the Framework and Strategy in close consultation with people with disability, their families, Disability Representative Organisations and service providers.
The Commonwealth has engaged with states and territories to provide a comprehensive overview of the Commonwealth’s work to date and enable states to identify the scope and stages of the work they wish to be involved in.
Initial work proposed through 2025 will focus on the Framework, with development of the Strategy to occur subsequently. The Framework will be informed by people with disability. The first stage of consultation and engagement with disability sector stakeholders started in May 2025.
The Victorian Government has announced its intention to consolidate Victoria's social services safeguarding entities to improve the regulatory system and make the system easier to navigate for people with disability including when making complaints.
The reform would see the Disability Services Commissioner, Victorian Disability Worker Commissioner and Disability Worker Registration Board of Victoria merge with the new Social Services Regulator bringing oversight functions of funded social services under one organisation.
A complaints division would be established to cover all regulated social services. Further work is required to consider additional mechanisms to safeguard adults in private settings in the context of existing oversight functions in Victoria and the proposed entity reforms.
What the Disability Royal Commission said in the final report
States and territories should each:
a) introduce legislation to establish nationally consistent adult safeguarding functions, including:
- definitions of ‘adult with disability’, ‘violence’, ‘abuse’, ‘neglect’, and ‘exploitation’
- at a minimum, the principles, functions and powers outlined in Table 11.1.1
- data collection and public reporting, including demographic data (for example, relating to First Nations, culturally and linguistically diverse, and LGBTIQA+ people with disability)
- a mechanism to review the legislation after a reasonable period to examine its efficacy.
b) ensure adult safeguarding functions are operated by adequately resourced independent statutory bodies
c) develop a National Adult Safeguarding Framework led by the appointed adult safeguarding bodies
d) consider whether to co-locate the adult safeguarding function with the ‘one-stop shop’ independent complaint reporting, referral and support mechanism (see Recommendation 11.3).
Joint Government response July 2024
The Australian Government and state and territory governments support a strong, connected safeguarding system to reduce the risk of harm to people with disability and will work together through the Disability Reform Ministerial Council to consider reform options to develop a nationally consistent and a unified approach.
As a first step, the Commonwealth will work with states and territories to develop a framework that sets out the standards and culture of how the disability ecosystem will work to strengthen safeguarding for people with disability.
More recommendations
View progress on other recommendations made by the Royal Commission.