Responsibility: State and territory governments
Response:
VIC: Accept
ACT, NSW, QLD, SA, TAS, WA, NT: Accept in principle
Australian Capital Territory
Response: Accept in principle
Status: Complete
What has been achieved to date
In 2024, ACT Corrective Services appointed two Disability Liaison Officers (DLO) who support and coordinate services for detainees with a disability within the prison and in the community. The Disability Liaison Officers foster a shared approach to providing people with disability access to justice, by supporting the development of a cross-system Community of Practice that will identify and address systemic barriers which impact access to justice, or equitable access to services within the justice system, for people with a disability. ACT Corrective Services also appointed two Allied Health Assistants to support detainees, including those with a disability.
ACT government response July 2024
The release of the ACT Corrective Services Disability Action and Inclusion Plan (DAIP) guides ACT Corrective Services in continuing to improve the experience of clients with disability when they come into contact with ACT Corrective Services to ensure they are in the same position, as far as feasible, as other people in custody.
The ACT Government is committed to fulfilling its obligations under the ACT Disability Justice Strategy 2019-2029 to support young people with a disability in custody. Policies and Procedures for Bimberi Youth Justice Centre are currently being updated. This includes considering how young people with a disability in Bimberi can be supported to be in the same position, so far as feasible, as other young people in custody.
New South Wales
Response: Accept in principle
Status: In progress
What has been achieved to date
Corrective Services NSW (CSNSW) has launched a Disability Framework which formalises CSNSW’s commitment to people with disability who are completing orders. These guiding principles are intended to create further initiatives that benefit the rights and outcomes of people with disability within the organisation. The CSNSW Disability Framework was developed in consultation with Aboriginal and Torres strait Islander communities.
Youth Justice NSW has embarked on the annual Quality Assurance process for 2025. During this review, the QA team will interview as many young people as possible in each of the 6 custodial centres (often every young person) asking feedback on:
- their participation in Aboriginal cultural programs and activities
- experience of racism or bullying
- participation in cultural activities/programs
- centre support to maintain contact/visits of families
- how much of a voice they have in relation to case management
- their safety and wellbeing
- are they supported and respected by staff
- do they receive educational, psychological and medical services
- detainee representative committee participation
- what the centre can do to make it better for them.
The QA team also interviews staff, management, external stakeholders such as the Chaplain, NSW Official Visitor, Justice Health (Health NSW) and School Principals (Education NSW), conducts audits and observations to obtain a holistic view.
Disability is overrepresented in the Youth Justice system. Young people with diagnosed or suspected disability will form a strong cohort of young people included in the QA process.
This will be completed by the end of 2025.
The Inspector of Custodial Services has confirmed they will inspect all 6 centres in 2025.
NSW government response July 2024
NSW Government recognises that people with disability are overrepresented in the youth and adult justice system. They must have equal access to their rights for dignity and care, safety, service and interventions, as part of being involved in the justice system.
NSW Government is committed to continuing to build on work that is happening across the NSW justice system to improve conditions in custody through a range of specialist interventions.
NSW Government recognises the current limitations within the NSW justice system and notes that adult and youth custodial facilities are not currently funded nor expected to operate as a primary disability service.
NSW Government supports a whole of government response to people with a disability in custody to maximise the potential to provide the necessary supports and services and strengthen the service response for people with disability in custody and the wider justice system.
Northern Territory
Response: Accept in principle
Status: In progress
What has been achieved to date
The Northern Territory Department of Corrections has introduced a new Offender Services team to focus on supporting adult prisoners with disability to access NDIS services. This work is delivered in Youth Justice through the Specialist Assessment and Treatment Services team. Medium to high-risk prisoners subject to sentence, now have a thorough throughcare plan developed. This is also conducted for all detainees in Youth Detention Centres. The Department of Corrections remains committed to providing support to all prisoners and detainees with disability.
NT government response July 2024
The Northern Territory Government continues to ensure young people with disability receive the necessary disability supports with onsite medical clinicians on hand to provide such supports. A thorough Throughcare Plan is conducted for all individuals to ensure that the young people are placed in a position that is as equitable as possible compared to other individuals in custody.
Queensland
Response: Accept in principle
Status: In progress
What has been achieved to date
Queensland Corrective Services (QCS) is committed to enhancing disability services agency-wide. The permanent Disability Services Team aims to improve the identification and assessment of prisoners with disabilities and foster greater disability awareness across the agency.
Aligning with the Queensland Disability Reform Framework, QCS has developed the QCS Disability Strategy 2025-28. The Strategy provides an implementation pathway to deliver appropriate disability support to offenders with disabilities. The Strategy will be published in 2025.
The Queensland Department of Youth Justice and Victims Support (DYJVS) has permanently established a Disability Practice Team to enable multi-agency responses, deliver the neurodevelopmental disability framework, and enhance disability supports throughout the youth justice system. Permanently established allied health teams within youth detention centres work directly with onsite Queensland Health staff to assess young people and refer to tertiary services and the National Disability Insurance Agency.
The Youth Justice Act 1992 (Qld) was updated in 2024 to make clear that a child in detention should have access to the disability services necessary to meet their needs.
QLD government response July 2024
The Queensland Government understands the importance of upholding the rights of people with disability in custody and will investigate opportunities in all corrective services and youth justice settings for program adjustments and support identification processes to ensure people with disability can access the disability supports they require.
The Queensland Government will investigate implementation of additional programs targeting specific needs, for example, general violence, domestic and family violence and alcohol and other drug use, which are also adapted to be delivered for people with disability. It is noted that Youth Detention Centres have a range of services and supports in place to support young people with a disability and staff training continues to be refined.
The Queensland Government will work to remove barriers for people with disability in custody to gain access to the NDIS. Specialist psychological services teams in custody assess new receptions, and respond to, and manage, prisoners who are at-risk or have complex support needs.
South Australia
Response: Accept in principle
Status: In progress
What has been achieved to date
The South Australian government has programs, strategies and operational practices in place to support people with disability in custodial settings.
South Australian Department of Human Services Youth Justice:
Children and young people have access to a range of mental health supports delivered by Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, a key partner agency. The South Australian government is also strengthening therapeutic services delivered at Kurlana Tapa Youth Justice Centre to improve outcomes for children and young people. Youth Justice Therapeutic Services includes multi-disciplinary allied health teams who provide a range of specialist assessment and interventions for children and young people both in custody and in the community.
This includes the Enhanced Support Team (EST) work with operational staff within Kurlana Tapa to better understand and respond to young people with complex and disability-related needs. Staff within EST also work directly with young people to assist them in developing strategies such as emotional regulation, distress tolerance and prosocial communication.
The South Australian Department of Human Services Youth Justice (DHS YJ) staff are also trained in disability awareness and working with children and young people with neuro-developmental disability.
DHS YJ provides case management tailored to children and young people’s individual circumstances, which ensures timely assessment and screening for children and young people to ascertain whether they are likely to have a disability. DHS YJ Case Managers and Case Coordinators utilise the Child and Adolescent Intellectual Disability Screening Questionnaire (CAIDS-Q), a short seven-item screening tool to help identify children and young people’s intellectual disabilities that may require further intervention and support.
The identification of disabilities through assessment and screening may lead to referrals for further DHS-YJ supports and services and YJ staff may support children and young people with accessing National Disability Insurance Scheme.
South Australian Department of Correctional Services:
The South Australian Department of Correctional Services and South Australian Prison Health Service continue to assess all prisoners upon admission and take into consideration individual needs.
SA government response July 2024
The South Australian government has programs, strategies and operational practices in place to support people with disability in custodial settings. The South Australian government is supportive of reviewing policies and procedures to ensure they align with article 14 of the CRPD.
Tasmania
Response: Accept in principle
Status: In progress
What has been achieved to date
The Tasmanian Department of Justice, Department for Education, Children and Young People and Department of Health are exploring options regarding this recommendation, including the development of a Disability Services Framework to provide a coordinated and baseline service delivery approach to people with disability engaged with criminal justice services in detention and custodial settings.
Outside of the proposed Disability Services Framework, work is progressing to improve conditions in detention centres for young people with disability.
The Tasmania Prison Service has recently employed a Senior Psychologist in Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) and Disability Services to lead a team of disability and AOD clinicians to provide supports to adults in custodial facilities.
More widely, through the reforms outlined in the Youth Justice Blueprint 2024-2034, the Tasmanian Government is enhancing collaborative, therapeutic and multidisciplinary approaches across the entire youth justice service system.
This includes enhancing access to therapeutic disability and mental health assessments and support for all young people who are sentenced or remanded to Ashley Youth Detention Centre (AYDC).
AYDC Case Management work closely with the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), Child and Youth Mental Health Service (CYMHS), Community Youth Justice, Child Safety Service and other services to assess and respond to the individual needs of young people and maximise access to appropriate therapeutic supports.
Young people at AYDC who have an existing NDIS plan are supported to continue engagement with their NDIS Coordinator of Supports during their time at AYDC.
Where a young person does not have a NDIS plan and there is identified need for NDIS support, AYDC also supports young people to engage in assessments and complete applications to the NDIS.
In addition, a Director of Clinical Services has been appointed to oversee the provision of assessment and diagnostic services for young people in detention.
TAS government response July 2024
The Tasmanian Government accepts this recommendation in principle.
The Tasmanian Government recognises that people with disability are over-represented in our prisons. The Tasmanian Government is committed to upholding the rights of people with disability - including young people - in custody. This has also been recognised through the NDIS Review and Tasmania's Commission of Inquiry.
Work has already commenced to improve conditions in custody for young people in custody in response to the Commission of Inquiry.
The Tasmanian Prison Service provides disability supports to people with disability.
Victoria
Response: Accept
Status: In progress
What has been achieved to date
The Victorian Department of Justice and Community Safety (DJCS) continues to invest in a range of disability and health responses for people in prison with cognitive impairment. However, further work is required to determine capacity to scale responses to meet demand, and further funding is required to support the sustainability of these services.
DJCS is committed to supporting the needs of people in custody with disability, with a focus on identification upon referral and access to disability-specific services. Specialist disability supports and services continue to be available to people in Victorian prisons, including a small multidisciplinary disability team, some specialist accommodation, adapted offence-specific treatment and linkages to critical service systems including the NDIS.
The Healthcare Services Quality Framework for Victorian Prisons 2023 has been embedded to provide strengthened understanding to healthcare providers on the specific health needs of priority groups including those with disability. Forensic mental health services are continuing to support individuals in custody in applying for the NDIS while also providing a range of multidisciplinary expertise to support people in prison.
In youth justice custodial settings, the disability advisory team operates and is responsible for identifying system needs, driving improvement in service delivery, and maintaining clinical integrity and oversight of the rehabilitation needs of young people with disability. The team provides expert clinical disability advice and support to Youth Justice staff to understand and provide inclusive and responsive individual support to young people with disability and help them to engage in disability funded services (through NDIS) and general supports to ensure their safety and provide best opportunity for positive engagement.
VIC government response July 2024
We accept this recommendation in full.
However, further investment is needed to ensure services can meet demand.
We need to make sure information and environments in custodial settings are accessible for people with a disability.
We know that young people with disability are overrepresented in Youth Justice. We have committed to introducing a standalone legislative framework for Youth Justice in Victoria, called the Youth Justice Bill.
The Bill will include ensuring that young people's rights are upheld, that young people receive ongoing access to health practitioners and supports, and that they are treated in a way that responds to their needs, including disability needs.
The updated Youth Justice Primary Health Quality Framework 2023 also strengthens requirements for youth custodial primary health providers to respond to the specific needs of children and young people with a disability who are in custody. This includes young people with cognitive impairment, mental illness, acquired brain injury, sensory, physical and neurodiverse disabilities.
We have updated the Custodial Forensic Youth Mental Health Service practice guide. The service now has greater capacity to provide neurodevelopmental assessments and interventions.
This will support assessment of children and young people while in youth justice custody. It will also support them to transition back to the community, providing advice and consultation to community services involved with the child or young person.
Specialist disability supports and services are also available to adults in Victorian prisons. However, further investment is needed to ensure services meet demand. This was identified in the Victorian Auditor-General’s Office 2023 report into correctional services for people with intellectual disability or acquired brain injury.
The Prison Disability Support Initiative delivers services that respond to a person’s non-physical disability needs. This includes support to access disability-specific and transitional services, specialist clinical assessment, case-specific or general consultation, therapeutic intervention, and cognitive impairment training for the correctional workforce.
The Prison Disability Support Initiative also supports people to achieve goals such as employment, access to the NDIS and supported disability accommodation.
Corrections Victoria offers 2 specific adapted-intervention offence-specific programs for sexual offenders or violent offenders with a cognitive impairment. Interventions provide relevant services for people with significant responsivity issues that would present as a barrier to group-based treatment.
The Healthcare Services Quality Framework for Victorian Prisons 2023 (Quality Framework) strengthens requirements for adult prison healthcare providers to improve their understanding of the specific health needs of priority groups, including people with disabilities.
Prison health providers also work with multidisciplinary teams and custodial staff to meet the specific needs of people in prison with disability. Prison health service providers must also assess for, supply, fit and maintain necessary medical aids.
Forensic mental health services support NDIS applications within custodial bed-based settings. The bed-based units have a multidisciplinary team: psychiatrists, occupational therapists, social workers and psychologists.
Western Australia
Response: Accept in principle
Status: In progress
What has been achieved to date
Corrective Services new trauma informed therapeutic model of care (model) guides the way care is to be provided to young people, their family and extended families and sets benchmarks for the conditions for young people in custody – including those with a disability.
The conditions in custody for people with disabilities is being reviewed and the development of the national guidelines will further inform the management of people in custody with disabilities.
WA government response July 2024
The WA Government accepts in principle this recommendation. The Government is striving to make appropriate adjustments and supports for people with disability in custody. Implementation is subject to further resourcing and capacity building.
What the Disability Royal Commission said in the final report
State and territory governments should uphold the rights of people with disability who are in custody. Consistent with article 14 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, all corrective service and youth justice agencies should provide people with disability with the disability supports they require to place them in the same position, so far as feasible, as other people in custody.
More recommendations
View progress on other recommendations made by the Royal Commission.