The Minister for Disability Services, Hon. Jo Palmer MLC, has released the Tasmanian Government’s response to the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability (Disability Royal Commission).
The release of the Tasmanian Response comes after the Australian Government released the Joint Australian, State and Territory Response to the Disability Royal Commission.
The Royal Commission’s Final Report made 222 recommendations, 34 of which impact on the Department’s portfolio. These recommendations sit across Education, Youth Justice, and Children and Families.
The Tasmanian response to the Disability Royal Commission consists of two documents which are available online at www.dpac.tas.gov.au/disabilityroyalcommission:
- A list of all 222 recommendations and the Tasmanian Government responses to them.
- A summary of the Tasmanian response to the Disability Royal Commission and the Government’s commitment to making Tasmania a place, where people with disability have the same choices as everyone else in our community.
The Tasmanian Government has accepted or accepted in-principle 13 of the 15 recommendations relating to education. The remaining two recommendations are noted.
Our department is dedicated to making education safer, more accessible, and more inclusive for students with disabilities and their families. Our key focus is ensuring that students with disability and their families are supported to make the best choices about how and where they want to be educated, based on their individual needs. This includes through Support Schools, which we are committed to retaining as an important educational option in Tasmania.
We are already working to address many of the issues raised with the Disability Royal Commission regarding education for children and young people.
We know that there isn’t a single solution that fits everyone, so changes will happen gradually and in close consultation with schools and their communities.