It was the publicity surrounding institutionalised abuse in the Northern Territory that prompted a former disability support worker, and self-confessed reluctant participant in the Canberra abuse, to break the silence on what is likely happening in countless homes across the nation.

Our informant spoke of being told to tie up a severely intellectually disabled woman for up to 30 minutes at a time while she cleaned the house.

The difference between this case and Don Dale was that the person instructing the support worker to restrain the woman was the victim's mother, who felt she had no other option. The scene of the abuse was the family home.

There were no CCTV cameras and no independent oversight. The incident only came to light because of the courage of one person in coming forward to say they had been coerced into committing a grievous wrong against another.

Apparently from the standpoint of those who worked at Don Dale there there was nothing abnormal about hooding and shackling a young detainee, stripping another and physical contact that rapidly escalated from restraint to severe corporal punishment.

It is also sadly the case that the mother of the disabled Canberra woman who was forcibly restrained with ropes attached to the ceiling felt she had no other choice.

Advocacy for Inclusion chief executive Christina Ryan has said such abuse is prevalent in the disability community, putting it down to people's belief there just aren't any practical alternatives.

This appears at least partly true, with families struggling to support and care for profoundly intellectually disabled children facing one of the greatest challenges that can be inflicted by our society.

They are on duty 24/7 and have to juggle the high level of care required with their responsibilities to other children, the normal demands of the workplace and the like.

Without adequate levels of support to cope with such a burden, it is not uncommon, according to Ms Ryan, for people to turn to physical restraints or medication to manage what can be extremely difficult behaviours. It is highly likely such decisions are not made lightly but only when families are absolutely overwhelmed by carer stress.

Coercive physical and chemical restraint does constitute an act of violence against the individual. The belief it is acceptable in any form needs to be dispelled by governments declaring it absolutely illegal and punishable with the full force of the law. But the lack of support for those overwhelmed families and carers is the root cause of such actions. Only when people are desperate and see no alternative do they resort to such drastic action.

There needs to be follow-up with initiatives from those governments to ensure families caring for a severely disabled child receive sufficient practical support at home and access to respite care to ensure their burdens are manageable.