A Senate committee has found a royal commission is needed into the abuse of people with disabilities, after a parliamentary inquiry heard "shocking" and "cruel" examples of violence and neglect around Australia.
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The report, by the Senate's community affairs committee, found that while there are no clear national statistics on the prevalence of violence against people with disability, there is "overwhelming anecdotal evidence".
This included accounts of a woman with a disability barricading herself in the laundry while her husband and carer "raged" outside, threatening to kill her.
In reports of people living in residential care, one 20-something man with severe quadriplegia was found suffocated. Another young woman with physical disabilities was not able to have a female worker help her with toileting and menstrual care.
The inquiry, which began in February, stemmed from a Fairfax Media/ ABC investigation about abuse at Victoria's biggest disability provider.
The committee said it was not only "very disturbed" by the evidence it received but by the fact that many cases went unreported or were poorly followed up by authorities.
"I urge every Senator, every Australian, to read this report," committee chair Greens senator Rachel Siewert said on Wednesday.
Labor's Claire Moore said the committee had not recommended a royal commission lightly.
"We would not call for a royal commission if we did not believe it was necessary."
Coalition senators on the committee Zed Seselja and Joanna Lindgren took a slightly more cautious approach in their additional comments. They stopped short of calling for a royal commission immediately, saying a judicial inquiry should be "considered" and they were open to further investigation of "this crucial matter".
Under former prime minister Tony Abbott, the Coalition had previously resisted calls for a national inquiry into the abuse of people with disabilities, arguing states and territories had responsibility for disability services.
In its report, the committee argued that abuse of people with disabilities was likely to be "far greater in prevalence" than its inquiry had been able to determine, that a royal commission could provide the proper support that witnesses needed to come forward and that many of the allegations it heard were of criminal acts.
"Only a royal commission with investigative powers, funded and empowered to visit institutions, could properly conduct and inquiry and give full weight to the seriousness of this issue," it said.
Among the 30 recommendations in the report, the committee also calls for the government to set up a national system for reporting and investigating abuse of people with a disability, better training and screening for people employed in the sector and better access to the judicial system for victims.
