Abuse

• and Janet, Janet & Suggs, LLC, two leading Maryland-based medical malpractice, personal injury, and civil litigation law firms, are partnering in a class action lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Washington on behalf of sex abuse victims who have come forward seeking justice.
• These law firms previously partnered in a class action against Johns Hopkins Hospital arising from sexual abuse committed by one of its doctors.
• That case settled for $190 million, which has been reported to be the largest sexual abuse settlement in Maryland history.
• Three class representatives who were sexually abused by Archdiocese of Washington clergy as minors are identified via pseudonyms in the complaint's allegations.

• This 4-year (base and 3 option years) project, titled “ Real-World Examination of Naloxone for Drug Overdose Reversal (RENDOR) ,” will study out-of-hospital naloxone administration through a collaboration with EMS agencies in San Francisco, CA; Detroit, MI; Portland, OR; and Pittsburgh, PA.
• ACMT’s Board President, Anthony Pizon, MD, FACMT states, “The RENDOR project aims for a better understanding of how naloxone is being used now that it has been made more accessible and widely available.
• ACMT members work in clinical, academic, governmental, and public health settings, and provide poison control center leadership.
• Led by medical toxicology physicians and registry experts, our projects involve case registry design and maintenance.

• After more than four years and many traumatic stories, the disability royal commission’s final report was released this morning.
• The scope of the A$600 million disability royal commission included school, work, housing, hospitals and the criminal justice system.
• The recommendations include the introduction of an Australian disability rights act, a new disability government portfolio, a minister for disability inclusion, and a department of disability equality and inclusion.

A long time coming

• People with disability have long experienced violence, abuse and neglect at much higher rates than the rest of the community.
• The commission heard that some 17,000 people with disability living in group homes are at significant risk.

The problem with group homes

• All the commissioners agreed major improvements are needed when it comes to group homes.
• There is little evidence to indicate group home are cost effective, provide quality support or deliver good outcomes for people living there.
• Many group homes in Australia fail to keep people safe and deny their basic rights.

Inclusive housing recommendations

• The commission began its housing recommendations by acknowledging people with disability are “conspicuously absent” from national housing and homelessness policy frameworks.
• The commission listed 11 recommendations for more inclusive housing.
• Implementing the recommendations to make mainstream services more inclusive will help keep people living in disability housing safe.

Minimum standards

• The commission also recommended the introduction of minimum service standards, monitoring and oversight for boarding houses around Australia.
• Given the evidence about the impact of unsuitable housing on the lives of people with disability, the commission’s recommendation for national minimum accessibility standards in all new housing as soon as possible is critical too.
• The New South Wales and Western Australia governments have not yet committed to implement mandatory accessible design standards.

What’s next?

• Some of the most marginalised people in Australia were heard for the first time during the disability royal commission.
• This needs to be balanced with adding layers of regulation that will do little to improve the lives of people with disability.
• But the final report is momentous and the current NDIS review (due to report in October) will add to this momentum.

• Many people are waiting keenly to hear how the recommendations can make a difference to the lives of people with disability.
• While we wait for the report to be made public, we can learn from how government action from the previous child abuse royal commission helped improve people’s lives.

What was involved

• Over four and half years, it held hearings, heard stories from witnesses, received submissions and conducted research.
• High rates of violence and harm against people with disability have not improved very much over many decades.
• Making changes to specialist systems such as the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) – currently under review – will help those involved.

Ableism and ‘othering’

• People with disability are often treated in ways that are not acceptable for any member of society.
• An example of these types of discrimination is when a waiter asks a carer what a person with disability wants, instead of asking the person themselves.
• Or when a person with disability is expected to live with strangers who hit them, because that is the only housing available.
• Read more:
  Ableism and disablism – how to spot them and how we can all do better

  You might think excluding people in these ways does not happen anymore or does not matter.

What we hope the commission will recommend

• The disability royal commission listened to people with disability, family members and organisations about what they want to happen.
• A consistent view is that it is not enough to focus on stopping violent acts where they are happening now.


The disability royal commission recommendations and government responses should follow the example set by the child abuse commission. The need for a voice, compliance and quality standards remains relevant to people affected by disability policy. And the responsibility for real change stretches beyond government. Change happens when the responsibility to listen and act is taken up by all organisations, communities and members of the public.

What happens next

• Immediate action, as we saw in the child abuse commission, will demonstrate priority for the rights of people with disability.
• Everyone’s contribution to changing attitudes, building belonging and recognising people’s shared humanity is needed to defeat exclusion and prevent violence.
• Poet Andy Jackson recited his work Listen at the disability royal commission’s ceremonial closing sitting two weeks ago.