For immediate release
29 September 2026
A new national coalition of Disability Advocacy and Representative Organisations from across Australia have joined forces to hold governments accountable for implementing the recommendations of the Disability Royal Commission (DRC) following growing concerns promised reforms have been forgotten.
Today marks three years since the DRC delivered its Final Report and the third year the government has delayed publicly reporting on implementation progress. In recognition of the almost 10,000 people who shared harrowing stories of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation, the coalition has today released Australia’s first independent DRC Progress Report Card, as part of their ‘The DRC Still Matters’ campaign.
The report card assesses progress on ten key recommendations against evidence of what has actually changed.
Its findings are stark:
- 0 are fully implemented
- 2 show some progress
- 3 remain in the early stages
- 4 show no real action
- 1 recommendation is going backwards
The coalition’s report card examines recommendations spanning some of the Royal Commission’s most significant areas of reform, including disability rights and leadership, supported decision-making, inclusive education, access to advocacy, reducing restrictive practices, preventing violence against women and children with disability, improving outcomes for First Nations people with disability and strong safeguards for NDIS participants at heightened risk.
The DRC called for an independent, disability-led National Disability Commission to monitor implementation and report publicly on progress. Three years on, it has not been established.
“You cannot claim transparency while missing reporting deadlines and failing to establish the independent oversight mechanisms the Commission recommended.” Matilda Alexander, Chief Executive of Queensland Advocacy for Inclusion said.
“If governments are serious about implementing the Royal Commission, they should welcome independent scrutiny.”
The coalition’s report card found significant concerns across several areas. Particularly concerning was the finding that, following the recent changes to the NDIS, progress on improving support coordination and safeguards for people at heightened risk within the NDIS appears to be moving further away from the intent of the Royal Commission.
While the coalition acknowledged some positive developments, including progress on disability advocacy funding and a plan to address violence against women and children with disability, it said reform overall remains far too slow and opaque.
“It is very disappointing to see such a low acceptance rate of the DRC recommendations.” Said Dr Alastair McEwin AM, previous Commissioner of the DRC.
“Such a low uptake means that we are still seeing disabled people experiencing unacceptably high levels of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation in our country, three years after the DRC ended.”
“I urge all governments to implement the more than 220 recommendations from the DRC Final Report that outline practical ways to ensure we don’t see this violence continue into the future for our disabled members of the community”.
The coalition is calling on all Australian governments to:
- Commit to on-time and transparent annual public reporting on every Disability Royal Commission recommendation.
- Establish independent disability-led oversight of implementation.
- Publish clear implementation timelines and milestones.
- Accelerate action on recommendations already accepted by governments.
The coalition said it intends to build an independent online tracker to continue building a public record of progress until every recommendation has been addressed.
“Today is not just an anniversary,” Suzanne Gearing, Chief Executive of Physical Disability Australia said.
“It is a reminder of the promises made to thousands of Australians with disability who are still waiting for change.”
“The Disability Royal Commission still matters. The people who shared their stories still matter. The recommendations still matter.”
– Ends –
Media Contacts
Name: Matilda Alexander
Title: Chief Executive
Organisation: Queensland Advocacy for Inclusion
Phone: 07 3844 4200
Email: QAI@qai.org.au
Name: Megan Spindler-Smith
Title: Acting Chief Executive
Organisation: People with Disability Australia
Phone: 0491 034 479
Email: media@pwd.org.au
Coalition members
This national coalition was formed from the member organisations of the Queensland Independent Disability Advocacy Network (QIDAN), Disability Representative Organisations (DROs) and advocates from across Australia.
- Queensland Advocacy for Inclusion (QIDAN Coordinator)
- Aged and Disability Advocates Australia (QIDAN)
- AMPARO Advocacy Inc. (QIDAN)
- Capricorn Citizen Advocacy (QIDAN)
- Mackay Advocacy Inc. (QIDAN)
- Rights in Action (QIDAN)
- Speaking Up for You (QIDAN)
- TASC Community Legal Centre (QIDAN)
- People with Disability Australia (QIDAN and DRO)
- Disability Advocacy Network Australia (DRO)
- Physical Disability Australia (DRO)
- Inclusion Australia (DRO)
- Children and Young people with Disability Australia (DRO)
- Women with Disabilities Australia (DRO)
- First Peoples Disability Network (DRO)
- Down Syndrome Australia Consortium (DRO)
- Community Mental Health Australia (DRO)
- National Mental Health Consumer Alliance (DRO)
- National Ethnic Disability Alliance (DRO)
- Council for Intellectual Disability (Advocates)
- Parent to Parent (Advocates)