Australian Human Rights Commission Submission to the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities – 25 July 2019 40. A Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability (Royal Commission) was established in April 2019. The Commission encourages the Royal Commission to examine the gender-based aspects of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation. Recommendation 14: The Australian Government ensure the Fourth Action Plan under the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010–2022: a. addresses all forms of violence perpetrated against women and children with disability b. ensures protections are in place to prevent involuntary or coerced sterilisation of women and children with disability c. includes targeted prevention and early intervention initiatives for women with disability, such as support and education on respectful relationships d. includes measures to ensure information, resources and education for women with disability are provided in a range of accessible formats e. expands research and data-collection measures to better understand the nature and prevalence of violence against women and girls with disability, to inform evidence-based policy responses. 4.3 Children with disability (CRPD art 7, CO 18, LOI 7) 41. The Commission remains concerned that legislation, policies, programs, service standards, operational procedures and compliance frameworks that apply to children and young people generally do not incorporate the rights of children with disability as articulated in the CRPD and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The Commission is concerned that there is no national plan of action for the realisation of the rights of the child.35 42. Children with disability are often not provided with disability and ageappropriate assistance to participate and express their views. For example, in the context of the Family Law system, courts are not required to provide children with disability with the assistance and procedural accommodations that they may need to express their views in relation to matters that affect them. This issue was not addressed by the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) in its inquiry into the family law system.36 43. The Commission welcomes the Australian Government’s commitment to improving national reporting on the welfare of children.37 However, it remains concerned that data relating to child protection, out-of-home care and juvenile justice (and many other systems), is not disaggregated by 13