Australian Human Rights Commission CRPD information concerning Australia – 11.03.13 62. The Commission notes that issues concerning violence against women with disability in institutional settings were raised during the UN Special Rapporteur’s violence against women study tour. 34 The issues include the heightened vulnerability of women with disability living in group homes, the perceived impunity surrounding violence by staff or other residents, the inability to report violence, and the need for appropriate accessible services and support. 63. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in its concluding comments on Australia in 2010, called on the State Party to undertake a ‘comprehensive assessment of the situation of women with disabilities in Australia’. To date, this assessment has not been undertaken. 64. The Commission welcomes the Royal Commission into child sexual abuse in institutional settings.35 The Commission notes that the terms of reference for the Royal Commission encompass past and current child sexual abuse and any related unlawful or improper treatment of children (including children with disability) in the context of institutions throughout Australia.36 The Commission notes that unlawful or improper treatment of children unrelated to child sexual abuse does not come within the terms of reference of the Royal Commission. 4.2 Access to justice (articles 3, 4, 5, 13, 14) 65. The Commission is concerned about access to justice for people (suspects, offenders, victims and witnesses) with communication impairment. These people include people with an intellectual disability, people who use augmentative or alternative forms of communication, people with Acquired Brain Injury, people with cerebral palsy who have communication problems, people who are Deaf and use sign language, people who have a hearing impairment and people who have little or no speech. 66. The issues include the capacity of people with communication impairment to give evidence and to initiate or defend proceedings, and the treatment of people with communication impairment by police, judges, lawyers and other court personnel. The Commission is also concerned about the accessibility of court processes such as access to interpreters to facilitate communication. 67. The Commission is particularly concerned about access to justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with a cognitive impairment. This issue was highlighted in the Commission’s Social Justice Report 2012.37 The report notes that: In some Australian jurisdictions, when people with cognitive impairment are found unfit to plead to criminal charges, they become subject to mental health legislation. In several jurisdictions, the result for some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with a cognitive impairment accused of crimes for which they are unable to plead and stand trial, has been indefinite detention.38 68. Additionally, Aboriginal and Torres Strait people with cognitive impairment, their families, and communities are not provided with appropriate support and little help, especially in remote locations.39 12