same form in which they were enacted, except where their reach has been
expanded’.209
Recommendation 35: The Australian Government amend existing counterterrorism laws that disproportionately limit human rights.
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People with disability
Relevant provisions of the CAT: Articles 2 and 16
138. The Commission welcomed the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse,
Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability (Disability Royal
Commission) and commended the broad scope of the Terms of Reference.
The Commission looks forward to the release of the Final Report. Similarly,
the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has previously
made recommendations in 2019 relating to the issues raised below for
people with disability. 210 These recommendations have not been acted
upon.
139. In 2018, the Commission published A Future Without Violence: Quality,
safeguarding and oversight to prevent and address violence against people with
disability in institutional settings.211 The recommendations included improved
quality, safeguarding and oversight mechanisms in the disability and
mainstream sectors. The Commission remains concerned the need for
improved quality, safeguarding and oversight mechanisms remains in these
sectors.
140. The Commission is concerned about the lack of a nationally consistent
approach to monitoring, regulating and eliminating the use of restrictive
practices.212 The National Framework for Reducing and Eliminating the Use
of Restrictive Practices in the Disability Service Sector only applies to
disability services. These practices still occur in a range of environments,
including mental health facilities, hospitals, aged care facilities and schools.
There are inconsistent approaches between states and territories with
respect to this issue, including in the mental health space, where it falls to
each jurisdiction to regulate. Mental health services reported 1.6 physical
restraint events per 1,000 bed days and 0.7 mechanical restraint events per
1,000 bed days during 2020–21.213
141. The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission oversees the regulation of
restrictive practices within the National Disability Insurance Scheme.214
Progress made towards minimising the use of restrictive practices, including
data on the reported use of regulated and non-regulated restrictive
practices, should continue to be made publicly available.215
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