The federal government is taking steps to protect the privacy of witnesses involved in a royal commission into the abuse of people with disability, after advocates warned privacy concerns were stopping people from coming forward.
Attorney-General Christian Porter on Tuesday announced plans to amend the Royal Commissions Act 1902 to protect the confidentiality of witnesses' information both during and beyond the life of the inquiry.
He said the amendments, requested by royal commission chair Ronald Sackville, would ensure the inquiry's work was guided by and truly reflective of people's experiences.
"We want people in the community to engage fully with the royal commission," Mr Porter said in a statement on Tuesday.
"I have instructed my department to work swiftly on the amendments, with the aim of introducing in the Autumn sittings of 2021."
Currently, witnesses can request confidentiality for the duration of the inquiry and participate in private sessions, but there is no safeguard to ensure the identities behind written submissions are sealed after the commission hands down its report in April 2022.
The peak body for disability advocacy groups, Disabled People's Organisations Australia, previously argued that without an amendment to the Royal Commission Act to improve privacy protections, the "most severe cases of systemic abuse and neglect" would not be exposed.
“People with disability are telling us that they’re reluctant to come forward and they are afraid of retribution and repercussions if they can’t ensure that their submissions and the information they provide is able to be kept confidential beyond the life of the royal commission,” said Romola Hollywood, the director of policy and advocacy at People With Disability Australia.
“People need to feel safe that once they’ve told their story that it won’t necessarily be revealed if they don’t want it to be made public, particularly if they’re concerned a perpetrator might seek retribution."
There were concerns that without amendments, organisations - often responsible for the care of people with disability - could seek to obtain submissions through freedom of information legislation following the final report.
Other issues have been identified as making it harder for people with disability to appear at the inquiry, including a regulation that sees people giving evidence in a professional capacity paid almost 10 times the amount as witnesses disclosing their own experiences.
According to royal commission regulations, which apply to all royal commissions, witnesses appearing for their “professional, scientific, or other special skill or knowledge” are paid a fee of $1,174 per day while other witnesses receive $123.
Analysis of the witness list provided on the royal commission’s website for the seventh public hearing, which ran between 12 and 16 October, indicates only about a quarter of witnesses were speaking from the perspective of a person with disability.
The disability royal commission is due to present an interim report to the governor-general on 30 October, 2020, with its final report due by April 2022.
