The interim findings of the disability royal commission are set to be handed down, more than 18 months after the inquiry was called by the government.
The $528 million inquiry, headed by Justice Ronald Sackville AO QC and based in Brisbane, examined the mistreatment of Australians with disability across the country's institutions, workplaces, schools, homes and communities.
The first public hearings were held in November 2019 and have gone on to examine the relationship of those with disability to group home care and health care, as well as the experiences of people with disability amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The most recent public hearing, held in mid-October, examined the barriers people with disability face in the education system.
The mother of Quaden Bayles, a nine-year-old Indigenous boy who made global headlines after being bullied, told the hearing she was snubbed by her son's school for months after the bullying incident.
Yarraka Bayles also said her son requires the assistance of a specialist machine for respiratory problems but isn't allowed to bring it to school - even after an ambulance was called following a recent incident because he couldn't breathe.
The commission also late last month released a report into the experiences of people with disability in group home care, finding too many people are denied choices about their accommodation.
It found a shift from large housing complexes for people with disability to smaller group homes had not eliminated institutional forms of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation.
The needs of individuals in group homes were seldom prioritised and routines were organised for the convenience of staff and management, the report said. The sector's largely casualised workforce also complicated the provision of adequate training.
Earlier public sittings also heard the federal government's initial COVID-19 emergency health plan in February failed to mention people with a disability, and heard eight National Disability Insurance Scheme participants had died from COVID-19 as of August 21.
The royal commission interim report will be handed to Governor-General David Hurley at midday on Friday and then tabled in federal parliament.
There are about 4.4 million people with disability in Australia - 365,000 of which are participants in the NDIS.
Australian Associated Press
