Disability Royal Commission Statement

Updated October 2023

We welcome the Final Report of the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability.

At Community Connections Australia (CCA), our Board of Directors, CEO - Melissa Way, and Senior Team are committed to upholding the legal, welfare and human rights of people living with disabilities in all aspects of our services.

We want to share with you how we are implementing the recommendations identified by the Royal Commission to enhance the quality of support we deliver to every person in our service. We will:

  • review our strategy and develop new initiatives that offer new or better services

  • make improvements in everyday operations so our support of each person is the best we can make it.

At CCA, we are dedicated to:

  • Empowering people living with disabilities in the design and delivery of their supports.

  • Collaborating with the people we support, their families, other providers, and advocates.

  • Adopting best practice in the recruitment of support workers.

  • Implementing a robust training program to upskill our support workers.

  • Encouraging feedback from all people who receive services.

  • Embracing a continuous improvement approach for high quality services.

CCA actively promotes the rights of all people receiving services, regardless of the nature, origin, type, or degree of disability. We maintain a zero-tolerance policy for any form of abuse, assault, neglect, exploitation, harassment and/or discrimination.

If you wish to read more information about the Royal Commission, please visit: https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/brief-guide-final-report-brochure

If you have any concerns you wish to raise about the Disability Royal Commission (DRC) report, you can ring 1300 36 46 88 or email Paul Lepp (plepp@ccoz.org.au), Sue Konarski (skonarski@ccoz.org.au) or Loretta Sandona (lsandona@ccoz.org.au).

Blue Knot (ph 1800 421 468) provides free specialist counselling and referrals for people affected by the DRC.

Other counselling services available include:

  • Lifeline 13 11 14

  • 1800Respect 1800 737 732

  • Beyond Blue 1300 224 636

We hope you find this information useful and we appreciate your feedback. Please contact us if you have any questions or comments about our services or the Royal Commission. We are here to support you.

On behalf of CCA,

Phill Morath and Melissa Way