The Australian Government is funding a legal advisory service and advocacy support for people who want assistance to make a submission. If you need assistance in making a submission you can contact them using the information below.
You can contact the Disability Royal Commission:
- by email at DRCenquiries@royalcommission.gov.au
- by telephone on 1800 517 199 (9:00am to 5:00pm Monday to Friday AEDT excluding public holidays)
- by post at GPO Box 1422, Brisbane Qld 4001
ABC Television has created a webpage where it will file all its news stories on this Royal Commission – https://www.abc.net.au/news/story-streams/disability-royal-commission/
Support services
Department of Social Services is funding a new counselling service for people engaging with or affected by the Disability Royal Commission.
The National Counselling and Referral Service run by Blue Knot Foundation provides short-term and trauma-informed counselling services. Counselling provides an opportunity for people to discuss how they are feeling, and receive support in order to make decisions about telling their story in a safe and confidential environment. Blue Knot Foundation are specialists in phone counselling and complex trauma, and currently provide counselling and referral services for people engaging with the National Redress Scheme. Their experienced practitioners will also connect people to other supports they might need such as advocacy, legal and financial services, long-term counselling services and crisis support.
You can call the National Counselling and Referral Service on 1800 421 468, 9am to 6pm weekdays or 9am to 5pm weekends AEDT. For support in other languages, please ask for an interpreter when contacting the Service.
People who are deaf, hard of hearing and/or have a speech impairment can contact the service through the National Relay Service (NRS) on 133 677.
Other support services
The Commonwealth has extended its well-established National Disability Advocacy Program (NDAP) to support people with disability to engage with the Disability Royal Commission. Advocacy support is for people with disability (or family members or carers acting on their behalf) who need assistance because they have difficulty in communicating or understanding how to engage with the Commission. An advocate will be able to help people with disability to understand how to tell their story to the Disability Royal Commission, how to work out problems or avoid discriminatory issues, find communication supports such as interpreters, and access other supports such as legal or financial services.
A free legal advisory service funded through the Attorney-General’s Department will help people with disability to understand their legal rights and options for engaging with the Disability Royal Commission. National Legal Aid and the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services will be providing the national legal advisory service. You can contact the national legal advisory service on 1800 771 800, 9.15am–5.15pm AEDT, Monday to Friday to register for the service.
For more information about support services, visit the Department of Social Services website
