External inquiries and reviews

In 2014, ABC’s Four Corners and The Age covered abuse that had occurred to Yooralla customers. Following this, Commonwealth and Victorian government inquiries were established into the abuse of people with disability. Yooralla actively participated in all of these inquiries and supported all of their recommendations.

1. Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry
   
   The Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into Abuse in Disability Services commenced in 2015 and concluded in 2016. Yooralla made a submission and presentation to the Inquiry. Members of the Inquiry also visited Yooralla’s sites and received a presentation on Yooralla’s RiskMan system. The final report referred to Yooralla’s safeguarding actions. Yooralla supported all the recommendations of the Inquiry. Read the final Report and read Yooralla’s submission (Download PDF,462kb).
2. Commonwealth Senate Inquiry
   
   In 2014, a Senate Inquiry was established into violence, abuse and neglect against people with disability in institutional and residential care. The Senate Community Affairs Reference Committee undertook the inquiry, which considered gender and age related dimensions, the particular situation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with disability, and culturally and linguistically diverse people with disability.
   
   Yooralla welcomed the Inquiry and was engaged in the process. Yooralla made a submission, and our CEO, Dr Sherene Devanesen, and former Chief Practitioner, Dr Jeffrey Chan, presented to it. Yooralla also made supplementary submissions. Yooralla supported the recommendations of the Senate Committee’s report. Read Yooralla's submission to the Senate Committee. Read the final report (Download PDF, 132kb) presented by the Senate Community Affairs Reference Committee.
3. Victorian Ombudsman Inquiry
   
   In 2014, the Victorian Ombudsman, Colleen Pearce, announced a two-phase investigation into the reporting and investigation of allegations of abuse in the disability sector. Phase 1 looked at the effectiveness of oversight and Phase 2 examined incident reporting and management in a range of environments in which people with disability live in Victoria.
   
   Yooralla fully supported and co-operated with the Ombudsman’s review. We provided extensive information about our transformational change. As part of developing her report, the Ombudsman visited Yooralla sites. On the release of the Ombudsman report in December 2015, Yooralla supported her recommendations. Read the Ombudsman’s final report and read Yooralla's submission (Download PDF,454kb).