The headline number
222 recommendations. Eight done.
On 29 September 2023, the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability handed down its Final Report. It made 222 recommendations across 12 volumes, after a four and a half year inquiry that took an immense toll on the people who gave evidence. It was the most expensive Royal Commission in Australian history.
Nearly three years later, only 8 recommendations are marked complete.
| Measure | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Total recommendations | 222 | Progress Report 2025, Dept of Health |
| Commonwealth sole or shared responsibility | 172 | Minister for Social Services, 31 Jul 2024 |
| State and territory only | 50 | Progress Report 2025 |
| Accepted in full | 13 | SBS News |
| Marked complete (Nov 2025) | 8 | Progress Report 2025 |
Just 13 of 222 recommendations were accepted in full, under 6 per cent (SBS News).
What governments agreed to
Accepted in principle, with no strings
Of the 172 recommendations the Commonwealth is solely or jointly responsible for, this is what the Joint Government Response of 31 July 2024 committed to.
| Response | Count |
|---|---|
| Accepted in full | 13 |
| Accepted in principle | 117 |
| Subject to further consideration | 36 |
| Noted, not accepted | 6 |
Source: Minister for Social Services media release, Blind Citizens Australia, The Conversation.
"Accepted in principle" means the government agrees with the intent but reserves the right to do it differently, often with no funding, timeline or co-design attached (DANA).
What has actually been done
Two years on, most of it is still not built
For the 172 Commonwealth or shared recommendations, this is the state of play in the November 2025 Progress Report.
| Status | Count |
|---|---|
| Completed | 8 |
| In progress | 71 |
| Require further work | 51 |
| Subject to further consideration | 36 |
| Noted | 6 |
Source: Progress Report 2025, Dept of Health.
For the 50 state and territory recommendations: 7.5 per cent complete, 39 per cent in progress, 25.3 per cent under further consideration, 17.3 per cent needing further work, 11 per cent not applicable (Progress Report 2025).
The health recommendations
The health reforms are almost entirely unbuilt
Every recommendation in the health workforce and health services cluster sits in the "accepted in principle" or "further consideration" bucket. Agreement with intent, no binding commitment.
| Rec | Subject | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 6.24 to 6.30 | Health workforce capability, curriculum, a National Centre of Excellence | Accepted in principle, dependent on a slow national roadmap |
| 6.33 | Specialised health services by September 2026 | State and territory obligation, largely still in progress |
| 6.34 | Disability health navigators | Accepted in principle |
This is the direct counter to the "foundational supports will replace the NDIS" line. The Commission's own health access reforms are almost entirely unbuilt.
The taskforce
The taskforce was silently wound up
The Commonwealth Disability Royal Commission Taskforce, the body set up to coordinate the government response, was only ever funded "to operate until 30 June 2025, or as otherwise determined by the Australian Government" (Taskforce overview, Dept of Health). It reached that end date and wound up with no public announcement, no closing statement, and the promised biannual progress reporting still not started. As at the one-year mark it had been "delayed until at least mid-August" (ABC News).
Advocates say the inquiry has "vanished from public view" (ABC News). Greens senator Jordon Steele-John said governments "not only kicked the can down the road" last year, they "crushed it" (ABC News).
Redress
There is no redress scheme
This is the part that makes disabled people and our families angry. The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse produced the National Redress Scheme, a funded compensation scheme for survivors. The Disability Royal Commission has produced nothing of the kind.
The only redress recommendation, Rec 10.16, does not create a scheme. It only asks that NDIS providers "consider redress" case by case where the Quality and Safeguards Commission finds the provider responsible for the violence, abuse, neglect or exploitation (Rec 10.16, Dept of Health). It was accepted in principle. Its status is "Further work required" (Rec 10.16).
No compensation scheme has been established or committed for the people whose abuse, neglect and exploitation the Commission spent four and a half years documenting (Rec 10.16, Dept of Health).
The bottom line
Do not trust a replacement that does not exist
Two years, 222 recommendations, 8 complete, no redress, and the Disability Royal Commission Taskforce quietly gone. They are asking disabled people to trust that foundational supports will replace the NDIS.