Public hearings

The Disability Royal Commission is holding a series of public hearings around the country to gather evidence about violence, neglect, abuse and exploitation of people with disability.

Public hearings are formal proceedings in which witnesses give evidence, under oath or affirmation, about events and issues that are relevant to the Disability Royal Commission’s terms of reference.

All public hearings of the Royal Commission are recorded and streamed live on the Royal Commission website. Every public hearing will have live captioning and Auslan-English interpreters.

For more information about how public hearings work, access our:

Featured hearings pages

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Our public hearings

Find out more about our public hearings into Health, Homes and living, Education and learning, and Our First Public Sitting.
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Witnesses

What does it mean to be a witness at a hearing and what do you have to do? Download the Public hearings brochure - a guide for witnesses.
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Legal services

Find out how you can get free legal service and how to apply for legal financial assistance.

Leave to Appear at a public hearing

Prior to each hearing, the Royal Commission will invite people and organisations who may have a direct and substantial interest in a particular hearing to make an application for leave to appear.

Leave to appear applications are typically made by people or organisations who are the subject of evidence before the Royal Commission. This may include individuals as well as service providers and government agencies.

Everyone who makes an application for leave to appear will be notified of the outcome of their application.

Apply for Leave to Appear

It is not necessary to apply for leave to appear to share your experience with the Royal Commission. That can be done, for example, in the form of a submission.

Accessible evidence

The Commission recognises that it is important that tendered evidence is available to the community and that it is accessible in a range of formats.

Unfortunately, evidence that has been provided to the Royal Commission is often not delivered in an accessible format. Should any of the tendered evidence be required in a different format, our staff will work with you to the best of our ability to try and provide this.

If you require a piece of tendered evidence that has been provided to the Royal Commission’s public hearings, in an accessible format please contact our staff by one of the channels below:

  • email DRCenquiries@royalcommission.gov.au
  • telephone 1800 517 199 or +61 7 3734 1900 Monday to Friday, excluding national public holidays
  • post GPO Box 1422, Brisbane Qld 4001