Professionals Australia is calling on the Allan Government to withdraw its plan to abolish Victoria’s dedicated Disability Regulator, a move that would dismantle specialist oversight and put disabled people at greater risk.
The Government intends to merge the Victorian Disability Worker Commission, the Disability Worker Registration Board, and the Disability Services Commissioner into a single mega-regulator responsible for hundreds of services, including childcare, homelessness, domestic violence and broader social services.
Professionals Australia CEO, Sam Roberts, said the reform abandons the core lessons of the Disability Royal Commission.
“Specialist disability regulation exists for a reason. The Royal Commission made it clear that people with disability need strong, independent oversight, not a diluted system that spreads risk across hundreds of unrelated services
“This proposal weakens safeguards and walks away from the voices of disabled people who fought for proper protections. The Government must withdraw these amendments immediately.”
The Disability Royal Commission recommended a one-stop, independent regulator with strengthened powers. Instead, the Allan Government is dismantling specialist oversight entirely.
Union delegates have condemned the decision.
Helene Keenan, founding member and social worker, said, “By abolishing Victoria’s Disability Regulator, the Government has removed one of the last independent safeguards protecting people with disability. Accountability cannot be optional when people’s rights, safety and lives are at stake.”
Delegate, Sarah Moran, founding member and Speech Pathologist, said, “Our members see the consequences of weak regulation every day. Rolling disability into a generic social services regulator treats people with disability as an afterthought. It is reckless and it is dangerous.”
Mr Roberts said that Professionals Australia rejects the Government’s cost-cutting approach and warns that decisions made without transparency or co-design will cause harm.
“We stand with disabled people, their families and the workforce.
“This is not reform, it is retreat. The Allan Government must abandon these amendments before irreversible damage is done.”
Contact details:
Louise Dillon, 0433 320 218