ABSTRACT
In September 2018, the Australian Broadcasting Commission published an audio recording of the apparent beating and verbal abuse of a 14-year-old autistic boy by the carers employed to assist him. This chapter focuses on the disablist hate speech which occurred in the incident. By focusing specifically on the disablist hate speech which occurred in this particular case, the chapter demonstrates the connections between disability hate speech, danger, harm, and pain. The chapter highlights the importance of the background of Australian disability policy in understanding such incidents. There is a long history of testimony, and disability advocacy, around the abuse of disabled people in Australia. One of the most significant records of such abuse can be found in the Royal Commission into Institutional Abuse which was conducted from 2013 to 2017. The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was of limited use in assessing the overall magnitude and nature of disability abuse in Australia.
