The chair of the disability royal commission, Ronald Sackville, has said people will not have to make submissions to commissioners with whom they do not feel comfortable.

Key points: The controversy centres on two commissioners who are former senior public servants

Proceedings began with the inquiry chair reiterating that commissioners would not hear evidence if it related to their former roles

Senator Jordon Steele-John backed calls for a boycott, telling the duo to "step back"

Mr Sackville opened the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability by reiterating that measures were in place to manage perceptions of conflicts of interest.

A growing number of advocates and people with disabilities had threatened to boycott the long-awaited inquiry, which held its first public sitting in Brisbane today.

Craig Wallace, the convener of the Disability Royal Commission Action Group, said he would boycott the inquiry unless two of the seven commissioners, John Ryan and Barbara Bennett, stood down because of a perceived conflict of interest.

"I'm not making any statements that either commissioners Bennett or Ryan were involved or contributed to the neglect of disabled people as individuals," he told AM.

"But what they did is that they were both in charge of and managed systems where people with disabilities have experienced abuse … and that's what makes them unacceptable appointments."

John Ryan is a former NSW state Liberal politician, and a former senior public servant with the NSW Department of Family and Community Services.

Barbara Bennett was the deputy secretary of the families and communities branch of the federal Department of Social Services.

Mr Sackville made a point of reading out the conflicts statement, available on the commission website, on Monday morning.

He said legislation had passed allowing people with a disability to make submissions in private.

The guidelines state that a Commissioner will not participate in a public hearing if that commissioner's participation raise concerns about a conflict of interest.

According to guidelines, no more than three commissioners will participate in the hearings at any one time.

In a statement before proceedings began, Mr Sackville said commissioners would not be allowed to take part in a hearing concerning matters that related to commissioner's past conduct or the discharge of his or her responsibilities in a previous role.

"Under no circumstances will anyone be asked to tell their story to a commissioner with whom they do not feel comfortable," Mr Sackville said.

'More than 50 organisations' raised concerns

Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John was one of the loudest voices pushing for the royal commission.

"I would reiterate the call that has been made now by over 50 disabled organisations for these commissioners to reconsider their positions, listen to the voices of disabled people, and to step back so that we can have faith in our own commission," he said.

Senator Steele-John says he supports those who want to boycott the inquiry.

"You shouldn't ask people to give evidence to folks in a dynamic where they feel as though they're being made to disclose to their abusers," he said.

"It would have been totally inappropriate for the child abuse royal commission to include an individual who'd been part of the Melbourne Response, for instance.

"And I support disabled people in feeling the same way about the participation of commissioners Ryan and Bennett."

Senator Steele-John says the two commissioners should reconsider their positions. ( ABC News: Jed Cooper )

Mr Wallace, who was previously the president of advocacy organisation People with Disabilities and is an abuse survivor, says it is not clear how widely the Government consulted in selecting the commissioners.

He points to a letter he received from ACT Government Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith, dated August 23, where she said that the Federal Government did not ask the states and territories to endorse the commissioners during recent Disability Reform Council meetings.

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Ms Stephen-Smith is the ACT Government's Health Minister, and up until last month was the Territory's Minister for Disability.

"I support the position that the two commissioners in question, Ms Barbara Bennett PSM and the Honourable John Ryan AM, be removed from the royal commission, due to the clear view expressed by many advocates such as yourself that their involvement in various government roles present concerning conflicts of interest," Ms Stephen-Smith wrote in the letter.

"As an organisation we're not supporting the boycott, because many of our members are keen to tell their story," said Jeff Smith, the CEO of People with Disabilities.

"But we're also informing people that that boycott is happening if they want to go down that path."

The Federal Government says it stands by the seven commissioners it appointed, saying the panel is representative of a diverse range of backgrounds, which includes lived experience of disability, judicial and policy experience and Indigenous leadership.

The Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability will live streamed from 10am today.