Calls mount for federal disability inquiry

Parliament's upper house will be asked to endorse a national inquiry into disability abuse on Wednesday.

The Australian Greens will move a motion in the Senate calling for abuse allegations at disability service providers across the country to be investigated by an upper house committee.

If successful, it will be the third into the issue and will follow the Victorian government's promised parliamentary inquiry and the Victorian Ombudsman's probe.

Greens senator Rachel Siewert said there was an unacceptably high number of people with disability who've been subjected to abuse and violence while in care.

"It is not just a state issue, it is a federal one, and it needs national leadership," she said in a statement.

Representatives from disability groups, including Women with Disabilities Australia and United Voices of People With Disabilities, will travel to Canberra to add their voice to the calls for a federal inquiry.