As mprep said, avatars will remain disabled until the new forum software is released, confirming my guess above.
To be clear, avatars are not disabled. Changing of avatars is disabled.
Correct, though since my own avatar is next to my post, and I mentioned that in the quote, I'd thought that was rather obvious.
Specifically, no new avatars can be uploaded and those who have avatars can't change them. Avatars uploaded before the hack remain, but can only be removed by contacting forum admins.