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Post by bear on Jun 17, 2021 17:47:58 GMT 7
Disability royal commission privacy concerns still not addressed after two years
Important amendments to the Royal Commission Act designed to protect the identity of witnesses beyond the end of the inquiry still haven't been enacted despite the belief they will result in a large number of fresh submissions.
Key privacy reforms that the chair of the disability royal commission believes will bring in a flood of new submissions are still yet to be enacted, more than two years since the inquiry began.The amendments to the Royal Commissions Act, first promised by the government in October, would address a loophole that allows the identity of witnesses to be released following the conclusion of the inquiry. But more than 16 months since the changes were first requested by Chair Ronald Sackville, the bill - which is intended to function similarly to legislation put in place for the child abuse royal commission - still hasn't been debated in parliament, despite concerns important evidence is being missed from whistleblowers who fear their identity could be revealed. In a letter to the government dated 11 March, obtained by SBS News under freedom of information laws, Mr Sackville said: “The intent of this legislation is to encourage people with disability who have not felt safe enough to engage with the royal commission to do so. “The legislation, when passed, can be expected to generate large volumes of fresh submissions and other information to inform the Commission’s work,” it continued. The inquiry was originally scheduled to end in April 2022, but has since been extended until September the following year. As of Thursday, it had received more than 2,500 submissions and completed almost 400 private sessions. “For many of us in the disability community, our royal commission hasn’t begun yet because we haven’t been able to tell our story,” said Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John, who long campaigned for a commission into the experiences of people with disability in Australia. “We’ve sat in fear, and anxiety, and waiting for our government to do the basics, to say: ‘it is indeed safe now to tell your story'. They’ve failed to do that for two years.” The government first introduced the privacy amendments into the Senate in March, after vowing the legislation would ensure the inquiry was truly reflective of people’s experiences. But Senator Steele-John said the draft legislation did not go far enough, leaving people who wish to give anonymous evidence about systemic abuses vulnerable. Currently, the draft bill covers information given by someone about themselves or another person’s experience of violence, abuse, neglect or exploitation, which identifies the subject of the evidence. The Greens say this would leave out anyone giving evidence about wider issues in the sector and have suggested amendments to the proposed bill. “It would mean nothing for me,” said a former senior member of the disability sector, who spoke to SBS News on the condition of anonymity, of the proposed changes. Nicky*, who worked for decades in the disability sector, said they feel they have important evidence about systemic issues around abuse and its reporting, but believe the incoming changes can not guarantee their identity will be protected. “I’ve not just seen the individual cases and dealt with the complexities of unravelling them, but I have also had the opportunity to look at the scope or spread of that across the broader sector and the gaps of understanding and knowledge,” they said. “What is the point in having a Royal Commission if it’s only going to be asking certain people … the whole thing is such a disappointing waste of time and energy.” SBS News understands the government is considering the issues raised by Senator Steele-John and is expected to act on them shortly. In October, Senator Steele-John introduced his own private senator’s bill to increase privacy protections at the commission, which passed the Senate last month before it was blocked in the House of Representatives. A disability royal commission spokesperson said they had heard ongoing concerns from the disability sector around the need for greater privacy protections “since the early days of the commission”. Amending the act “will reassure some people with disability, who may previously have been reluctant to share their story, that there are now further protections in place and encourage them to interact with the Royal Commission,” they said. In the meantime, they reassured people who wished to make a submission to the inquiry that their information “will be treated as confidential until at least the end of the Royal Commission” In a statement to SBS News, a spokesperson for the Attorney-General said the government has always maintained the legislation will be in place by the end of the commission “when it is required”. They said the proposed changes were in addition to other ways the inquiry can already protect people’s information, including private sessions, private hearings, the use of pseudonyms, and non-publication orders. The commission is exempt from providing information under Freedom of Information (FOI) laws. But concerns remain that without the amendment, organisations - who may be responsible for the care of people with disability - may seek to obtain submissions through FOI application once the records are transferred to the Attorney-General’s Department following the conclusion of the inquiry. The commission also encouraged people who want their story to remain confidential to apply for a private session “while we wait for this amendment”. Information provided in private sessions is protected from disclosure by law, during and after the inquiry has ended except in very specific circumstances. Disability advocates, including peak body People With Disability Australia, have previously said the amendments should have been implemented before the commission commenced, while Labor has written to the Attorney-General calling for the changes to be prioritised. Last week, SBS News revealed the government had initially rejected the Commission’s urgent request for a 17-month extension to the inquiry, despite concerns it would not be able to complete its work during the allotted time, before backflipping on the decision a month later. *Name has been changed. www.sbs.com.au/news/disability-royal-commission-privacy-concerns-still-not-addressed-after-two-years#:~:text=Disability%20royal%20commission%20privacy%20concerns%20still%20not%20addressed%20after%20two%20years,-Attorney%2DGeneral%20Michaelia&text=Important%20amendments%20to%20the%20Royal,large%20number%20of%20fresh%20submissions.
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Post by bear on Aug 15, 2021 7:25:17 GMT 7
Warning:- This story contains details of long term detention, sexual assault and violence some readers may find distressing.
Disability royal commission told of efforts to help Indigenous woman locked away for 20 years
Melanie* has been detained for more than 20 years, including eight years of isolation.
After being locked away for more than two decades, Melanie* hopes for simple things: to cook, to have a pet dog, to go to the beach.
Key points:
• Melanie, who lives with multiple disabilities, has been detained since she was 17
• Her guardian told the royal commission work is underway to try and help her move into the community
• In another case, culturally-appropriate services have helped a man make 'significant' progress
But efforts to move the First Nations woman with disability from indefinite detention into the community have encountered "barriers".
A second hearing of the disability royal commission about Melanie's case has heard of the challenge to find suitable accommodation so the 38-year-old can leave a forensic hospital but keep both her and the community safe.
Acting chief executive officer of the NSW Trustee and Guardian, Megan Osborne, told the hearing there were "barriers" but they were working to "release [Melanie] into the community for this year".
"We want to make sure that Melanie still maintains hope but for a long time we haven't been able to give her a date [for release] which is also very frustrating for her," Ms Osborne said.
Melanie has been at The Forensic Hospital at Malabar in Sydney's south-west for 10 years as an "involuntary patient", and is classified as a danger to herself and the community.
She lives with multiple disabilities including an intellectual disability, borderline personality disorder and extreme self-harm behaviour.
She is a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) participant and requires three-to-one care.
The royal commission first examined Melanie's case in February, where it was revealed forensic hospital staff were fearful of her and she had spent up to 23 hours a day for eight years in isolation at the facility.
Melanie was taken into state care when she was five years old and chlamydia was discovered in her throat as a result of sexual abuse.
She was prescribed anti-psychotic medication at the ages of seven and eight and spent time in multiple juvenile detention facilities.
Melanie was deemed unfit to be tried after a "very serious act of violence" when she was 17 that led to the death of a staff member at a juvenile detention centre.
A special hearing of the NSW Supreme Court found she had committed the offences of malicious wounding and manslaughter, and imposed a 10-year jail term.
Trying to help Melanie have a better lifeMs Osborne says Melanie* wants simple things, like being able to cook and go to the beach.(Supplied: Disability Royal Commission)
Ms Osborne told the royal commission a NDIS provider had been delivering in-reach services to Melanie at the forensic hospital, and had agreed to continue to work for her transition to the community in Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA).
The royal commission was told long-term accommodation for Melanie had been identified but construction hadn't started and an interim option was being sought.
Ms Osborne described securing funding from the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) for SDA as a "lengthy process".
Royal commission chair Ronald Sackville acknowledged that transitioning to the community for people like Melanie was made "even more difficult" by the division of responsibilities between the Commonwealth and the states and territories.
Ms Osborne said it was "incredibly difficult" to find a place for Melanie to live on the private rental market because accommodation needed to be "robust", with particular fittings.
"That means that the person can't unpick screws in the property or unnecessarily do damage to themselves," Ms Osborne said.
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She said the public guardian had in-person conversations with Melanie when they could, and now regular phone contact, and was "her voice" in the governance group meetings to decide her future.
"We are actually talking about a human here that we are trying to [help] have a better life," Ms Osborne said.
Melanie is due to go before the Mental Health Review Tribunal in September, where a transition plan could be presented.
Ms Osborne said the plan needed to demonstrate there were sufficient supports for Melanie, and that the risk to the community, and her mental health were being "adequately treated".
"Melanie would like to live in the community. She would like to do simple things like cook and have a pet dog — she loves animals," she said.
"She would like to be able to access the community in such activities as going to the beach.
"I think her wishlist is reasonably simple and she has been consistent in her goals and hopes."
Culturally appropriate services help with progressWinmartie's guardians say he has had a very difficult life.(ABC News: Emma Machan)
The disability royal commission also heard evidence about a man detained in the Northern Territory for 14 years who, like Melanie, is a NDIS participant.
Winmartie* lives with epilepsy and cognitive disability and was found not fit to plead after he killed his sole carer, his uncle, in 2007 at Santa Theresa.
A jury delivered a qualified verdict of guilty of manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility and a custodial supervision order was imposed in 2009.
Winmartie remains in the Forensic Disability Unit (FDU) in Alice Springs.
The royal commission heard that prior to its February hearing, Winmartie's NDIS package had dropped "significantly" to $5,000 but after the inquiry it went up to $99,000.
Senior director with Northern Territory Health, Cecilia Gore, said the increased funding was for Winmartie's visits to country, but they were yet to make that happen due to his poor health.
A NDIS provider has facilitated visits to a house in Alice Springs twice a week where Winmartie is learning "living skills" like cooking and cleaning, and where his family have visited him.
Ms Gore said it was "absolutely impossible to put an actual timeline" on when Winmartie would be released into the community.
"We have some hope for horizons in the two to three-year space," Ms Gore said.
"But we can't put that on the table because it very much depends on his [Winmartie's] wellbeing, how things work and how things don't work."
Ms Gore said there had been "significant progress" for Winmartie's situation, with a full-time Aboriginal liaison staff member now employed at the FDU.
Winmartie's co-guardian Patrick McGee gave evidence at February's hearing but did not appear at this inquiry.
Melbourne-based advocate Patrick McGee is one of Winmartie’s co-guardians.(ABC News: Patrick Stone)
Mr McGee told the ABC that since the first hearing six months ago it had been "good and bad" for Winmartie.
"Winmartie has been transitioning into the community in Alice Springs and the work of the [organisation] supporting that transition is culturally appropriate," Mr McGee said.
"There are people working with him who he respects, and they talk to him using the Aranda language."
Mr McGee said working with more culturally appropriate services had seen Winmartie's behaviours of concern decrease and the need to give him psychotropic drugs to restrain him should also be reduced.
"What we're not seeing is an understanding by the forensic disability unit of the context in which they're operating and the need for transparency," he said.
"We're not seeing them account for the use of chemical restraint and it remains very high."
Asked about the use of medication for Winmartie, Ms Gore said there was "ongoing processes of review and improvement" with "collaborative case meetings" involving a clinician and senior doctors.
A man who 'wants to understand the world'
Mr McGee remains hopeful that Winmartie's situation will continue to improve and says family and culture is a vital part of that process.
"They are where the answers lie because they have the most ability to influence his behaviour, his outlook, his participation and his motivation," he said.
"What I see when family are involved with Winmartie is a happier Winmartie, a more participatory Winmartie, a Winmartie who wants to understand the world he's in and how to be in that world in a way that makes him safe and makes the community safe."
Damian Griffis says states and territories need to sort out who is responsible for supporting people with disability.(Supplied: First Peoples Disability Network)
First Peoples Disability Network chief executive Damian Griffis said the royal commission hearing emphasised the need for Indigenous people with disability in prison to have fair and equal access to the NDIS.
"By the time that an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person has come into contact with the justice system, they are likely to have had a lifetime of their disability-related needs having been unsupported," Mr Griffis said.
"While the NDIS and the states and territories refuse to sort out who is responsible for supporting people with disability, our community continues to suffer, and this has to end now."
The Network is calling for the NDIS to be transparent about the numbers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with disability in prison who are receiving services from the scheme.
It also wants all First Nations people to be screened for disability six months before leaving jail so they can access the NDIS.
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Post by bear on Sept 12, 2021 7:19:36 GMT 7
Sydney disability home’s board also accountable for alleged abuse of residents, royal commission told
Sunnyfield Disability Services accused of taking ‘defensive stance’ towards complaints and having insufficient staff monitoring systems
A National Disability Insurance Scheme group home provider’s top executives should be considered responsible for the alleged abuse of residents by two support workers, the disability royal commission has heard.The New South Wales ombudsman has also been criticised for failing to tell the provider, Sunnyfield Disability Services, that one of the accused support workers had already faced a number of other allegations and previously been fired for misconduct. In a hearing on Friday, the counsel assisting the commission, Kate Eastman SC, said the provider should have 24 adverse findings made against it. This included that it “inappropriately took a defensive stance towards complaints or concerns” and that it did not have “appropriately robust systems” to monitor the conduct of staff. Eastman said the commission should find that three residents were subjected to violence and abuse at the house and that responsibility for this did not just lay with the accused support workers. Responsibility also “lies with Sunnyfield, its board, its CEO and its [senior leadership team]”, the commission heard. Eastman acknowledged this was a “significant” finding. “We have thought very carefully about the findings that we propose to the commissioners and we accept the seriousness of it,” she said. “But so, too, is the seriousness of the experience of Melissa, Carl and Chen who, as Sunnyfield says, were in their own home and in their own home they were not protected with respect to their privacy or their dignity or their safety. “Notwithstanding that the finding is harsh and we agree with that with respect to Sunnyfield, we do not agree that the finding is unnecessary.” Guardian Australia reported in May that the royal commission was examining allegations that three clients, known as Melissa, Carl and Chen, had been physically assaulted by two support workers at the home in western Sydney. The workers, known as SP1 and SP2, were charged with assault over separate incidents but those charges were later dismissed due to a lack of evidence. The inquiry in May heard from Carl’s mother, Sophia, who said her son, who has an intellectual disability, had been allegedly punched and kicked, and that a support worker had “pushed a chair over so that Carl can fall off the chair deliberately”. The commission also heard that one support worker had made racist comments towards residents and other staff, and that the home had sought to evict one resident after her sister raised complaints about the conduct of support workers. In its submission to the commission, Sunnyfield said finding its own executives were responsible for the abuse experienced by residents was “harsh and unnecessary”. Counsel for Sunnyfield, Sam Duggan, said the provider had taken action once it became aware of the alleged abuse. “This is not a situation where there’s been some sort of institutional cover up,” he said. “Quite the opposite. As soon as Sunnyfield management were seized of the true nature of SP1’s conduct … and I should include SP2 in that, they were both suspended, they never returned to work.” Duggan said conditions at the home improved significantly after the provider sent in an independent investigator to examine what had happened. In May, Sunnyfield’s chief executive, Caroline Cuddihy, expressed in a statement to the commission “my regrets and deep sympathy for the pain and distress suffered”. On Friday, the commission chair, Ronald Sackville, said the apologies from the company had been vague. “I’m not sure at all what Sunnyfield is apologising for,” he said. “Are they apologising for the fact that misconducted himself but we’re not responsible, or are they saying we accept responsibility? It looks awfully like a lawyer’s letter.”
Eastman said the commission should also make an adverse finding against the NSW ombudsman, which refused to appear in front of the commission in May.
This was because the ombudsman had not shared with the provider several allegations that had been made against SP1 and the separate fact that he had been fired from a previous job over misconduct in 2016.
The possibility of disclosure arose when the sister of one resident made a complaint to the ombudsman about SP1.
The commission heard in May that the ombudsman drafted a letter that would have informed Sunnyfield about SP1’s alleged conduct, but the correspondence was never sent.
In its submission, the ombudsman said the key allegations against SP1 had occurred more than 15 years ago and were dismissed at the time. It noted the misconduct finding related to fraud, not abuse.
It said therefore the test for disclosure – the belief on “reasonable grounds” of a risk to harm – was not met.
The commission is yet to make findings about the Sunnyfield case.
www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/sep/11/sydney-disability-homes-board-also-accountable-for-alleged-abuse-of-residents-royal-commission-told
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Post by bear on Sept 26, 2021 17:43:50 GMT 7
Disability royal commission hears from First Nations children caught in the system
The disability royal commission heard evidence from young people caught in the system.(ABC News: Emma Machan)
A First Nations teenager with disability has told the royal commission how, as an eight-year-old, he was bashed by his carers, had suicidal thoughts and became homeless.
Key points:• The disability royal commission this week heard stories from First Nations children and teenagers • Indigenous children are 11 times more likely to be in the system than non-Indigenous children • Some 14 per cent of those children are likely to also live with disability Now 17 years old and in the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre, the young man was moved between different out-of-home-care placements in the Northern Territory from the age of five. Warning: this story contains references to sexual and physical abuse of children In pre-recorded evidence, the teen, known as "IL", said his disability was the result of "trauma" and he "didn't have a good upbringing". "I've never really had anybody to teach me right and wrong, you know, didn't have a good mum and dad and stuff like that," he said. IL has been "in and out of prison" from the age of 10. "I'm caught up in the system, you know, trying to find a way out, and most of it's not my fault," IL said. The royal commission is examining the experiences of First Nations children with disability, their families and carers in out-of-home care. The inquiry heard that First Nations children are 11 times more likely to be in out-of-home care than non-First Nations children. Counsel assisting Lincoln Crowley told the inquiry 14 per cent of the children in out-of-home care are known to live with disability but the figure was probably higher due to misdiagnoses and under-diagnosis. IL told the inquiry he had had more than 20 caseworkers from Territory Families but had not got the help he needed. "When I grew up, the foster carers I was living with, most of them used to bash me and stuff and force me to clean the house. "I was a young kid trying to get away from that stuff, and I trusted them to look after me," IL said. "The money they got paid for us, they wouldn't spend it on us, they'd spend it on themselves." When he was 8 years old, IL told his school principal he did not want to go home because his carer "might bash" him. IL described an incident where a carer "kicked" him in the jaw and hit him because he did not make breakfast for his sister. IL has been in and out of the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre in Darwin.(AAP: Neda Vanovac) He told the royal commission it was around this time that he had suicidal thoughts and tried to kill himself. IL has been in Don Dale multiple times, including once for two years, which left him "institutionalised." "They give me everything when I'm in here and then when I get out it's like they just kick me out onto the streets," he said. "It just felt like everybody forgot about me … I got arrested and now I'm back in here." Miriam's story The royal commission also heard about a First Nations child with disability in out-of-home care who was left a "broken little girl" after "ongoing bullying" at a group home in the Northern Territory. Known to the inquiry as Miriam, the girl was taken into care by Territory Families at the age of 4. Her former foster carer, known as Grace, gave evidence about Miriam and her younger brother Caleb, who lives with multiple disabilities including foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). Grace, who is non-Indigenous, told the inquiry that Miriam was living in a group home when she was seven, and stayed with Grace one night a week. The story of Melanie A First Nations woman with disability who has been locked away for more than two decades. She wants to be moved from indefinite detention into the community. She noticed Miriam was "more and more reluctant" to return to the home because of the teenagers living there. "She was the youngest and she was saying they'd slide under her shower and join her in the shower, that they would pick on her, that they would chase her," Grace said. "There was nowhere safe she could go." Grace reported the issue to Territory Families and asked for Miriam to stay with her but was refused. It was only when Grace said she would go to the police about the bullying, that the child was allowed to remain with her. Grace discovered the older children at the home had taught Miriam to "sniff volatile substances". Miriam was also observed leaving her brother's room one night and when questioned admitted to touching him inappropriately. "She burst into tears and told me what she'd done, and told me that it had happened to her when she was a little girl," Grace said. The royal commission heard that Miriam disclosed to Grace that she had been sexually abused in a town camp as a 2- or 3-year-old. A psychiatrist's report revealed Miriam's history of "a very prolonged pattern of sexualised behaviour, probably resulting from being a victim herself of the intense recurrent sexual abuse from a very young age." The facts:In Australia, 18,862 First Nations children are in out-of-home care2018 figures show there were 5,029 children in out-of-home care in Western Australia and almost 3,000 were First Nations children, with 26 per cent living with disability.Meanwhile, in the Northern Territory, 962 children are in out-of-home care and 87 per cent are Indigenous. Grace told the inquiry she had tried unsuccessfully to get the department to have Miriam assessed for FASD. Frustrated, she made the "awful" decision to resign as a foster carer in 2016. "I was making complaints … I was trying to get somewhere," Grace said. "But I think they call it the deafening silence — emails weren't answered, they said they'd ring and they never rang." Grace said work was needed to support First Nations' families to keep their children on country. "Money is thrown at child protection to remove kids instead of coming alongside the families and helping to keep these families together." Grace remains the guardian of Caleb and receives regular visits from his family. Miriam, now 15, "self-places" — meaning she chooses to live with family members. Counsel for the Northern Territory Mary Chalmers said they had corresponded with the royal commission about factual disputes in Grace's evidence. Connor's story Another foster parent gave evidence that crucial information about the complex disabilities of a First Nations boy were not passed on to her and he missed out on important therapies for his "extreme behaviours". The West Australian foster mum, known as Leah, told the inquiry she became the carer for 7-year-old Connor and 5-year-old Dylan through the Wanslea agency. Daniel's mum complained about his care in group home, a week later bruises appeared The mother of a man who lives with severe disabilities recalls the horror of discovering significant bruising on her son — who lived in a group home — after she'd made complaints about his care. Connor lives with multiple disabilities including hearing loss, FASD, autism, intermittent explosive disorder and requires around the clock supervision due to "risk-taking activity". "He's particularly impulsive and will run out in front of cars and climb to the highest point," Leah said. A non-Indigenous person, Leah said it took years to have Connor diagnosed and she had only found out about some of his disabilities "by accident" at medical appointments. "Wanslea were meant to be there to support me as a carer and I felt wholly unsupported by them at all points in time," Leah said. "It was really me at all times that had to push for everything to get supports or assessments for Connor." Leah said she was only told about Connor's hearing loss when he was almost 4 years old at a doctor's appointment. During a hospital visit, she questioned a microbiology alert sticker on Connor's file and was told he had the rare, contagious and antibiotic-resistant skin condition MRSA, or golden staph. Leah suspected Connor had FASD and requested the WA Department of Communities to have him assessed. The royal commission heard it was denied and Connor went without early intervention supports. In June 2019, Leah applied to the Perth Children's Court for special guardianship of the brothers, supported by their maternal and paternal family. The Perth Children's court, where the brothers' case was heard. (ABC News) At the hearing, Leah raised her difficulties in getting Connor assessed for FASD and the magistrate indicated that if the "department didn't take steps" then he would make a finding to have it done. Leah told the inquiry the department organised the assessment that week and Connor was diagnosed with FASD. Connor became an NDIS participant, which Leah said had made an "enormous difference" to his life and provided access to therapies and support for participation in sport and education. The commission was told Leah's family and the boys' First Nations family "enjoy a good relationship". Representatives from the WA Department of Communities disputed parts of Leah's evidence, including her claims around a lack of information about Connor's disabilities. A representative of the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia told the royal commission there had been countless reports and inquiries into the circumstances of Aboriginal people in Western Australia but they were "gathering dust on shelves". The service's director, Peter Collins, said Aboriginal people were "regularly ignored, sidelined and removed from the picture and therefore the solutions." "You've got to listen to Aboriginal communities, Aboriginal community-controlled organisations like ours, because government departments don't have the answers and the numbers of kids in out-of-home care in Western Australia is testament to that," Mr Collins said. "Aboriginal children with a disability who end up in juvenile detention are almost exact certainties to return, there is no doubt about that. www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-25/disability-royal-commission-first-nations-children/100488980
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Post by bear on Sept 27, 2021 19:15:26 GMT 7
Disability royal commission warns about ‘opening up’
No state or territory should be allowed to reopen until every Australian with a disability is fully vaccinated, the disability royal commission has told the federal government.
In a damning draft report published on Monday, the commission says the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines to people with disabilities, and their carers, has been “seriously deficient”.It warns too many lives will be endangered if states and territories are allowed to ease restrictions once they hit the 70 per cent double vaccination target in the national plan to reopen Australia. The commission has urged the federal government to “use its best endeavours to ensure that no state or territory significantly eases restrictions” at 70 per cent unless it is sure of two things. Firstly, all people with a disability should be fully vaccinated, or be satisfied they’ve had a genuine opportunity to do so. Secondly, all active disability support workers should be fully vaccinated. “Without that opportunity, they (people with disabilities) face significant risks to their health if they contract COVID-19,” the draft report says. Some states and territories, like New South Wales, are already planning to start opening up on or after 70 per cent of their population is vaccinated. But data released on Monday shows only 66 per cent of NDIS participants living in shared accommodation, and 57.3 per cent of NDIS-screened workers have had double vaccine doses. The draft report makes 17 findings critical of the government’s handling of the rollout, including its decision earlier this year to prioritise vaccines for aged-care residents while not informing the disability sector about it. “People within the priority disability group did not know of the decision to deprioritise the vaccination of people in residential disability accommodation for a period of six weeks,” the draft report says. “During this time, they proceeded on the misapprehension that the COVID-19 vaccine rollout strategy would be implemented according to its terms. “Not surprisingly, the failure to communicate the decision in a timely manner caused many people with disability to lose trust and confidence in the Australian government’s handling of the vaccine rollout.” The draft report also said the federal authorities had consistently failed to consult and clearly communicate with the sector, and with Australians living with disabilities who were fearful of contracting the virus. “The failures in framing and implementing the COVID-19 vaccine rollout strategy contributed to confusion and uncertainty among people in the priority disability group and people with disability generally.” The draft report is the second produced by the royal commission and follows a hearing in May on the experiences of people with a disability and COVID-19. A spokesperson for federal Health and Aged Care Minister Greg Hunt noted the report was a draft that “has not been provided to the government in the usual way”. “The government continually considers all issues raised during the royal commission and will formally consider the recommendations and findings once the report is finalised and delivered to the Governor-General,” the spokesperson said. ‘As at 27 September 2021, the vaccination rate for NDIS participants 16 years and over and living in shared accommodation is 14 per cent higher, at 66 per cent, than that of the national average at 52 per cent. “People with disability continue to be prioritised for vaccinations.” thenewdaily.com.au/news/2021/09/27/disability-royal-commission-warns-opening-up/
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Post by bear on Sept 29, 2021 19:35:07 GMT 7
Government insists people with disability won't be harmed by Australia's reopening
Paralympian shares frustrations over vaccine rollout for people with disabilities
The Department of Health secretary was pressed repeatedly about the commission’s warnings during a hearing of the Senate’s COVID-19 committee on Tuesday.
He said people with disabilities remain in the highest priority group, indicating “significant action” is being taken to get vaccines into their arms. “We are very confident the disability community will be fully vaccinated similar to the general population targets,” Professor Murphy told the committee. “[They] will have certainly had a genuine opportunity to be vaccinated by the time we reach those targets.” But he refused to directly address the findings from the draft report because it has not been officially sent to the government. The royal commission’s report had warned that people with disabilities living in shared accommodation had been included in phase 1a of the vaccine rollout but then quietly “deprioritised” in favour of aged care residents. Disability advocates criticise use of 'underlying health conditions' in COVID-19 death reporting The document said the rollout of vaccines to people with disabilities had been "seriously deficient", warning against the vulnerable cohort being unfairly exposed to a heightened risk of contracting the virus. “In our view, it would be grossly unfair, indeed unconscionable, if any people with disability who have not been given the opportunity to be fully vaccinated by the time the 70 per cent threshold is reached are denied the freedoms available to people who have been fully vaccinated,” the report said. The report also raised concerns over a lack of consultation with an advisory body set up to assist the COVID-19 response for people with disabilities. Professor Murphy said continued efforts had been made to consult on the vaccine rollout and disputed that people with disabilities had been “deprioritised”. "Certainly the rate of residential disability care vaccination was significantly slower at that time because of the clear need to get the residential aged care population vaccinated,” he said. “[But] they remained a priority the whole way through the program.” Disability royal commission chair slams slow coronavirus vaccine rollout Currently, around 64.8 per cent of NDIS participants have received one COVID-19 vaccination and 46.2 per cent are fully vaccinated. This figure increases to 75.2 per cent for NDIS participants in shared accommodation who have received one dose and 66.7 per cent fully vaccinated. But a state-by-state breakdown of vaccination rates for NDIS participants more broadly shows some jurisdictions are lagging behind others. The data shows the rate of those fully vaccinated was 51.1 per cent in NSW, in Victoria 47.4 per cent, Queensland 40.3 per cent, in South Australia 43.5 per cent and Western Australia 37.8 per cent. This rate stood at 49.4 per cent in Tasmania, 43.4 per cent in the Northern Territory and 57.7 per cent in the ACT. People With Disability Australia president Samantha Connor said vaccine hesitancy wasn’t the reason behind the low rates. “The problem is with not being able to get supply, with lack of access to venues [and] with lack of support. We know there are significant barriers,” she told SBS News. What are the COVID-19 vaccination rates in your local area? “If they are not made safe - unless they put the brakes on there is a chance there are going to be dire consequences.” COVID-19 taskforce commander Lieutenant General John Frewen said work is underway on an acceleration plan for vaccinations to the cohort, to be presented to national cabinet later this week. “We're trying to make sure we have got everything in place to make sure there [are] as few impediments as possible to getting all of the people in the disability sector vaccinated,” he told the committee. Disability discrimination commissioner Ben Gauntlett told SBS News vaccinations needed to significantly increase in coming weeks as a matter of urgency. “We need a surge in resources - a clear imperative from government to make vaccination of people [with a disability] a priority,” he said. "[It's about] not just how many people but who has been vaccinated." Percentage of culturally diverse NDIS participants still more than halfway off 2018 projections The committee also heard concerns that people on the NDIS do not represent the full population of individuals in Australia who identify as having a disability. Dr Gauntlett said out of around 4.4 million Australians who identify as living with a disability only around 10-15 per cent were NDIS participants. "We need to have a better data collection mechanism for people with a disability," he said. Department of Health official Dr James Hart said work is being done to form a “better picture” of the broader cohort by the Department of Social Services and National Disability Insurance Agency. The disability vaccination rates compare to just over 76 per cent of the adult population, which has received one dose, and more than 51 per cent fully vaccinated. www.sbs.com.au/news/government-insists-people-with-disability-won-t-be-harmed-by-australia-s-reopening/92eb994f-4694-40e9-8370-266ee8e60ace
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Post by bear on Oct 2, 2021 6:32:44 GMT 7
SA department failed to adequately probe threats against disabled man, royal commission told
Disability royal commission hears a South Australian couple were sent a letter saying their nephew in disability care would be ‘abused with cruelty, violence’
The disability royal commission has been urged to find South Australia’s department of human services failed to adequately investigate threats of violence against a man living in disability accommodation.
In May the inquiry heard from a South Australian couple who received an anonymous letter warning their nephew Mitchell would be “abused with cruelty, violence, regularly and repeatedly” and might be poisoned or drowned. Mitchell, who is in his late 30s and lives with an intellectual disability, resides in supported accommodation operated by the state government. Young Australians with disabilities face significant barriers to getting Covid vaccine At a hearing on Thursday, the counsel assisting the royal commission, Kate Eastman SC, argued the department did not take the March 2018 letter seriously enough and did not properly try to find its author. Eastman said a few days later department officials spoke with “some managers and supervisors from the residence to see if they suspected anyone had been the author”. “This was not a formal methodical investigation,” she said. “No records were retained and no investigation report was produced. “So seven days after the letter, on 10 March what might be scoped as a start of an investigation was nothing more than a chat with various managers and supervisors. “The fact that none of this was documented has to be a matter of significance with consequences and significant consequences for the way in which the matter was then handled throughout 2018 and 2019.” Mitchell’s aunt and uncle, Victoria and James, told the royal commission they had raised some concerns about the level of care their nephew was receiving in 2017. They then received a letter that noted the site manager of the facility had been removed and claimed staff were opposed to her departure, meaning they were “angry and pissed off, which now puts your nephew at risk”. It said: “Food … poison. Medication … wrong. Shampoo … what’s in the bottle? Acid. Bruises … how did that happen? “Going out … falling down stairs. How well does he swim? Locked up? Food withheld. Going through the windscreen … seatbelt unclipped. “This little piglet is going to be abused with cruelty, violence, regularly and repeatedly.” ‘Unconscionable’ to lift lockdowns before all Australians with disability can be vaccinated, inquiry says The department subsequently instigated a second investigation after intervention from the South Australian ombudsman. But Eastman said that investigation also had “deficiencies in methodology” and in “the scope of information reviewed, such that it was neither sufficient, proper nor competent”. The author of the letter has still not been found. “If a person employed by DHS wrote and delivered the letter to Victoria and James’s home then that person had a lot of personal and sensitive information,” Eastman said. “That person had considered a range of ways to harm a vulnerable person in the context of accommodation services and that harm be perpetrated in a manner that could not be easily detected. The person thought carefully about that.” “The submissions of South Australia do not engage with the very real possibility that the author of the 3 March letter could have worked in its services and continues to do so,” she added. Peter O’Brien, representing Victoria and James, said the family supported Eastman’s proposed findings. Sick, broke and waiting for the disability support pension “Victoria and James say that there can be no doubt that, one, the DHS investigations into the letter were seriously flawed for the matters set out by counsel assisting,” he said. The SA government acknowledged the initial investigation into the letter was insufficient. Its submission conceded it had become “distracted” from the aim of finding the person responsible. But counsel for the government, Tom Simpson, rejected the suggestion it had not taking the letter seriously, saying there was more to the matter than “just the investigation”. “We accept that the investigation into the author of the letter is an important part of the response to that letter and the state and DHS acknowledge that that part of the response was not adequate and steps are now being taken to attempt to remedy that,” he said. “The point we make is the department did take the letter seriously and it put measures in place to address Mitchell’s safety immediately following advice about the existence of that letter.” He also acknowledged it was possible the letter’s author may have worked for the department, but rejected that this was a foregone conclusion. www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/sep/30/sa-department-failed-to-adequately-probe-threats-against-disabled-man-royal-commission-told
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Post by bear on Oct 16, 2021 18:32:46 GMT 7
Royal commission told of 'heartbreaking' abuse faced by women with disability
Talie Star said women with disability were often not believed when they reported violence.(ABC News: Niall Lenihan)
Alarming statistics about the violence and abuse experienced by women and girls with disability have been laid bare for a Commonwealth inquiry, including increased reports of strangulation during the pandemic.
Key points:• Women with disability account for nearly half of all domestic violence victims in Australia • The inquiry heard violence against Indigenous women and children was at a "national crisis level" • Australia needs a redress scheme for women who have been forcibly sterilised, the inquiry was told The disability royal commission was told 90 per cent of women with intellectual disability have experienced sexual abuse. And women with disability account for nearly half of all domestic violence victims in this country. Family and domestic violence consultant, Talie Star, said too often women were not believed. "If you've got disabilities, immediately you're seen as someone who is weak," Ms Star said. "If you have an intellectual disability you are immediately written off that you wouldn't know what you're doing, you wouldn't know what you're saying, you are all mixed up." Ms Star lives with multiple muscular impairments and a degenerative spinal disease. She had a private session with the disability royal commission earlier this year to discuss her own experiences and offer suggestions for change. "Going to the royal commission is an incredible opportunity to hear the reality of what's going on, to hear the policies and how they actually impact people's lives," Ms Star said. "It's like an 'aha' moment for our whole society basically to go, 'This is not OK'." Increased strangulation after pandemic hit A two-day inquiry was held into the experiences of violence and abuse by women and girls with disability. Research from the Australian Institute of Criminology was revealed, which showed in the first three months of the pandemic, 8.6 per cent of women with disability had experienced choking or strangulation by their partners. Senior Counsel Assisting Kate Eastman said women had experienced abuse from staff and other residents in group homes.(ABC News, File photo) Counsel assisting the royal commission, Kate Eastman, said "double standards" existed in Australia as women with disability were expected to tolerate a level of violence in their own homes at a higher rate than other women. "Some women with disability have been labelled as troublemakers or as aggressive when they've sought to complain about the abuse," Ms Eastman said. "Women with disability have experienced physical, emotional, psychological and sexual abuse from staff and other residents in group homes." Jen Hargrave from Women with Disabilities Victoria said perpetrators chose their targets carefully.(Supplied) Giving evidence, senior policy officer from Women with Disabilities Victoria, Jen Hargrave, said perpetrators — partners, parents or support workers — were seen to have more "credibility" than women with disability. "They [women] are easily dismissed as being crazy and attention seeking," Ms Hargrave said. "And all of this allows the perpetrator to hide in plain sight." Do you know more about this story? Email Specialist.Team@abc.net.au. Indigenous women with disability 'invisible'For First Nations women with disability, the commission heard there was a double disadvantage. Thelma Schwartz from the Queensland Indigenous Family Violence Legal Service said violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and children was at a "national crisis level". Thelma Schwartz said finding good support services could be difficult, especially regionally.(Supplied) She said First Nations women with disability were "invisible" and there was a lack of services to support them. "I find that really heartbreaking, especially when you are out bush and you are dealing with clients on the ground where it is so hard generally to have regular and good service," Ms Schwartz said. The royal commission also heard about the issues surrounding sterilisation and reproductive rights. Executive Director of Women with Disabilities Australia, Carolyn Frohmader, said Australia needed a redress scheme for women who were forcibly sterilised. "We have some members who were told they were having their appendix taken out and didn't even know [they had been sterilised] until they wanted to have children," Ms Frohmader said. "We've got members who were sterilised at the age of seven because they had a mild vision impairment." The inquiry heard there was a lack of data and clarity about how decisions were made for the sterilisation of women and girls with disability between the states and territories. Another hearing will be held by the royal commission in early 2022 when it's expected to hear directly from women and girls with disability about their experiences. Ms Star said she remained hopeful the inquiry could make a difference and affect real change. "I'm hoping we can shake up people's thoughts, shake up governments, and shake up community attitudes to really understand what it means to live with disability," she said. www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-15/disability-royal-commission-hears-domestic-violence-statistics/100539580
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Post by bear on Oct 19, 2021 15:54:49 GMT 7
Police enabling violence and exploitation against people with disability, report finds
‘Inadequate’ police response fails to protect people with a disability, whether they were victims, witnesses or alleged offenders, royal commission says
Police are “frequently damaging” people with a disability, undermining their right to justice, and enabling violence and exploitation against them, a new report finds.The disability royal commission on Tuesday released a report that made damning findings about the way police respond to people with a disability. The report, prepared by a group of researchers and academics, was commissioned to assist the royal commission in making its recommendations. Police responses were found to be “on the whole, inadequate”, failing to promote safety and protect people with a disability, whether they were victims, witnesses and alleged offenders. The justice system, the report finds, enables rather than prevents violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect. “The evidence also unambiguously shows that First Nations people with disability experience intensified negative consequences of these failures of policing,” it finds. Disability pension rules leave thousands with cancer on $44 a day The report canvasses a series of disturbing case studies, including one in which police failed to give a man with a severe intellectual disability the opportunity to have a support person while they interviewed him and secured admissions to crimes, leading to imprisonment and later homelessness. In another case, police were called to help find a man with an intellectual disability who had left his group home. Not understanding that police were there to help him, the man ran from officers and kicked at a dog in his attempt to get away. The officers pinned him down and charged him with assault and animal cruelty, despite explanations from his lawyers that he did not understand the situation due to his disability, anxiety disorder, and his fear of the dog. The report also highlights the case of an 80-year-old woman from a migrant background, who approached a police station seeking a counselling referral after an argument with her daughter. Police believed she wanted an apprehended violence order taken out against her daughter, and issued one without her knowledge, further fracturing her relationship with the daughter. The report points to two fundamental causes of the “inadequate and damaging responses” of police. The first is the expansion of the role of law enforcement and its use as the “default institutional response to the social, cultural and economic forms of disadvantage that propel people with disability into contact with the police”. The second is the reduction of funding for proper social and human services to support people with a disability. “Central to improving police responses to disadvantaged people with disability is recognition that what members of this group require is not a police or criminal justice response,” the report said. “It is rather, a trauma-informed, culturally safe, community-based and holistic social service response.” Little data is held by police on their interactions with people with a disability. But successive inquiries over two decades have found contact with the criminal justice system is far more likely to occur for people with a cognitive disability, people with psychosocial disabilities, and women with a disability who are experiencing violence. Sydney disability home’s board also accountable for alleged abuse of residents, royal commission told Data from Australia and abroad suggests about 15% of prisoners have an intellectual disability, compared to just 2.9% of people in the general community. One of the report’s authors, University of New South Wales emeritus professor, Leanne Dowse, said the solution is not simply just better training for police. Prof Dowse said training and cultural change were needed alongside alternative first responders for people with a disability. The report points to First Nations-led self-determined local community driven initiatives such as Indigenous night patrols, and community-led approaches taken in Bourke and Walgett as examples of alternative, non-policing methods of responding to people with a disability. “To be fair to police, I don’t think we’re saying that all police are terrible and it’s always awful,” she said. “But for this group in particular – who are often people who are very distressed, they may also have mental health issues, may have a drug and alcohol issue – police have got to make a quick decision often, and really their default position is use of force.” “That is really the absolutely wrong thing for this group of people.” www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/oct/19/police-enabling-violence-and-exploitation-against-people-with-disability-report-finds
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Post by bear on Nov 10, 2021 15:20:49 GMT 7
People with disability face 'brick wall' in advocating for their human rights, royal commission hears
The federal government is yet to legislate on rights that are adherent to the UN treaty, despite Australia ratifying the convention.
People with disability and their representatives are facing a "brick wall" in advocating for their human rights after a UN convention Australia has ratified is yet to be properly implemented into legislation, the disability royal commission has heard.The two-day hearing is examining how the UN's Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) is implemented in Australian law. People with Disability Australia senior policy officer Frances Quan Farrant says the UN convention provides a benchmark but is also "just the beginning". She says the organisation refers "to it constantly" but it becomes "more of an education exercise" when used for individual advocacy "because the CRPD has not been fully implemented" in the law. "We are faced with barriers because we have got these interpretive declarations which no one has any appetite to remove," Ms Quan Farrant said. "If we don't have it in the law, we can't operationalise it, we are just faced with a brick wall." "One of the biggest issues we face, this is across all or advocacy work in Queensland and New South Wales, is homelessness...The #CRPD doesn't necessarily articulate completely the right to housing, but the right to housing is a human right." Frances Quan Farrant @pwdaustralia pic.twitter.com/yS4ONundqk Senior counsel assisting the royal commission Kate Eastman SC said before the Australian government reports to the CRPD committee on its implementation, it receives a "shadow report" from disability advocacy groups. First Peoples Disability Network chief executive officer Damian Griffis led the delegation that delivered the government its most recent shadow report, which involved "significant coordination" by advocates and organisations to identify issues to take to the committee. "I could probably count on both hands the number of #FirstNations people in Australia that actually understand the mechanisms of the #CRPD... We need to educate and inform our community so they can start effectively self-advocating." Damian Griffis @fpdnaus #DisabilityRC pic.twitter.com/aO7pyhbKEz He says the work is "not resourced" and does "take quite a commitment on the part of all the organisations". Mr Griffis said the UN committee was "very disappointed, in fact you could argue quite scathing in terms of the lack of progress on a couple issues in particular" when delivering its most recent concluding observations. Those issues included the indefinite detention of First Nations people with disability in Australian prisons, where Mr Griffis said there had been no progress. There was also "significant commentary" on the lack of progress on the sterilisation of women and girls and about the way organisations representing the disabled are structured and funded. He said a lack of Indigenous voices was to blame for there being no specific article on the rights of disabled Indigenous people in the CRPD, and although this is being "increasingly recognised" his organisation "worry that is still a shortcoming of the convention". Mr Griffis said there is a "very serious lack of awareness" about the convention and educating community members about their rights is a priority for his organisation. He said there needs to be greater capacity for advocates to get to regional and remote areas. "The situation for many First Nations people with disability in regional and remote Australia, to be blunt, is one of abject poverty," Mr Griffis said. He suggests elevating disability rights through a similar mechanism to the Closing The Gap strategy. "Even though we can certainly critique it, at the very least one day in every year the prime minister has to elevate Indigenous rights, it's on the national agenda," Mr Griffis said. "Guardianship systems, mental health laws, etc, all limit the human rights of people with disability. So they limit them based on impairment. And that would go against transformative equality." Therese Sands, Human Rights and Disability Consultant #DisabilityRC #CPRD pic.twitter.com/Mo2OeDwHuq "Something like that, in consultation with people with disability and their representative organisations really has merit as a way to get more focus on disability rights." Earlier on Monday, Equality Lawyers founder and principal lawyer Natalie Ward told the hearing "the broader community" does not currently regard ableism as detrimental to the provision of human rights as much as racism and sexism, which "makes it incredibly difficult to defend human rights" for people with disabilities. Ms Ward says she cannot mount cases based on the UN convention because Australia has not "truly incorporated it into our laws". UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities chair and UNSW academic Rosemary Kayess told the hearing the country needs "a charter of human rights to ensure they are taken seriously". The commission will resume on Tuesday when it will hear from secretaries in the attorney-general's Department and the Department of Social Services. www.sbs.com.au/news/people-with-disability-face-brick-wall-in-advocating-for-their-human-rights-royal-commission-hears/a28655d0-4835-4bc3-82a5-b2adb5e23ae4
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Post by bear on Dec 12, 2021 7:48:16 GMT 7
Violence was ‘normal’ at Victorian disability group home, royal commission hears
Staff were largely powerless to stop residents at the home being assaulted by other clients, commission told
The culture at a disability group home in Victoria was so bad that staff couldn’t stop residents being assaulted by other clients and violence had become “normal”, the disability royal commission has heard.The inquiry is this week examining allegations of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation in disability services, focusing on two group homes run by the national disability insurance scheme provider Life Without Barriers. On Thursday, the mother of a former resident and Victoria’s office of the public advocate told the inquiry about the “high level” of violence in the home. Over the period in question, which spanned most of the past decade, the homes were under the remit of Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services before being transferred to the NDIS. In one case, one of the five residents had “a chair broken over her head by another resident” and her finger broken as she tried to protect herself, the inquiry was told. The commission heard that an X-ray – which revealed the fracture – was only carried out four days after the alleged assault, while no concussion test was conducted. Rebecca*, in her 40s, who is autistic and lives with an intellectual disability, was a victim of violence at the home until she moved out in November 2019, her mother told the hearing. Disability royal commission: woman with disability sexually assaulted in park after men banned from visiting her accommodation Catherine* said her daughter was a “gentle person with a small frame” who might scream if she was assaulted but would “not say ‘stop’ or ask someone to go away if they were bothering her”. In one incident, Rebecca was dragged along the carpet by another resident, causing burns, the inquiry heard. A report later found the support worker had heard Rebecca scream before discovering her on the floor with “a bruised and skinned knee and some of her hair pulled out”. “To my knowledge, [Life Without Barriers] did not contact a doctor to examine Rebecca,” Catherine said. “Over a week later, I took Rebecca to the doctor myself and the carpet burn on her knee had become infected. “I was told by someone from LWB that doctors were not contacted because Rebecca did not have an open wound, yet Rebecca developed a scab on her knee shortly after the incident. Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning “Later, LWB acknowledged that not seeking medical attention for Rebecca was an oversight.” On several occasions Catherine said she found unexplained bruises on Rebecca’s body. “For example, one day when she came home from a visit she walked through the door and repeatedly said ‘ow’, and took off her top to show me some bruises,” she said. Catherine did not blame the home’s support workers, saying they appeared to be trying their best and were also fearful of some residents. Sometimes they would simply lock Rebecca in the staff room to protect her, the inquiry heard. Catherine also did not blame the residents had attacked her daughter. But she did question why the provider had replaced one resident, who had left after several violent incidents, with another person who could be aggressive. This was done without any consultation with families, Catherine said. “Again, I am not criticising the support workers, who did an amazing job in the circumstances, but the managers and those higher up in the organisation just did not seem to me to understand the gravity of the situation,” Catherine said. Catherine said she felt “conflict and even violence” had become “normal and had been accepted as a fact of life rather than being something that should be addressed in a concerted long-term and consultative manner”. Paul*, the father of another resident in his 40s, Robert*, said his son had been spared from the violence but that the situation was “traumatic”. “He started ripping his clothes, which is a sign that he’s very anxious,” he said. Sue Rewell, from the office of the public advocate, also said staff were not adequately supported by management. “I think that all staff that lived in the house had the best interests of the residents at heart, but they were not given the support, and sometimes they were not given techniques to deal with the resident-to-resident abuse,” she said. The chair of the commission, Ronald Sackville, said the case raised questions about the pay and conditions of support workers, “who have a very onerous job”. “It cannot be easy to operate in an environment such as the particular house that we are talking about,” he said. The Victorian home has since been taken over by another provider at the request of the families of the existing residents, including Robert’s father, Paul. Earlier this week, the inquiry heard about the alleged neglect of residents of group home in NSW, and claims about the provider’s response to the sexual assault of a resident that occurred outside the house. Life Without Barriers will give evidence next week. * Names are pseudonyms used by the commission for privacy reasons www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/dec/09/violence-was-normal-at-victorian-disability-group-home-royal-commission-hears
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Post by bear on Dec 14, 2021 8:02:44 GMT 7
NDIS provider rejected woman’s claim she was pushed over by employee in flawed investigation, royal commission hears
Internal investigation reported ‘insufficient evidence of wrongdoing’ despite support worker admitting to pushing woman to the ground
A national disability insurance scheme provider did not accept a woman’s claim she was physically assaulted by a support worker even though the employee admitted pushing the client to the ground, the disability royal commission has heard.
NDIS provider Life Without Barriers is facing allegations of neglect and violence that took place at homes in New South Wales and Victoria. Facing the royal commission on Monday, Stephen Doley, a director of policy at Life Without Barriers, conceded the provider had made mistakes at the troubled homes. Violence was ‘normal’ at Victorian disability group home, royal commission hears That included not consulting residents and families about new clients that would be moving in and the failure to report serious incidents to the NDIS watchdog. Those admissions followed claims last week that some residents had been repeatedly physically assaulted by other clients at the Victoria home to the point where violence had become “normal”. Doley also admitted an internal investigation into claims a support worker had pushed over one of the residents at the NSW home was flawed. The inquiry last week heard a resident known by the pseudonym Sophie was kicked out of the home in 2019 after she attacked the support workers. Sophie, who lives with cerebral palsy, a mild to moderate intellectual disability and left hemiplegia, had been sexually assaulted outside the home by a date about two years earlier and was stressed by the ongoing court proceedings. Sophie claimed her behaviour followed an earlier incident where one of the support workers had pushed her to the ground. The inquiry heard Sophie hurt her leg and had bruising after the incident. Life Without Barriers ran an internal investigation which later informed Sophie’s parents there was “insufficient evidence of any wrongdoing by a worker”. Sophie was evicted from the home by Life Without Barriers. Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning Yet the inquiry on Monday heard the employee had told the investigation they admitted pushing Sophie to the ground. Doley agreed with criticism from the NDIS watchdog that the provider’s internal investigation was flawed. “Not only was that referenced by Sophie herself in an interview, it appears that the worker had also admitted to that taking place,” he said. “So by virtue of that, I think the allegation … should have been substantiated.” Doley also accepted rules imposed on Sophie denying her the right to have visitors after 6pm – including her then fiance – were not appropriate. He said there were “some complexities” in creating policies to allow Sophie to explore sexual intimacy, but she “certainly” should have been allowed to have her boyfriend stay over at the house. Last week the inquiry was told Sophie had been sexually assaulted in a public park after she was forced to leave her home to meet up with another date that she’d connected with online. Under questioning by counsel assisting Belinda Baker, Doley agreed the provider should have reviewed these rules prohibiting male visitors after the assault. Woman nearly died from bowel complaint when care plan not followed, disability royal commission told Doley was also grilled about how another resident at the NSW home, known by the pseudonym Natalie, had been hospitalised with a bowel instruction after her support workers failed to follow her care protocols. Natalie, who has cerebral palsy and a moderate intellectual disability, required major surgery and her mother told the inquiry last week she had nearly died. Doley conceded on Monday there were about three months of bowel charts that were not filled out by support workers. He agreed this was a “clear deficiency” and said the provider had taken steps to improve its processes. Doley also confirmed Natalie’s hospitalisation was not reported to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission and that Life Without Barriers failed to review the incident. He also agreed it was wrong that the provider had not always followed a request from Natalie’s mother that her daughter’s personal care was only carried out by female staff. That request followed allegations that Natalie had been indecently assaulted by a staff member. The support worker was charged in 2015, but found not guilty two years later. He was dismissed from Life Without Barriers. Life Without Barriers’ chief executive Claire Robbs will front the inquiry on Tuesday. www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/dec/13/ndis-provider-rejected-womans-claim-she-was-pushed-over-by-employee-in-flawed-investigation-royal-commission-hears
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Post by bear on Dec 14, 2021 8:08:50 GMT 7
We are definitely living in an alternate reality..........
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Post by bear on Dec 15, 2021 16:24:15 GMT 7
As I said above; alternate reality....... Whilst most posts in this thread are more than a little disturbing, I do think independent archives of the R.C. are good for prosperity, and may be helpful to someone somewhere sometime in the future. Disability provider CEO defends not telling board a woman in its care was raped
The head of one of Australia’s largest disability providers has issued a public apology for physical and sexual abuse of residents at its group homes, while defending her decision not to inform the company’s board when a woman in its care was raped.
The royal commission is examining the role and responsibility of Life Without Barriers, a not-for-profit company that turns over $750 million a year, in preventing and responding to abuse, neglect, exploitation and violence against people with disabilities who receive its services.
Life Without Barriers chief executive Claire Robbs did not visit any of the homes where the abuse occured.
At a hearing on Tuesday, the company’s chief executive Claire Robbs apologised to a disabled woman known by the pseudonym Sophie, who was raped by a man she met through an online dating site after support workers at the Lismore group home she lived in refused to support her with relationships and sex, imposing rules that treated her like a teenager.
“The physical abuse Sophie experienced is unquestionably not in keeping with Sophie’s right to feel safe and respected in her own home,” she said.
“I do not condone the violence towards Sophie, and I offer Sophie and her family our sincere apology for the harm caused to her, including for the manner in which our investigations into the matter was undertaken.”
But when asked whether she would raise a similar assault with her board if it happened in 2021, Ms Robbs said she would not because “the sexual assault didn’t occur whilst she was in our care” and reports were only made to the board where the home had “responsibility”.
“I appreciate the magnitude of something like this in someone’s life, I’m not questioning that at all, I’m just hesitating what the purpose would be,” she said.
The chief executive revealed she had never visited any of the homes where witnesses before the commission had been abused and mistreated.
Counsel assisting Patrick Griffin SC challenged Ms Robbs on the home’s responsibility for Sophie’s assault, putting to her that the strict rules imposed on the woman – which the company’s policy director Stephen Doley told the commission on Monday were inappropriate – put her in “a more vulnerable position”.
“Do you accept that proposition?” Mr Griffin asked.
Ms Robbs replied: “No”.
“You know that staff apparently expressed surprise in the sense that [Sophie’s rapist] was surprised he was picking someone up from a disability home?” Mr Griffin said.
He pointed out the offender, who was charged and convicted over the sexual assault, had arrived at the home to pick Sophie up at 9pm, three hours after her curfew.
Ms Robbs continued to defend her stance when asked if the home had moral responsibility, saying this was not the standard relevant to board reporting.
During her apology, she said she recognised “we should have been more supportive in relation to Sophie’s wish to engage in sexual relationships, including to ensure that Sophie had a safe location to do so”.
“I thank Sophie for her unique insight to the importance of romantic and sexual relationships for people with a disability and I commit to leading further actions we will take as an organisation that are informed by the people we support.”
Ms Robbs also apologised to a woman with autism and an intellectual disability known by the pseudonym Rebecca, who told the commission last week of a 2018 attack by another resident at a Melbourne group home, in which she was dragged across the floor by her hair.
“For Rebecca and her family, I apologise that Rebecca felt she needed to have a goal of feeling safe in her own home,” Ms Robbs said during her evidence on Tuesday.
“No home should feel violent and unpredictable and I appreciate the conflict between residents can cause considerable distress, both to those directly impacted and people living in the home.”
She issued another apology to a woman known as Natalie, who nearly died from a bowel condition exacerbated by the failure by staff to follow nutrition and care protocols, as well as a man known as Robert, who was traumatised by the violence around him.
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Post by bear on Dec 15, 2021 16:47:53 GMT 7
While agreeing with your above sentiments nomadic, did anyone really envisage the depths of depravity, abuse and denial by providers that would come to light. I certainly did not. This is Australia and it is the 21st century afterall; though the transcripts of the R.C. read like a work of fiction depicting the horrors of the middle ages. In context I now think your views on Centrelink "abuse" is more akin to bullying because they can, and an overreach of bureaucratic power; almost a non issue all things considered. Cheers bear
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