Nine news:"The directors (of Integrity Care) are the second and third people to be arrested over Smith's death, following the prosecution of her assigned support worker, Rosa Maria Maione.
SA Police today charged the two directors with criminal neglect causing death and failing to comply with a health and safety duty of care."
Finally some Justice for Anne Marie Smith! We need this health and safety duty of care to be taken up in New South Wales where providers are allowed to get away with at least 7000 cases of serious harm last year and one only prosecution. Finally there is justice in SA for the death of Anne Marie Smith but Is this what it takes to get any for a disability person?…noted in the recent new (ABC News 10 June 2022 written by Eugene Boisvert and Rebecca Brice) that the directors of Integrity Care are being charged for playing a part in this vulnerable woman’s death in 2020 when she died through lack of care after a year of being left sitting in a cane chair by her carer who worked for Integrity Care and Ann Marie was not fed, not bathed, not toileted…finally dying in hospital as her organs shut down. The carer, Rosa Maione, was only charged 6 years for her manslaughter charge – which I found unfathomable since her willful actions of neglect caused someone to die. How could she receive such a light sentence, are those with disabilities of some low value to the court system?
However now, the two directors of Integrity Care – are actually sisters, Amy Collins and Alison Virgo, In their early forties have been charged with criminal neglect – finally good justice…the maximum sentence they could get for this is Life in prison. These kinds of providers are people who only see disabilities people as someone to make money from they do not have compassion in their hearts and care come last on their priorities – a third director, a man, Mark Greenland, who spat in a witnesses face, in the news this year, is now also being investigated for this his part in allowing Anne Marie die. They are all culpable they are all accountable. So should all providers who allow our children to be hurt, harmed, abused, and treated wrongly, neglected and ignored, bullied and even their parents lied to and bullied if they speak up for their child. Those who treat those in disabilities badly should all be in prison. It seems strange that the worker who did the neglecting and starving of Anne Marie only gets six years but the directors may get life – was she so totally ignorant and incapable of caring for someone and they employed her so they are responsible for allowing the whole situation? Perhaps. The carer who did actually kill Anne Marie someone who could not move to help herself should also get life.
It is also interesting that this time SafeWork have become involved in investigating the death of Anne Marie Smith. All kudos to SafeWork and the SA Police for doing thorough investigations – they seem to take more time and seriously want to help those with disabilities more than the slack police and investigators in this state New South Wales who basically ignore what happens citing no evidence without cameras – but as we know laws are different in each state and there needs to be serious reforms done in NSW. Anne Marie Smith had no camera evidence but they still prosecuted the carer.
I have been saying for a long time now that health and safety rules should be applied to disabilities care – do you hear me NDIS? Do you hear me federal government? Since you, the government, have now made disabilities a business – then you should apply health and safety laws just like all the other businesses so that people can be prosecuted when they do not do the right thing by the vulnerable and are not keeping them safe – including the CCTV is part of keeping those non verbal and vulnerable in disabilities it gives them a voice and way of having justice should they be attacked or neglected. That means each place of care must be checked and the workers for safe practices and how they treat those in their care would be good at the least.
It was noted in the ABC article on the recent charging of the integrity directors over the death of Anne Marie Smith
‘SafeWork SA executive director Martyn Campbell said directors of companies like Integrity Care had to ensure the duty of care they had for people they looked after was carried out by their staff.
"It's one thing to have an organisation and a business and to have that duty, but it's another question altogether to make sure that your work health and safety obligations are carried through and from our perspective, we say they weren't and that they fell short," he said’
They are falling short all the time – the providers in disabilities – to care for our children and protect them from harm. They fall short and they get away with it and keep raking in the funds from the NDIS regardless. Shameful.
WE had to move recently to another house and I had a cane chair I left on the front porch not sure whether to throw it out or not as it is a nice chair…but every time I passed it I was reminded of Anne Marie Smith - why did no one care about her? Not even her neighbours? What kind of world is this when those with disabilities are treated without value? How she died alone with the only person who was meant to be looking after or ignoring her needs is beyond me. Rosa Maione – the killer carer they called her in the news – said she prays little Annie is in heaven every day - that seems strange for someone who sent her to an early death through neglect at her hands - it was a preventable death – Anne Marie Smith did not have to die. She shouldn’t have to be in heaven right now but was sent there before her time by the negligence of a worker.
It was noted in the news article Minister for Police and Correctional Services Joe Szakacs said Friday's charges were "an appropriate first step in carrying out justice for Ann Marie Smith".
"The expertise of both Major Crime and Safework SA to conduct a thorough investigation into the alleged offences leaves the community in safe hands to prevent further horrific abuse of South Australians living with a disability," he said.
I wish we had those safe hands here in New South Wales and in all the states of Australia where our poor vulnerable children and adults with disabilities remain even lost in the system, some no longer with parents to care about them or family to watch over them, treated badly by those carers who are not trained and do not have any care in their hearts for the the poor kids, with greedy providers and CEOs at the helm only thinking about the money they make from the vulnerable. We cannot leave things like this. We must not.
Our children remain marginalized we must not let them stay there in our society we must make them of importance because they are equally if not more important than the next person. They have a right to a safe, protected and happy life like anyone else. WE must make sure this happens for them.
Also noted in the article Detective Superintendent Des Bray, from Major Crime, acknowledged the help of former Integrity Care staff and the public in the investigation.
"There are lots of good carers out there," he said.
"There were good carers who were employed by Integrity Care and would have had no knowledge of what was occurring.
"There were also employees that assisted us."
He said police had not been able to gather enough evidence in relation to missing jewellery and other property belonging to Ms Smith, or how her car racked up fines when she could not drive.
If we had the CCTV cameras working in all facilities then it would back up the testimony of the good workers in disabilities who try to report abuse but are bullied or sacked for speaking up by their managers. We need the cameras and we need to help each other stand up for what is right for those who have no voice and cannot stand up for themselves – the very vulnerable our own children and other peoples children we all need to stand together for their rights.
Nine News also noted 10th June 2022
SafeWork SA Executive Director Martyn Campbell said employers had a duty to provide a safe system of work to their workers, visitors and others who come into the workplace.
"This included Annie in this case," he said.
"Her home became a workplace as soon as the carer entered it to do her work.
"Directors of a business have an additional duty to ensure a business has those safety systems in place and they are followed.
"It is alleged that Integrity Care and its Directors failed in these duties."
All the best
Anndrea x
sign my petition change.org/disabilitycameras