The Failure to investigate properly incidents and threats, against the vulnerable in Disabilities is common practice by the providers, NDIS Quality and Safety commission and the Police – why are these people paid for a job they don’t do properly?
The Royal commission now looking into South Australia case noted on Seven News 16 June 2022 - I had heard of it last year but didn’t want to look at it as so awful.
The family of a man with intellectual disability on the Autistic spectrum in care were sent a threatening letter – threats to hurt him, poison, violence, and repeated abuse - the authorities did little about it. The article said the parents were distressed at the lack of investigation by the department of human resources. It is distressing when you are under threat and your child is being threatened it is traumatising. But to have no proper action by authorities is even more frightening - because then no one is protecting those with disabilities from harm and their families are distressed by this knowledge. Without human rights and laws being applied and fought for our disability children are always at risk and those in the justice system are not doing enought.
This would have been so frightening for the parents – wonder who sent it? No one cared enough to move and do something about it. It was noted in the article by Dornin, that the Royal Commission found that authorities did not take it seriously enough stating -
“The commission has also ruled subsequent investigations into the letter by the SA Department of Human Services were deficient, unjustifiably delayed and unsatisfactory.”
Surely it is a crime to make threats on someone’s life? The Royal commission said it also showed that the Department of Human Services failed to take a person centred approach focusing on the man’s safety and well being.
Strange that it is called the Human Services when the last thing they are doing is actually caring about the vulnerable humans with disabilities involved! Is not this the whole problem with NDIS too – they are not taking a ‘person-centred’ approach? In other words they are not caring and focusing on the person and what he or she needs and how they can be safe and protected – they are not using health and safety when it comes to those in disabilities and now even in South Australia after everything with Anne Marie Smith they did not even listen when a man was threatened frighteningly his whole family facing intimidation for someone (dare I say the people looking after their son in care who didn’t like him or them?) Isn’t it a crime to threaten someone’s life? Yes it is well where were the police on this one?
https://7news.com.au/.../sa-botched-response-to
Why wait until someone dies or is assaulted? And even when someone is assaulted the police fail to check up on it in disabilities. Saying the investigations into the threatening letter were deficient, unjustifiably delayed and unsatisfactory is typical I would say even in the Ndis quality commission – they are the same.
There is a big delay in investigations if your child is hurt and comes home bruised from ‘care’ and the provider says they will investigate which they wait for six weeks and then so oh we found nothing. NDIS quality and safety commission also takes weeks to get back to you. Police also do non existent investigations. Last year when my son was repeatedly punched to the arm as the doctor said that the bruises were that bad it could have only happened that way…I took my son to the police who took photos and said they were wearing cameras while we had the interview – great I said we need those for my son or these people will kill him one day. I am afraid for him. We need cameras in disabilities – the police young woman agreed with me and said they would send a police car to the providers to talk to them. 6 weeks later they still had not and I said what has happened oh sorry we didn’t get there yet so we called them and they had gone to the police too. That’s funny I said because the provider had said there was no incident (corporate tactics of cover up?) now they go to the police and say something happened to my son. They are despicable. The NDIS quality commission said without cameras they could do nothing…you do nothing anyway I said to them you are so slack. I fought for funding for one on one care for my son after that as I could never trust any workers of any provider again, and even one on one you still have to be careful. It’s a nightmare for any parent trying to protect and do the best for their child and exhausting. Two of your providers let my son get hurt I wrote to the NDIS now you give me the funding to protect him. Do I have to hire security guards?
Yes investigations are slack and deficient when it comes to disabilities. Those workers really had it in for James I realize now, and a bad tempered support worker is not what you need when your child is non verbal and vulnerable. Note that the judge called Rosa Maione, the carer whose lack of care caused Anne Marie Smith to die – “lazy, negligent and incompetent” (7News) - why are these types of people allowed in disabilities to care for our precious children? Someone so bad so unqualified – oh that’s right they don’t need any qualifications. They are in it for the money. Well, the bar has to be lifted this is not right.
Even the investigations into a threatening letter were not done properly for this family noted in the article the Royal Commission stated -
DHS failed to discharge its responsibility to take appropriate measures to find out the source of an apparently serious threat to the safety and wellbeing of a person with a disability in its care," the commission said.
"The failure to instigate a formal investigation in a timely fashion had significant consequences for the manner in which DHS handled the matter afterwards."
They noted there was a 7 week delay before the DHS did anything about it – so it was less likely they could find the person who wrote the letter. Again, where were the police on this? The Royal commission also said that investigations were superficial and said the investigation did not
1) systematically review or check rosters, and
2) Check incident report registers or other available electronic records to determine who might have been involved, despite the department considering it likely a DHS employee was the author. (Tim Dornin 7 News June 2022)
An employee was the author of the threatening letter to their disability son? Why am I not surprised. Employees in disabilities have little standards to rise to and they are failing to do the right things so much as to even do hate crimes against our vulnerable children. They need to be stopped.
Apparently the second investigation was deficient in methodology and scope! Why are these people paid to work for disabilities or care and Human Resources when they are so incompetent at the job or cannot be bothered following up a major attack on a vulnerable person and major threat?
Attitudes need to change – if a celebrity was threatened in a letter the police and investigators would be there in a shot. Disabilities is just not their forte – things need to change in the police force and justice system as all humans are equal – then make investigations equal for all humans and justice and protection from crime! Bring reforms in the law system and disabilities and society needs to realize that that could be themselves whatever happens to another person could happen to any of us you are not exempt. We need to care about each other and not about the dollar value of a person it will bring destruction to the human race if we continue like this. Not only will the vulnerable suffer but the everyday person and middle class yes even they will be affected by lack of justice and human rights failure if we do not stand up for the vulnerable and very vulnerable it comes back on us all. In NSW there are specific hate crimes covered which are considered serious by the police such as written or spoken words of hate and threat. Below are threats to life crime law in South Australia.
Sign my petition for greater protection in disabilities - change.org/disabilitycameras
All the best Anndrea x
Check out – what is considered a crime and applies to disabilities too. Below are the descriptions and the penalties for Threat crimes in South Australia and it will be different in NSW and other states but it is against the law – a crime – to threaten someone with harm –
Noted for New South Wales (Criminal law page) some legislation but can be vague making it harder for us to get some action here but still there are legal stands to take -
Making threats via documents
Section 31 of the Crimes Act makes it an offence, punishable by a maximum of 10 years imprisonment, to intentionally or recklessly send or deliver a document threatening to kill or inflict serious bodily harm on any person.
This offence can be made out regardless of whether the document is actually delivered or received and regardless of whether the threat is actually communicated to the person it was intended for.
South Australia
(Legal services commission South Australia 2022) Unlawful Threats
What is a threat?
A threat is any communication indicating an intention to do harm. It can be communicated directly or indirectly either by words (whether written or spoken) or by conduct, or a combination of both [Criminal Law Consolidation Act (SA) s19 (3)]. For example, driving a motor vehicle at high speed on the wrong side of the road and stopping just short of another car can constitute a threat [see South Australian Police v Bednarz (SASC, 17 February 1995, Jud No S4959, unreported)].
In determining whether words or actions constitute a threat there is a difference between an intention to cause harm, and someone who is merely “sounding off” who does not intend to create any fear. For example a statement 'I feel like I could kill my spouse' could be interpreted as an expression of emotions, whereas 'I want to kill my spouse' is a threat to do harm.
The threat does not need to be directed at the person who heard it (see for example Carter v R (1994) 176 LSJS 112).
Threaten death
It is an offence if a person, without lawful excuse:
• threatens to kill or endanger the life of another; and
• intends to create a fear that the threat will be carried out, or is recklessly indifferent to whether such a fear was created.
Maximum penalty:
• Basic offence: 10 years imprisonment
• Aggravated offence: 12 years imprisonment
Examples of aggravated offences include where the victim is a child or a spouse of the defendant, or where the offence was committed intending to prevent the victim from taking legal proceedings.
[s 19(1) Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 (SA)]
Threaten Harm
It is an offence where a person, without lawful excuse:
• threatens to cause harm to another;
• intending to create a fear that the threat will be carried out, or is recklessly indifferent to whether such a fear was created.
Maximum penalty:
• Basic offence: 5 years imprisonment.
• Aggravated offence: 7 years imprisonment
• Aggravated offence where the victim is a police officer, prison officer, employee in a training centre or other law enforcement officer: eight years imprisonment
• Aggravated offence where the victim is engaged in a prescribed occupation or employment (whether on a paid or volunteer basis), such as hospital and emergency services workers, and the offender knows this when assaulting them: eight years imprisonment [Criminal Law Consolidation (General) Regulations 2021 (SA) reg 4]