Transcript

FIGHTING THE SYSTEM - Monday 27 March 2017

[OPENING SCENE]

SARAH FERGUSON: Welcome to Four Corners.

"Rank failure" doesn't begin to capture the pain of a mother who's discovered that her disabled child has been sexually abused in care, nor the pain of a victim who finds it impossible to adequately describe what has happened them.

Imagine finding out that your child has been abused and then having to come to terms with the fact that police and prosecutors are reluctant to trust the victim's evidence, the shock of realising that the very thing that made your child vulnerable, their disability, also serves to protect the perpetrator.

In 2015 a senate inquiry heard evidence that abuse and neglect of people with a disability living in supported accommodation around the country was rife.

This month the federal government rejected the committee's recommendation for a Royal Commission. Instead, it's promising a new watchdog, under the National Disability Insurance Scheme which the government says will ensure serious complaints are properly investigated.

Tonight Four Corners exposes the treatment of some of our most vulnerable citizens. Linton Besser reports.

LINTON BESSER, REPORTER: Andrew Hislop's auntie Sheila is bringing him home for a visit with his mum.

SHEILA HISLOP: Hullo?

JEAN HISLOP: Hullo. Hullo. How are ya? Good to see you darling? Oh, I've got a wee surprise for you.

ANDREW HISLOP: Oh ok.

JEAN HISLOP: Look at that, yeah, I think you'll love that one.

ANDREW HISLOP: Thanks mum.

JEAN HISLOP: Thank you...

LINTON BESSER: Andrew's mum Jean is 87 and can't care for him herself.

JEAN HISLOP: Have a wee look...

ANDREW HISLOP: Oh yeah! Wow. Ok...

JEAN HISLOP: That's a new one.

ANDREW HISLOP: Yeah!

LINTON BESSER: Andrew has Down Syndrome and has been living in a group home with other disabled people since Jean put him in care 20 years ago.

JEAN HISLOP: My husband was going blind and he had a heart problem. And Andrew, so outgoing, wanted to go shopping and he'd go for a walk, and I couldn't handle the two of them. So, I had to make a decision, and I thought it would be good for him because, he's so good with company. And I thought it would be really good for him, you know and so that's what we did. We put him in the hands of Human Services... I'm sorry I did it. I really am. I never realised things were so bad.

LINTON BESSER: So Andrew, you know we're making television about people with a disability...

ANDREW HISLOP: Yeah.

LINTON BESSER: ... trying to understand, you know what the difficulties are in giving them a good home to live in. That's what it's about.

ANDREW HISLOP: Yeah.

LINTON BESSER: How do you feel about your home, where you live?

ANDREW HISLOP: Uh, upset.

LINTON BESSER: A bit upset.

ANDREW HISLOP: I want to move.

LINTON BESSER: Do you ever feel afraid?

ANDREW HISLOP: Yes.

LINTON BESSER: What of?

ANDREW HISLOP: Hurt.

LINTON BESSER: Being hurt?

ANDREW HISLOP: Yeah.

LINTON BESSER: Two years ago Andrew was assaulted in his group home by one of the staff.

JEAN HISLOP: It took Andrew four days before he told his supervisor. But in the meantime, he had been coming down here. He couldn't even sit in this chair. He was squirming. And I says, "What's the matter?" And he dropped his trousers and said, "Look, look what he done to me. Look what he done to me."

LINTON BESSER: This is the group home where Andrew lives. It's run by the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services. In June 2015 the Department told Jean her son had been sexually assaulted. She asked Andrew, who has the mental age of a child, what happened?

JEAN HISLOP: The person went into the bathroom, and Andrew told him to get out. And he came over, and he grabbed his genitals... Then I tried to find out, you know, I questioned him then, quietly. "Did he get into bed with you? Did he push you in the back, Andrew?" You know, anything I could think of to try and see if he had been sexually assaulted. But, I mean, you can't get that out of a five-year-old, they don't know, they've no idea. And I still think, to this day, Andrew was sexually penetrated, because of the sudden onset of 'impactation', constipation, and crying, running away. It was dreadful, dreadful to see.

LINTON BESSER: Department officials told Jean the staff member had been sacked on the spot. Victoria Police interviewed Andrew but the employee wasn't charged. This happens time and time again across Australia ... where cases collapse because police and prosecutors decide people with a disability make poor witnesses in court.

JEAN HISLOP: I felt that I should have been present at the police interview. Maybe I could have helped, you know, but I wasn't even informed, nothing. No information.

ANDREW HISLOP: Yeah, up again...

JEAN HISLOP: Up again, ok...

LINTON BESSER: Andrew has repeatedly tried to run away since the assault, but Jean can't look after him and he has nowhere else to go.

ANDREW HISLOP: Batman!

JEAN HISLOP (to Andrew): Batman, oh yeah.

JEAN HISLOP: I've never done anything like this before. I've never had to handle anything like this. I didn't know where to turn to. There was nobody.

LINTON BESSER: That must have just been so hard...

JEAN HISLOP: Yeah, very hard. When you're on your own, and no husband to help you. Nobody cares... (cries) But I'm a fighter. I don't give up.

LINTON BESSER: Jean is fighting to find him a new home.

JEAN HISLOP: We're just trying to do the best for you, and make you happy again. A happy Andrew, okay?

ANDREW HISLOP: I... move.

JEAN HISLOP: Well, we're really trying hard. Remember me saying that to you on the phone? We're really trying hard to help you, aren't we? Hey? We'll get there, we'll get there. You'll get your wishes. It'll all come good, okay? All right?

ANDREW HISLOP: Mm.

LINTON BESSER: Andrew's father died 12 years ago and now he's worried what might happen to his mum.

ANDREW HISLOP: What's going to happen to you... when you die?

JEAN HISLOP: I'm not going to die.

SHEILA HISLOP: Long long time.

JEAN HISLOP: Long time yet.

ANDREW HISLOP: I'll say ... first Dad... Dad, I love you. I miss you. I'm your son... your son and Mum she know I been [inaudible] ... I miss you Dad. I do.

JEAN HISLOP: Who's going to care for him... it's only me... it's a sad world, isn't it?

LINTON BESSER: You've been fighting in his corner for decades.

JEAN HISLOP: Forty-five years I've been fighting for him. I brought him into this world, and I love him. I do all I can to help him ... and I'm 88 soon. I'm still battling.

LINTON BESSER: Phil Swann just had his 50th birthday, but he has the intellectual age of a child. He's lived in a group home for more than a decade.

BEVERLEY SWANN: Hey Phil! Put them on, that's better. Going to have some morning tea?

PHIL SWANN: Yeah.

BEVERLEY SWANN: Sounds good, ready? Ready to go?

PHIL SWANN: Yeah.

BEVERLEY SWANN: OK, come on then.

LINTON BESSER: Phil's mother died eight years ago. Now the job of fighting for his rights has been taken up by his sister-in-law Beverley Swann and his brother Peter.

BEVERLEY SWANN: Are you right?

LINTON BESSER: Hello Phil I'm Linton.

PHIL SWANN: How are you Linton?

LINTON BESSER: How are you?

PHIL SWANN: Good.

LINTON BESSER: How was the ferry ride?

PHIL SWANN: Good.

LINTON BESSER: Phil Swann's group home is run by a non-profit organisation called Lifestyle Solutions.

LINTON BESSER: Phil I'm interested in your home.

PHIL SWANN: My home?

LINTON BESSER: Yeah. Do you like it there?

PHIL SWANN: Yeah.

LINTON BESSER: In 2012 Phil Swann's normally happy demeanour suddenly changed.

BEVERLEY SWANN: He wasn't laughing, which wasn't like Phil at all. I knew something was wrong. I'd had him to the GP multiple times, and we'd done tests and everything. But I didn't know what was wrong. I just knew something wasn't right.

LINTON BESSER: On Melbourne Cup day that year Phil Swann had a bad fall in the bathroom ... or so Beverley was told.

BEVERLEY SWANN: I did get an incident report saying that Phil had slipped over in the bathroom, but I didn't think anything of it at that time.

EDNA LAWS, FORMER LIFESTYLE SOLUTIONS CARER: I turned up for a shift on Melbourne Cup day and the other staff member was sitting on the chair next to Phillip, talking about what had happened, because he had a Band-Aid and things on his head, the staff member had said he'd been to Melbourne Cup, and he'd come home and they had fed him full of crap, and whatever, and he shit himself and things, and he fell over the top of his walker in the bathroom, and hit the wall. Hit his walker and hit the wall.

LINTON BESSER: Edna Laws claims her colleague's behaviour towards Phil was disturbing.

EDNA LAWS: ... he continued to sit with Phil. He was talking about what had happened, but in a real angry way, swearing, and all the rest of it, and sort of actually pushed on the band-aid on Phillip's bridge of his nose.

LINTON BESSER: A few days later, Edna Laws noticed Phil Swann was unusually withdrawn.

EDNA LAWS: I said, "What's the matter, mate," and he said, "Oh, nothing" ...I said, "If you've got something to say, it's okay, you can tell me," so then he started to say the staff member's name, but he couldn't even say the name. The first initial came out, and I said, "It's okay, I'm here, if there's anything wrong, I can help you." So then he told me what had happened, he said that he was pushed, and he showed me, sort of with his actions, that he was pushed in the bathroom.

LINTON BESSER: Edna Laws reported what Phil told her and Lifestyle Solutions began an investigation. Edna says she was told by a manager not to tell the family.

EDNA LAWS: I do believe it was five weeks before Bev was notified. She should have been notified. Straight up. It was abuse, like... they're entitled to know, to support their family member.

BEVERLEY SWANN: I spoke to Edna on the phone... and I said to her, "What's going on?" She said, "Bev, I can't tell you. I'm not allowed to tell you, but if you ask me a question, I'll answer it truthfully." And I said, "So... this accident, was it an accident?" And she said, "I don't believe so." And I said, "Well, so what happened?" And she did tell me what had happened, and it was at that point she said that Phillip had been assaulted by another staff member... I was furious. I was fit to be tied. I was, I think, I just couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe that nobody had told me. Not one phone call. I was furious that they prevented another staff member from notifying me what had taken place.

LINTON BESSER: Without his family's knowledge, Phil Swann had been formally interviewed and filmed by a Lifestyle Solutions manager. Four Corners has obtained a damaged copy of the video.

PHIL SWANN: He pushed me... He hit me... Across my face.

MAN'S VOICE: Are you scared of Glen?

PHIL SWANN: Yes.

MAN'S VOICE Why?

PHIL SWANN: He said... Glenn... do not do that in the bathroom.

MAN'S VOICE: Do what?

PHIL SWANN: Push people in the bathroom. Hit me in the bathroom tiles.

MAN'S VOICE: OK. And you want it to stop?

PHIL SWANN: Yes... stop.

MAN'S VOICE: OK.

EDNA LAWS: He's just like a five-year-old, in a man's body. Like... I don't know how people do it (cries) ... It's sick. It's more than cruel, it's sick. People do different jobs for different reasons, and there's a lot of people in Disabilities, that I've seen over the years, they are not suited for the job.

LINTON BESSER: The staff member was eventually sacked. Four Corners obtained the Lifestyle Solutions internal investigation which found he had 'assaulted Philip Swann by pushing his head into the tiled wall of the bathroom' and assaulted another client 'by punching him on the nose'.

BEVERLEY SWANN: Out of that, they believe that Phillip had been assaulted on more than one occasion, although they were unable to give a timeframe for the assaults. So we believe that it was happening for quite some time.

LINTON BESSER: The way Lifestyle Solutions handled the case destroyed any prospect of a criminal prosecution. A year later, the organisation wrote to the Swann family admitting that 'the failure to report the incident to NSW Police has had a significant impact on [the police] being able to thoroughly investigate and charge the offender'.

BEVERLEY SWANN: They didn't go ahead because the evidence had been tampered with, because Phillip had been interviewed three times. We just said well, "That's not good enough"... The investigating officer said well, "We dropped the ball." I just said, "You think?"... they just gave up and said, "Well, we did. We didn't do it properly," and that was it.

LINTON BESSER: It meant the staff member who assaulted Phil Swann was free to continue working with vulnerable people.

GLENN RICHARDSON, FORMER LIFESTYLE SOLUTIONS CARER: What's going on buddy?

LINTON BESSER (to Glenn Richardson): Yeah, Linton Besser from Four Corners.

LINTON BESSER: His name is Glenn Richardson ... and he says he never assaulted Phil Swann.

GLENN RICHARDSON: No, that never happened. Philip fell over that... that evening.

LINTON BESSER: But why would he have made that up?

GLENN RICHARDSON: Um, Philip was basically coerced by another um employee that um I didn't have a great relationship with, yeah.

LINTON BESSER: Glenn Richardson admits he was sacked from the next disability provider he worked at, but says it was because he stuck up for the clients.

LINTON BESSER (to Glenn Richardson): And you still work in the disability sector today?

GLENN RICHARDSON: Yes I do, yeah, yeah, yeah.

LINTON BESSER: Glenn Richardson insists he received a pay out from Lifestyle Solutions for unfair dismissal.

GLENN RICHARDSON: Well I have a statement that basically says I can't discuss this, that the findings were found to be incorrect ...

LINTON BESSER: All I'm asking is for you to show me the piece of paper that says the findings were incorrect.

GLENN RICHARDSON: If I find it somewhere, yeah, it's probably dug somewhere. If you can give me your card, I'd appreciate it.

LINTON BESSER: No problem.

BEVERLEY SWANN: I'd like to see the piece of paper. I'd like him to produce it. If he's innocent and he's been exonerated, show me the piece of paper.

LINTON BESSER: What made the abuse of Phil Swann particularly traumatic ... was that 10 years earlier, Phil's other brother, Jeffrey who was also disabled, was murdered in a group home run by another operator.

BEVERLEY SWANN: I just didn't want anything to happen to Phil. And um, while everyone says it's you know unlike it'll ever happen again, things do happen again, and for whatever reason. And um whether you're unlucky or you know you've had the misfortune of having it happen, I was terrified. I was terrified that he was going to um... lose his life in care.

LINTON BESSER: Lifestyle Solutions has a chequered history. In 2009 it took a group of disabled clients to Eagle Reach, a wilderness retreat in the NSW Hunter Valley. During the night one of the clients went missing. She'd disappeared near the top of a 450-metre-high lookout.

MARK ABERLE, FORMER LIFESTYLE SOLUTIONS CARER: Yep, this is where it all happened. This is where I first heard her... first response to me. And the sound's coming from down there.

LINTON BESSER: Down there?

MARK ABERLE: Yep, all the way down there.

LINTON BESSER: Mark Aberle is the former Lifestyle Solutions worker who climbed down to rescue her.

LINTON BESSER: That's a long way.

MARK ABERLE: It is a long way. I don't even know how she survived. She was immobilised, scratches. Her bottom eyelid was basically not there anymore, just hanging by a thread. And she was moaning in pain. So I took off my shirt and put it on her to warm her up...

LINTON BESSER: After the dramatic rescue, Mark, seen here in news footage from the time, was ordered not to speak about what had happened.

MARK ABERLE: I was met at the top, after I was finally brought up by the rescue workers, and put in a car, and basically told not to talk to any media, don't expose anything that's gone on.

LINTON BESSER: In another incident on the night of January 29 this year, two vulnerable teenage children went missing from a Lifestyle Solutions home in western Sydney. They wandered along this road, kilometres from home.

MILISSA CHRISTIAN, FORMER LIFESTYLE SOLUTIONS CARER: They're severely autistic, very intellectually delayed, one of them is not toilet trained, still wearing nappies um, they've got no sense of risk whatsoever.

LINTON BESSER: By sheer luck police found the boys at 5am the next day.

MILISSA CHRISTIAN: Anything could have happened. It was dark. It was not like it was 5 minutes away. It wasn't like it was 500 metres away. It was 6.8 kilometres from that home. I could only imagine what those boys would have been thinking. There should have been someone that was awake checking on those kids.

LINTON BESSER: Milissa Christian recently quit Lifestyle Solutions in disgust at its chaotic management of high-needs children with disabilities.

MILISSA CHRISTIAN: They're placed in um situations with other children where they've been sexually assaulted, um where they've been physically harmed. They've lived in what I would describe as a domestic violence situation um... in services.

LINTON BESSER: That is a shocking indictment.

MILISSA CHRISTIAN: Yep.

LINTON BESSER: This is a 2015 iPhone video filmed by a teenager inside a Lifestyle Solutions home in western Sydney. A fight breaks out between two boys while their carer is off-duty upstairs.

BOY: ... your fucking disability! I hate it! I hate it c***! I hate it when you play on your disabilities. I hate it...

LINTON BESSER: The boy being attacked slaps the couch to signal he can't breathe.

BOY: I hate it! No! No! You started this. You started this c***... You started it... [inaudible] All right do it again and I won't let you go ever again.

LINTON BESSER: The boy loses consciousness ... and he begins having a seizure.

GIRL: ... oy he's gone into a fit. Oh my god.

LINTON BESSER: Another teenager runs upstairs to get the carer.

GIRL: Lie on your side. You all right?... Quick!

BOY: You all right... you all right... you all right...

GIRL: Oh my god. Hold his legs. Hold his legs.

LINTON BESSER: The boy safely recovered ...

LINTON BESSER (to Melissa Christian): Is this unusual?

MILISSA CHRISTIAN: No, it's not. It's not unusual in a sense that there's been a number of scenarios where I could say quite confidently children have been physically assaulted where the system has failed. Where the agency has failed to keep them safe.

LINTON BESSER: In Australia disabled children are three times more likely to experience abuse than other children. Milissa Christian was particularly appalled by the case of a 13-year-old boy we'll call 'John'.

MILISSA CHRISTIAN: He was developmentally delayed. He had high risks, both physical and sexualized behaviours. He was extremely violent at times. Yeah.

LINTON BESSER: Because 'John' was so difficult Lifestyle Solutions was paid a much higher sum by the government - enough for him to be housed on his own.

LINTON BESSER (to Melissa Christian): How much money was he worth a year?

MILISSA CHRISTIAN: Um, I couldn't say off the top of my head, but close or in excess of I think about $1 million, thereabouts.

LINTON BESSER: Despite the extra money, 'John' was placed in a house with two other, more vulnerable children. He went on to sexually assault one of them.

MILISSA CHRISTIAN: No child deserves to be put in this situation. No child deserves to be treated as a dollar figure rather than a human being. And they have rights. They have... they deserve respect. And we're entrusted to do what's right for them. And we're entrusted to advocate for them, and we failed.

LINTON BESSER: Four Corners can reveal that in just one year no fewer than four disabled people in the Newcastle Hunter area died while in Lifestyle Solutions' care. The 2014 deaths have become part of a major investigation by the NSW Ombudsman.

STEVE KINMOND, NSW DEPUTY OMBUDSMAN: These were individuals who had very significant health challenges. They needed to have thorough health assessments, but much more importantly, the health assessments, then needed to be actioned by the staff in a consistent fashion. And so, the risk is, if appropriate action isn't taken with people with very high risks, the risk is, the possibility of death or of fundamentally compromised health... I could give a lengthy explanation but let me put it simply. The practise was unacceptable.

LINTON BESSER: Deputy Ombudsman Steve Kinmond is demanding major changes to the way the organisation is run.

STEVE KINMOND: We saw enough evidence of significant matters - that should not have taken place, taking place - to draw a line in the sand and to say, "We need a broad practise review as to the operations of Lifestyle Solutions."

LINTON BESSER: In Victoria, Lifestyle Solutions is also under investigation for the physical mistreatment of some clients.

MARTIN FOLEY, VICTORIAN MINISTER FOR DISABILITY: We've had complaints and we've acted on them...

LINTON BESSER: What are the complaints?

MARTIN FOLEY: Well again, because-

LINTON BESSER: In general...

MARTIN FOLEY: Well if they go to areas of poor provision of service, of making sure that they kind of rights to a decent outcome that someone with a disability or their families or their carers would expect to occur, when that doesn't occur...

LINTON BESSER: Have people been harmed in the care of Lifestyle Solutions?

MARTIN FOLEY: Um, as I'm advised: sadly, yes. So in terms of a response to that, that is why the kind of action that we've taken in taking administration of particular facilities off that group has been rolled out.

LINTON BESSER: Lifestyle Solutions declined to be interviewed for this program. In a statement the organisation said it was 'deeply saddened by these matters and realised the impact on families and other people we support.' The organisation said the cases identified by Four Corners had led to reforms of policy and procedure, while others 'remain the subject of regulatory review'.

STEVE KINMOND: We have significant concern about what we've seen to date. From my perspective, there's a large number of clients currently being supported in that environment and the impact for the clients - some 1500 very, very high-needs clients - of suddenly no longer having a service, would be almost catastrophic. But, having said that, the challenge is in Lifestyle Solutions' court.

JULIE PHILLIPS, DISABILITY ADVOCATE: Julie Phillips...

LINTON BESSER: Disability advocate Julie Phillips says the abuse of disabled people in care is rife.

JULIE PHILLIPS: Parents should not be trusting service providers and they must do due diligence all the time because the evidence is that it's very unsafe and there's a lot of risk. Government don't seem to be willing to really give consequences when there are reports of abuse of any kind. Until those things are addressed, everyone who is putting a loved one into a service should be very very wary.

LINTON BESSER: Another provider that's been investigated in Victoria is Autism Plus ... a for-profit company that operates five group homes in Victoria, including this one.

ANNE MALLIA: I could not sleep knowing my son was in that house. I, in actual fact, I would park my car at the front of that house and just watch, because I wasn't permitted to go in but I could see if lights were turned on (she cries). I'm sorry I'm being a sook. If lights were going on or going off and at least I felt close to my son so that if he did need something I'd be there, but the reality is... I couldn't protect him at that point. I had to get him out.

LINTON BESSER: Anne Mallia's autistic son Matthew was being targeted in the Autism Plus group home by another disabled man living there.

ANNE MALLIA: For a parent to see their child being groomed by a sexual predator, let me tell you, it is the most horrifying and sickening thing you will ever have to witness in your life.

LINTON BESSER: In September 2014, during visiting hours, Anne saw the man beckon her son over to him.

ANNE MALLIA: The man gestured towards the floor. My son got down on his knees. By this point I was on my feet, I was trying to scream out, I couldn't speak, I was... I knew what was happening. It was really obvious what was about to happen and this man touched his lips and my son bent over as if he was in a trance. He bent down and kissed the perpetrator. The perpetrator then made other gestures which I am not going to go into and at that point I yelled at Matthew and Matthew got up. I reported this to police. I reported to Autism Plus and for months Autism Plus did absolutely nothing about this. They didn't report to police what we had taken to them.

LINTON BESSER: Two months later, the mother of another disabled client - also named Matthew - discovered her son was being targeted by the same man.

MARIA THOMAS: Matthew deserve a proper care. It's about time for me to tell this.

LINTON BESSER: Maria Thomas and her family repeatedly warned authorities about the problem and wrote to the Department of Health and Human Services 'horrified at the sexual attacks on [Matthew] and the fact that this predator is still allowed to remain in the house'. They warned that that the man continued to show 'a great determination to get to Matthew' and that 'given half an opportunity he will strike again'.

MARIA THOMAS: We asked them to remove the guy because my son is in danger during that time. Our son is in danger that time. We told them.

LINTON BESSER: Autism Plus was equally horrified. Internal emails obtained by Four Corners show the company demanded the Department remove the man immediately. Autism Plus warned he was 'a significant and ongoing risk, in particular to Matthew as well as to the other clients' and that 'his move should have been immediate after the last attempted assault'.

LINTON BESSER: Despite these warnings and repeated close calls, the Victorian government insisted the man remain in the house, until finally in April 2015, he targeted Matthew Thomas for the seventh time.

MARIA THOMAS: Yes. Matthew... was sexually assaulted in the shower while he's having a shower. The carer ran away because this young man who's assaulting my son, he's threatening the carer so he run away. And he leave my son in the shower. And then that's where this young man assaulting my son, how's that scenario?

LINTON BESSER: Autism Plus were asking your department for this man to be moved out, weren't they?

MARTIN FOLEY: Um, well, I'm not advised as to what Autism Plus's particular views on this matter were...

LINTON BESSER: Your department didn't tell you that Autism Plus sought the removal of this man at an earlier date, but was told that wasn't possible?

MARTIN FOLEY: I'm, I'm not advised as to what that particular outcome was or wasn't the case.

LINTON BESSER: Isn't this a rank failure by your department?

MARTIN FOLEY: I think it's a rank failure at many, many levels. Now of course I can't, sadly, speak about this particular incident for a variety of reasons, but whether it's this incident, other circumstances, we've seen far too many cases like this.

LINTON BESSER: The man who assaulted Matthew Thomas was finally moved out of the home and Victoria Police charged him with sexual assault. Because prosecutors were unsure whether the assailant could understand the allegations against him they dropped the charges last year.

ANNE MALLIA: You're kidding me?

LINTON BESSER: Anne Mallia didn't know until we told her.

LINTON BESSER (to Anne Mallia): ... The suggestion being that... that the man behind these assaults couldn't understand the nature of the charges against him.

ANNE MALLIA: ... he understood, I spoke to this kid, this person, this perpetrator every single day I was there, he understood exactly what he was doing, he understood the ramifications... you're kidding me? So he's free to go and do this again and he will... So he's going to be permitted to live with other people with disabilities, other people who don't have a voice, other people who cannot protect themselves? And he's going to reoffend, because he will reoffend...

MARIA THOMAS: My opinion is they treat my son like animal. Yeah. (cries) I thought my son is really ... I thought my son is really safe. And knowingly, they had incident report. DHS knows it already. Autism Plus knows already, so they should do something about that. They had incident report. Why still keeping this young man that he had a problem sexually? I don't understand, really. I don't understand. I try my very best but really, I don't understand.

SENATOR RACHEL SIEWERT, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, 25/11/2015: It is only with a royal commission that we can fully understand the extent of violence and abuse and neglect against people with disability.

LINTON BESSER: A year and a half ago a Senate Inquiry found abuse and neglect of the disabled was rampant and called for a royal commission. This month the government finally rejected the call.

THERESE SANDS, DISABLED PEOPLE'S ORGANISATIONS AUSTRALIA: I think for many people with disability this is just another kick in the guts really. It's another way of saying that you are not valued. That your stories, what has happened to you, and your experiences of violence, abuse and neglect is not important enough for us to investigate, and really interrogate service systems... Well, I say that they are not responding to the breadth and depth of this problem.

LINTON BESSER: The peak disability groups say your decision, Minister, to reject that recommendation is quote 'a kick in the guts' and an indication that people with a disability are simply not valued...

CHRISTIAN PORTER, FEDERAL MINISTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES: Well, um, all of the stakeholder groups in this area as well as all of the state and territory jurisdictions have been engaged in good faith and very productively with the Commonwealth for three years in a process of consultation to develop the new safeguarding quality assurance and enforcement regime that will come in in 2018.

LINTON BESSER: The Minister says a new federal disability watchdog to be introduced with the NDIS will address problems of abuse and neglect.

LINTON BESSER (to Minister): People in this sector in these peak groups are nervous, they're sceptical about the lack of detail and how this new framework will be administered in practice...

CHRISTIAN PORTER: It's not, of course, the finishing point for the new system that will be developed but it's very much an important part in what has been a very long process. Keep in mind here that what we are talking about is an entirely new and very substantial Commonwealth body which will have its own employees, completely devoted to maintaining, enforcing, assessing and ensuring compliance with standards for Australians with a disability who are in disability accommodation.

MARTIN FOLEY: There is no excuse for the kind of tragedies that so many cases like that you've referred to here today that no government, no individual, can possibly defend those but what we do have is through the NDIS an opportunity to do away with the culture and the systems that allow that to perpetuate... to make sure that as the NDIS rolls out these kind of terrible circumstances don't occur in the future.

LINTON BESSER: They say you can judge a society by the way it cares for its most vulnerable.

ANNE MALLIA: We live in Australia. It's 2017. How can we continue to treat people with disabilities, whether it be intellectual or physical, the way we're treating them? We are stripping them of their dignity.

LINTON BESSER: For these families who have waited such a long time, change isn't coming soon enough.

JEAN HISLOP: I just get frustrated, you know, yeah I get angry, right. I think all mothers and fathers do, when nothing's getting done, and no help's coming. It seems to be, it's always, oh, lack of funding, lack of funding. Just put the funding in the right place, and we'll get it done.

STEVE KINMOND: We have a choice as a nation. We either say, we will make sure that action is taken to protect the rights of people with disability, and we'll make sure that the leg work is done, or, we'll set up a framework, we won't properly resource it, if that's the case, and we'll pretend that we're committed to the rights of people with disability.