Hidden video nursing home scandal set to change camera laws in SA
A DAUGHTER’S covert filming of the abuse of her elderly father by a carer in an Adelaide nursing home is set to change laws to allow families to install monitoring equipment. WATCH THE VIDEO
Has a similar incident happened to you or your family? Email us: newstip@adv.newsltd.com.au
- THE VIDEO: Elderly man’s horrific abuse by carer caught on hidden camera
- THE UNION: ‘Stop dodgy nursing home staff from getting new jobs’
- ANALYSIS: Making monitors legal may give relatives relief
- THE ABUSER: How a cruel coward lied to hide his vile actions
A LOVING daughter’s courageous defence of her father is set to change laws to safeguard the dignity of the elderly, by allowing families to install monitoring equipment in nursing home rooms.
Ms Noleen Hausler’s desperate decision to use a legally questionable spy camera to catch a carer repeatedly assaulting her bedridden father Clarence, 89, in his room at the Mitcham Residential Care Facility has triggered a national debate on monitoring equipment.
The video resulted in carer Corey Lyle Lucas, 27, being convicted of assaults committed on August 31 and September 9 last year which were caught on camera.
Ms Hausler initially was threatened with breaching the Privacy Act, the Video Surveillance Act and the Aged Care Act by facility operator Japara Healthcare and was told if she used a camera again, police would be called.
Now, politicians are backing her call for concerned families to be allowed to install monitoring equipment to ensure the safety of their elderly relatives behind closed doors.
Mr Hausler has advanced dementia and Ms Hausler resorted to the spy camera after noticing bruises, bloodshot eyes indicating crying and his changed demeanour, and being suspicious of the carer’s evasive behaviour.
As national debate continues:
MS Hausler told The Advertiser she would continue to campaign for families to have the legal option of installing monitoring equipment and wants a meeting with Attorney-General John Rau despite being rebuffed before the video went public.
PREMIER Jay Weatherill said he is open to the idea of the right to use monitoring equipment and is prepared to discuss it with the Federal Government.
FEDERAL Assistant Health and Aged Care Minister Ken Wyatt is willing to see cameras installed in residents’ rooms, provided residents agree.
THE State Opposition called for legislation to allow monitoring equipment in aged care homes to be introduced as soon as possible.
SENATOR Nick Xenophon plans to move for a Senate inquiry into aged care including abuse, saying the alarming video was the “tip of the iceberg”.
COTA chief executive Jane Mussared supported the use of monitoring equipment but warned it was not a “silver bullet” against abuse and families need to be vigilant for warning signs. She also noted an estimated one in 20 older people suffer “elder-abuse”, most in their own homes.
AGED Care Industry Association SA chief executive Paul Carberry said providers did not have a fundamental objection to CCTV cameras but it may not be appropriate to have them operating 24 hours a day in areas where people are bathed and changed.
FAMILIES of other residents at the Mitcham facility revealed they only learned of the scandal through the media.
Ms Hausler vowed to continue to campaign to have laws changed.
“The main thing is to change the regulations to make it easier to install such equipment if families feel the need,” she said.
“This is not about finger-pointing — the vast majority of people working in aged care are wonderful.
“But for vulnerable people without a voice, monitoring equipment would be a safeguard against abuse of any kind. It would protect everyone in the room — the resident, the carers and the facility.”
Mr Weatherill said authorities should “consider all options”, including surveillance, to ensure aged care residents were safe.
“There obviously needs to be the training and monitoring of the way in which people are employed and screened for employment, but I think we do need to give consideration for other technological measures,” he said.
“We’re certainly prepared to engage in a discussion with the Commonwealth Government about the matter.”
Opposition Deputy Leader Vickie Chapman said it was appalling that elderly residents were being “abused in their own homes” and it was “clear that we need to introduce legislation to allow surveillance devices to be used to help prevent abuse”.
Senator Nick Xenophon backed the installation of CCTV cameras and will push for a Senate inquiry into the aged care sector, including abuse and government funding cuts.
“If you cut funding, it’s going to lead to shortcuts and you’re not going to be able to provide quality care. Even the best providers can end up with rogue carers,’’ he said.
Aged Care Industry Association SA chief executive Paul Carberry said providers did not have a fundamental objection to CCTV cameras but the idea needed to be considered properly.
“It may not be appropriate in all cases to have a camera in somebody’s bedroom, 24 hours per day,” he said.
Families of more than 30 residents at the Mitcham facility yesterday were outraged at the lack of communication after learning of the scandal through the media.
John Rattley, 75, from Gilberton is the nephew of 91-year-old resident Phil and said the revelation came as a shock because his uncle and late aunt had experienced good care over the past six years.
He commended Mr Hausler’s daughter Noleen for coming forward and said legalisation for cameras in private rooms was “inevitable”.
“I think (Noleen) was very brave, given that it’s a law that’s been completely overlooked,” he said.
— Additional reporting by Peter Jean and Jade Gailberger
What are your rights?
■ A charter of rights and responsibilities protects the interests of older people in residential care.
■ Residents should: receive quality care; live in a safe, secure and homelike environment; be treated with dignity and respect; be afforded privacy; be given full information on their state of health.
■ Aged care residents or their families should be able to
raise concerns with their
centre manager.
■ If you are not satisfied with the response, or are not comfortable raising your concerns with the manager, you can contact the Aged Care Complaints Commissioner on 1800 550 552.
■ Complaints to the commissioner can be made by the person receiving care and by their family, friends and representatives.
Aged care staff, volunteers and health professionals can also
lodge complaints.
■ If necessary, complaints to the commissioner can be made on a confidential or anonymous basis.
If you are unhappy with the response from the commissioner, you can ask for the decision to
be reviewed.
■ The Commonwealth Ombudsman can also review decisions made by the commissioner.
Spying is easy and cheap
SPYING in the digital age is simple, cheap and disturbingly easy — surveillance cameras are available in shops for as little as $60, or sophisticated spy cameras costing hundreds are sold online.
Jaycar Electronics store manager Ashish Sidheura said surveillance cameras were a popular item, usually sold for outdoor security purposes.
“Internal is not so common, unless someone wants to spy on someone,” Mr Sidheura said.
Cameras can cost $60 to $150, plus extra for a recording device.
“All the surveillance cameras are accessible to anyone,” he said. “We only sell them as your personal security.”
On the internet it is a different story. One popular website, gadgets and gear, sells cameras hidden in items such as birdfeeders, water bottles, watches, clocks and teddy bears. It also has a section that sells technology tailored to detecting cheating spouses.
Counter-surveillance is popular, and camera detectors are available for security-conscious people wanting to sweep rooms for bugs.
Mr Sidheura said the store advised buyers of privacy regulations, and implications of breaching someone’s privacy when they purchase a device.
He said “bug detectors” could identify cameras in a room using wireless frequencies, however, there was no way of detecting wired cameras.
— Jade Gailberger
Rau now reverses on his meeting rejection
ATTORNEY-General John Rau says he would meet the whistleblower who exposed abuse in an Adelaide nursing home to discuss how surveillance cameras could be used to protect people in future.
Noleen Hausler covertly filmed a carer abusing her father, Clarence, at Mitcham Residential Care Facility.
The incident happened last September but the footage emerged on Monday.
Ms Hausler had asked last month to meet Mr Rau to discuss the legality of her recording but he said it was inappropriate for him to provide individual legal advice.
Ms Hausler now wants to discuss with Mr Rau “what changes can be made” to better monitor aged care homes.
Mr Rau said the facilities were regulated by the Commonwealth but he would be prepared to meet Ms Hausler to discuss the “general policy issue”. He told Parliament he has written to the Commonwealth to “invite them to study the circumstances of this case” and consider “whether or not regulatory changes should be made across the board to deal with matters of this kind”.
A new state Surveillance Devices Act passed this year would allow people to covertly record videos if in the public interest or to protect someone’s lawful interest. The laws come into effect later this year.
— Lauren Novak
Business reaps booming profits
IN September last year, when a devastated Noleen Hausler found evidence on a spy camera confirming her elderly father Clarence was being abused behind closed doors at the Mitcham Residential Care Facility, a national newspaper carried a telling headline.
“Estia, Japara, Regis — Which Aged Care Stock Should You Buy?”, it read.
The story noted shares in all three major providers had soared since the start of the year — Japara Healthcare, which runs the Mitcham facility, was up by 38 per cent.
The three all floated in 2014 as the aged-care landscape transforms with estimates of an extra 70,000 beds needed by 2020.
Deregulation, the rise in the number of Baby Boomers and Australians living decades longer than a century or so ago all combine to make aged care a thriving industry.
While corporate attention to aged care has seen much-needed investment in the industry it has also seen shareholders become as important as residents.
Japara Healthcare’s half year net profit after tax was $15.8 million for the last six months of 2014. Clearly, there is cash in care.
Japara’s website notes: “Our core objective is to provide the best available quality of life for the elderly population.”
- Brad Crouch