‘This little piggy is going to be abused’: Disability Royal Commission hearing in SA hears of shocking letter sent to family who raised concerns

A man with an intellectual disability was threatened with cruelty and violence after his family raised concerns about his care, a Royal Commission has heard.

A man living with intellectual disability was threatened with cruelty and violence after his family raised concerns about his care, a Royal Commission has heard.

The threats were made in an anonymous letter delivered to the home of South Australian couple Victoria and James, the aunt and uncle of 38-year-old Mitchell.

Mitchell lives with autism, anxiety, bipolar disorder and possibly post-traumatic stress disorder, and lived in an accommodation service before moving to a Department of Human Services (DHS) residence.

The Royal Commission into violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of people with disability heard on Monday he moved into a one-bedroom home in a cluster of managed units.

Within the first few months, Victoria began to have concerns about the care and services provided and, in 2017, raised some of those issues.

“Her perception, based on the way in which her concerns were responded to, was that she felt she might be targeted in relation to allegations made about her, and they may have been designed to discredit her reputation,” counsel assisting, Kate Eastman SC, said.

The accommodation service manager at the residence “moved on” at the end of February 2018, and Victoria was optimistic the change in management would lead to improved communication.

Kate Eastman SC. Photo: Supplied

But, giving evidence before the commission, Victoria, a pseudonym, read out a letter she found in her mailbox just weeks later.

The letter said the site manager at Mitchell’s residence had been “removed”, and her colleagues felt that decision was unfair.

“As you would imagine, the staff involved are angry and pissed off, which now puts your nephew at risk,” the letter said.

“Food … poison, medication … wrong, shampoo … what’s in the bottle? Acid? Bruises … how did that happen? Other clients with violent behaviour … example dumbbells.

“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.”

A letter sent to the family of Mitchell (a pseudonym), an SA man living with an intellectual disability after they raised concerns about his care. The case was raised at the SA sitting of the disability Royal Commission. Picture: Supplied

James said the couple reported the matter to SA Police but were told there was no direct threat and it was a matter for DHS to investigate.

The Commission heard Victoria and James received a letter from Human Services Minister Michelle Lensink in January 2020 saying she was “deeply concerned” by the threatening correspondence, and that “thorough investigations” had been conducted by DHS and SAPOL, but they were unable to determine the author.

James said that “contradicted” advice they had previously been given.

A confidential report handed down by the Ombudsman in January this year found DHS had “failed to properly investigate” the letter and should “conduct further inquiries” into its origins.

The report recommended DHS apologise to Victoria and James for errors in the investigation, and that the department conduct further inquiries to identify who wrote the letter.

A spokeswoman for Ms Lensink said DHS reopened the investigation following the Ombudsman’s report, but was unable to determine the author.

The department also apologised to Victoria and James in a letter dated March 2021.

The case has since been closed.

Opposition human services spokeswoman Nat Cook said: “It should not take a Royal Commission for this kind of detail to surface and for loved ones of our community’s most vulnerable to receive this kind of acknowledgment.”

Departmental staff will face the Commission later this week.