Six-month delay on SA disability assault report
A minister was not told of an assault on a disability client in a state-run home for six months, one of many cases that have shocked advocates.
Police & Courts
Don't miss out on the headlines from Police & Courts. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A female disability carer will face court next month over the alleged aggravated assault of a client in a state-run home.
The case is among a string of “critical incidents” where state disability accommodation clients have been injured – some by physical or sexual assault – and lengthy delays in reporting and notifying police have shocked advocates.
The alleged assault occurred on December 19 last year in regional SA.
After the Human Services Department was notified in early January, it took a month to report it to police.
The department did not formally classify the case as a “critical incident” until June 11, in an email sent to Human Services Minister Michelle Lensink, internal department documents reveal.
Under the Government’s Managing Critical Client Incidents Policy, incidents must be “immediately” reported to police if there is potential for a criminal offence.
The female disability carer has been placed under a departmental misconduct process and has summonsed to appear in Mount Gambier Magistrates Court on September 23.
An independent review into the department’s critical client incident process is expected to begin at the end of the month, at Ms Lensink’s request earlier this year. A department spokeswoman said its incident management unit (IMU) reported the case to SA Police after an initial investigation.
Opposition disability spokeswoman Nat Cook said the department’s failure to immediately notify police of the alleged aggravated assault, and the six months taken to identify it as a critical incident, was “shocking” and “a serious failure in the reporting system”.
“There is little to no chance of any intact forensic evidence given the delay,” she said.
“Everyone has a right to justice and this process is not being fully facilitated …. (and) I’m supremely concerned.”
Documents obtained by Ms Cook under freedom of information laws also show in other cases:
AN ALLEGED aggravated assault reported to the IMU on February 20 was reported to police two weeks later, was declared a critical incident on June 11 and is part of a misconduct inquiry and police investigation.
THE INJURY report about a woman, 62, at a state-run home in Pooraka was deemed a critical incident four weeks after she died.
THE DEPARTMENT was in June still attempting to identify the suspect in an alleged sexual assault against a client last September.
Australian Lawyers for Human Rights vice-president Natalie Wade said delays between incidents and police investigations made it harder for victims to receive justice, because some disabilities affect a person’s capacity to recall events or communicate what happened.
Disability Advocacy and Complaints Service of SA said: “Responsiveness of systems is paramount to ensuring the prevention of harm, upholding rights of people with disability and fostering community confidence”.
Ms Lensink said she had lowered the threshold for the seriousness of incidents that must be reported to her. She said she had improved processes since coming into office and the Government had “zero tolerance” for abuse and neglect of vulnerable people.
“Critical client incidents have been on a downward trend since they peaked at 44 incidents under Labor in 2016,” she said.
The department said it could not comment on individual cases. It said while investigations were underway, suspected employees were directed away from their workplaces via suspension or reassigned duties.
It said there was an “occasional delay” between reporting an incident and its declaration as critical, as preliminary investigations may take longer due to incomplete or unsubstantiated details.