MGB Residential Care Pty Ltd, operating as Prospect Community Village, stripped of licence after concerning camp allegations

An NDIS facility was stripped of its licence after residents claimed they were given alcohol and encouraged to verbally abuse a staff member at a camp, a judgment has revealed.

An NDIS residential facility was stripped of its licence after a camp where residents claimed they were given alcohol and encouraged to verbally abuse a staff member, a judgment has revealed.

MGB Residential Care Pty Ltd, operating as the Prospect Community Village, sought a review of a South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (SACAT) decision after the director was determined to no longer be a fit or proper person to operate the facility.

The court heard MGB is a supported residential facility, providing accommodation and support for residents with physical and mental disabilities.

They are currently an approved National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) service provider.

A judgment published online said the Eastern Health Authority Inc (the Authority) and the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (QSC) received several complaints about the management of a camp in the Flinders Ranges in January 2022 and the behaviour of the sole director, Bernard Poethke.

Flinders Ranges in South Australia. Picture: File

The QSC directed MGB to commission a report about the camp from an independent investigator, Red Wagon Workplace Solutions.

According to the judgment, the report, known as the Red Wagon Report, was produced in June 2022 and substantiated six out of nine allegations that the QSC were investigating, including:

■ Providing alcohol to residents who were on psychotropic medication – which can include antidepressants, antianxiety medications, and stimulants – or recovering from alcohol dependence.

■ The encouragement of residents to verbally abuse a staff member

■ And that Mr Poethke had driven a vehicle recklessly and at speed whilst residents were on board
The court heard during that same time, the Authority was receiving further information about the conduct of Mr Poethke and the running of MGB.

The Authority obtained a large amount of materials from January 2022 to February 2023, most of which surrounded issues that arose at the camp, including statements from employees, documents from residents and information from third parties.
After reviewing the materials and report the Board of the Authority (the Board) decided not to renew MGB’s Supported Residential Facilities Act 1992 (the SRF Act) licence.

They sent them a letter in February 2023, identifying several grounds for the decision.

“The basis of (one ground) was the substantiated allegations set out in the Red Wagon Report that related to the negligent or improper conduct of Mr Poethke at the camp,” the judgment said.
Another ground was that due to the allegations “Mr Poethke was no longer a fit and proper person to exercise control or influence in respect of MGB as the result of his conduct on the camp”.

In their response to the Advertiser, Mr Poethke said MGB deny the allegations and have evidence which will be produced during the trial in December to support this.

MGB sought a review in the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal and in March 2023, President of the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Justice Judy Hughes made an order that MGB’s licence is to remain in force until the determination of the review by the Tribunal.

As the review before the Tribunal is ongoing, MGB are still currently operating.

During the review preparation the Authority submitted confidential materials, which included complaints made by individuals, that had not been provided to the Board for the purpose of the licence renewal.

The trial date was vacated so all material could be considered.

According to the judgment, the Board reaffirmed the original decision in June 2023 after taking into account all of the material, including the confidential information and relisted the trial for December.

They said along with the concerning camp allegations, the failure to take responsibility and continual denial, the treatment of external support providers and not replacing a manager MGB, with Mr Poethke as its sole director was no longer fit and proper to hold a licence.

MGB then argued that the Tribunal’s jurisdiction did not extend to reviewing Mr Poethke’s conduct following the Flinders Ranges camp and a trial date should be substituted with a hearing on the issue of jurisdiction.

The judgment read that the Senior Member refused to make a preliminary ruling on the scope of the Tribunal’s review jurisdiction and retained the trial date.

MGB then sought a judicial review, arguing the Tribunal erred in law by declining to rule on the question of jurisdiction before trial and claimed the admission of this evidence would deprive them of procedural fairness.

However, Justice Sandi McDonald dismissed the application, saying MGB suffered no procedural unfairness and the Tribunal was required to consider all of the evidence and material available.

Originally published as MGB Residential Care Pty Ltd, operating as Prospect Community Village, stripped of licence after concerning camp allegations