Allegations of neglect, drug use levelled at Marist180 Youth care, Life Without Barriers

Shocking claims of a girl injecting her knee with ice on multiple occasions and other serious incidents of disturbing behaviour have prompted calls for more oversight of children living in state care.

Shocking claims have emerged of serious incidents of disturbing behaviour have prompted calls for more oversight of children living in NSW state care.

Shocking claims of a girl injecting her knee with ice on multiple occasions and other serious incidents of disturbing behaviour have prompted calls for more oversight of children living in state care.

Multiple sources, including former Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) workers, say the NSW’s residential care system is “broken”, with serious allegations of vulnerable children and young teens being neglected and “spiralling out of control” due to excessive drug use and criminality.

The claims have been levelled against organisations including social services charity Life Without Barriers (LWB) and Marist180 Youth care.

A former DCJ worker, who worked in the west for more than five years, said they witnessed “horrific neglect” at a Marist home between 2022 and 2023, including a 13-year-old girl who almost “lost her leg” due to injecting unsanitary needles into her knee.

“She refused to go to hospital … so DCJ staff encouraged workers to urgently take her to hospital and she ended up having four to five surgeries as the infection was deep.”

Sources say children are facing neglect and taking illicit drugs in state care.

The source said the same girl had absconded on several occasions, with DCJ receiving reports of her being preyed upon by older men and coerced into having sex with them.

“These young people are the most vulnerable and at-risk in the state.”

The former DCJ worker said the girl was moved to another residential care facility in the area to “protect her” from further harm.

But a spokesman for Marist180 said the organisation rejected the claims.

“We fully co-operate with the Department of Communities and Justice as well as the Office of the Children’s Guardian to review any matters raised,” he said.

A former Life Without Barriers staff member also alleges the charity employed a male residential care worker with a criminal history without doing “proper background checks” in 2023.

“He took the kids on a joy ride and he was driving dangerously. This scared the kids so much that they asked to get out the vehicle,” the former staff member said.

“The police then found him passed out in his car under the influence of substances. He was meant to be looking after kids at the residence.

“LWB ended up realising the worker had a criminal history as long as your arm. It’s a huge oversight and failure on their behalf.”

Sources also said there were serious incidents between 2022 and 2023, when children continuously absconded residential care and ran amok.

“They were just spiralling out of control,” one source said.

“The children had lit a fire at Kmart in Dubbo, causing the whole shopping centre to be evacuated and they had also lit fires in the local Orange school.”

Multiple sources say NSW’s residential care system is “broken”.

Another former DCJ worker said the system was “broken” and called on the NSW state government to urgently step in.

“The cycle of children facing great harms including death will continue if staffing and other issues aren’t fixed,” they said.

“There are staffing issues with one staff member and four high needs kids under their watch.”

Child protection advocate Mel James said: “As (Families and Communities Minister Kate Washington) continues to say that she inherited a broken system, it appears her public comments that this is a system set up to support itself is in fact true.”A spokeswoman from Life Without Barriers said: “All staff employed by LWB are mandated to undertake a criminal record check prior to employment.”

“Any staff member found to have harmed a child no longer has the right to work for us and may face criminal charges,” she said.

“We have a zero tolerance approach to misconduct of this nature. We refer matters to the relevant authorities including the NSW Police Force, The Department of Communities and Justice and the NSW Ombudsman for investigation.”

A Department of Communities and Justice spokeswoman said DCJ funded non-government service providers to deliver support and safety to vulnerable children and young people.

“We require all our providers to act in line with public expectations and in accordance with the terms of their contracts. DCJ continues to monitor non-government service providers to ensure they are meeting its contractual obligations to keep children safe,” she said.

The spokeswoman said the NSW Government was undertaking significant reforms to the child protection system.

“DCJ acknowledges that accountability and critique is essential for statutory child protection and out-of-home care systems, and takes all complaints seriously.

“DCJ, however, strenuously objects to personal and identifying information about children and young people being shared in the public domain, where their consent has not been given.”