State trustees failing with bills unpaid and people left with out money for basic expenses

Elderly and disabled Victorians are being forced to beg their state appointed financial managers for money according to a new report that slams state appointed bureaucrats.

Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass. (AAP Image/Alex Murray) NO ARCHIVING

Vulnerable Victorians are being dudded and ignored by state appointed bureaucrats handling their financial affairs, according to a damning new report by the Ombudsman.

Worrying cases have been revealed including an elderly woman having all her possessions sent to the tip, people being forced to beg for money to pay for basic expenses and trustees failing to pay client’s bills on time.

Ombudsman Deborah Glass said the state agency manages the finances of 10,000 people unable to look after their own affairs due to disability, illness or injury and that their were major flaws in its operations.

“The indignity of having to request money for a haircut to supplement a meagre allowance,” Ms Glass said.

“The humiliation of going to the bank to collect your pension, only to find the money is no longer there.

Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass. Picture: Alex Coppel.

“At the heart of these issues is an overwhelming sense of powerlessness.

“I acknowledge that many State Trustees staff are trying to do the right thing in what can be very challenging circumstances, and that the Ombudsman rarely sees the instances when clients are satisfied.”

Concerning cases include:

— A growing number of people’s bills are not being paid

— One woman’s insurance bill was paid for three years after she told the agency to terminate the contract

— The agency did not update a client’s details with Centrelink resulting in them missing out on $10,000 in extra disability payments

— A woman was left $47,000 in debt to her nursing home after state trustees delayed getting financial advice for two years

Ms Glass raised concerns over how the agency was run as a corporate company, rather than a state agency.

Her report made 14 recommendations to improve the State Trustees agency, including a review of its governance including the agency in Freedom of Information laws and increasing transparency.

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