NDIS watchdog failed to investigate alleged rapes, whistleblowers claim

Whistleblowers reveal the alleged rape of two intellectually disabled clients by case workers was not investigated by the NDIS watchdog.

Ann Marie Smith at a social occasion in 2011, with her dogs Maggie and Deana. Picture: SAPOL

The NDIS watchdog failed to investigate the alleged rape and sexual assault of two intellectually disabled clients by case workers nor the death of a third client from the misuse of a sedative, whistleblowers within the organisation have sensationally claimed.

Each of the three cases took place in South Australia over the past two years and raise further questions over the lack of oversight in the state where NDIS client Ann Marie Smith was effectively left for dead in a wicker chair inside her home for 12 months at the hands of a carer now facing criminal charges.

The shocking allegations also have national implications with concerns the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission – the watchdog designed to monitor the care provided to NDIS clients – is so understaffed and overloaded that hundreds of complaints are not even looked at.

Ann Marie Smith, 54, who suffered from cerebral palsy, died in the Royal Adelaide Hospital on April 6 this year.

The allegations come in the same week that the first inquiry into Ann Marie Smith’s death, by the SA Government’s own task force, stated in its interim report that the NDIS Commission was “unclear about the handling of reports of matters of concern” with a “gap in undertaking proactive visits to vet the performance of providers”.

The SA branch of the Commission has between five and six full-time investigators – each with around 600 open cases before them at any given time.

The allegations were raised in Federal Parliament on Thursday by the SA member for Mayo, Centre Alliance MP Rebekha Sharkie, who said she was convinced people with disabilities were suffering as a result of the lack of oversight.

“I believe that the death of Ms Smith is just the tip of the iceberg and that many more cases of abuse and neglect are continuing unchecked,” Ms Sharkie told The Australian.

In parliament, Ms Sharkie called for an independent inquiry into the operations of the NDIS Commission in SA and also a broader investigation into risk assessments for NDS clients, as well as better communication between the states and Commonwealth under the NDIS bilateral agreement.

“The delay in passing of cases to the investigations team is a common occurrence and less than one per cent of reportable incidents make it to investigations,” Ms Sharkie told parliament.

“There are just a handful of workers employed to triage reportable incidents. They are deluged with notifications each having at least 600 open cases on any given day.

“The Commission is a passive receiver of information and complaints, with no risk assessment processes to identify high risk providers or at-risk participants.”

 

Ms Sharkie said the SA NDIS Commission never conducted unannounced visits of care providers and that its state director had even expressed relief that the commission was unaware of any problems with Integrity Care, the company entrusted with caring for Ann Marie Smith, whose employee is now facing criminal charges.

“Visits to providers are superficial ‘meet and greets’ by prior arrangement because the State Director has decreed there shall be no unannounced visits,” she said.

The Australian has also spoken to NDIS whistleblowers in SA who say around one-quarter of the NDIS investigators have quit in frustration in that state over poor staffing, insurmountable caseloads and what they call a “culture of silence” where the Quality and Safeguards Commission almost “lives in fear of investigating anything”.

The whistleblowers have also told The Australian that there is “a standing agreement” that the NDIS Commission in SA will never conduct unannounced visits of disability care providers.

There is also a “reactive culture” whereby the Commission waits for problems to be identified with the standard of care rather than proactively seeking out known problems or weaknesses in the system.

“The investigators simply can’t keep up and the workload is getting even heavier because they have not even replaced people who have left,” one whistleblower said.

Ms Sharkie told Federal Parliament of three shocking cases – the alleged rape of a client with intellectual disabilities by “one or more” care workers, a sexual assault committed by a client’s new case worker, and a death by maladministration of a sedative.

An angry Ms Sharkie said she was stunned that such serious allegations could be met with inaction.

“(One) notification that languished in the list was the alleged rape of an intellectually disabled participant by one or more care workers,” Ms Sharkie told parliament.

“The incident was not referred to the investigations team because the frontline reportable incident officer didn’t think the incident was serious enough to warrant immediate action. It was four months before the allegation got to the Investigations Team. Four months.”