Shocking death of Ann Marie Smith triggers independent probe

The investigation into the shocking death of NDIS participant Ann Marie Smith follows pressure from disability groups and the Opposition.

Tributes to Ann Marie Smith outside her home in Kensington Park, Adelaide. Picture Dean Martin

The shocking death of an Adelaide woman will be the subject of an independent inquiry after the commonwealth responded to pressure from disability groups and the Opposition.

The announcement came as it emerged that neither the federal nor state ministers for disability knew about the death of Ann Marie Smith, 54, for more than a month after she died.

Ms Smith, who had cerebral palsy, died on April 6 after she had been left confined to a wicker chair for at least a year in her Adelaide home, developing septic shock, multiple organ failure from severe pressure sores and malnutrition.

Her case worker Rosemary Maione is facing criminal charges after only calling Ms Smith an ambulance when she was so unwell that her life could not be saved.

Amid growing outrage over the lack of co-ordinated or actual oversight by federal and state authorities, the Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme, Stuart Robert, announced on Tuesday that former Federal Court judge Alan Robertson SC would lead an independent inquiry “into the adequacy of the regulation of the supports and services provided to Ms Smith”.

“The death of NDIS participant Ann Marie Smith in South Australia is absolutely shocking and the circumstances that led to her death must never be allowed to happen again,” Mr Robert said.

Ann Marie Smith

The decision to establish the independent inquiry was made by the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commissioner Graeme Head. Under the NDIS Act, it is not possible for the Minister to direct the NDIS Commissioner in relation to a particular individual or provider.

“Ms Ann-Marie Smith died in appalling circumstances,” Mr Head said. “It is imperative we get to the bottom of what happened.

“Her death raises questions about the particular vulnerability of Ms Smith over a long period of time, including since July 1, 2018, when the NDIS Commission commenced regulation of NDIS supports and services in SA. It also raises wider questions around the approaches to safeguarding of people with disability and their rights as valued members and contributors to society.”

Federal Opposition NDIS spokesman Bill Shorten said it was “good Labor’s calls for an independent investigation have been heeded”.

“The devil will be in the detail here. For instance, will the investigation report back to the Quality and Safeguards Commission, which itself may be involved in this tragedy?” he said.

Mr Shorten urged the inquiry to be widened to include the in-home death of NDIS participant David Harris, who had been dead at his home in Parramatta, Sydney, for two months after his support payments were cut off.

The federal and SA Opposition have been highly critical of the handling of Ms Smith’s case, including the lengthy lag time in the relevant ministers becoming aware of her death.

Mr Robert revealed on Monday that he had been advised of the death of Ms Smith on May 14, more than five weeks after she died. SA Human Services Minister Michelle Lensink only learned of her death on May 15, by which stage SA Police confirmed they were investigating the case worker who has since been sacked by Integrity Care pending criminal charges.

Ms Lensink struggled to explain how it was that case worker Rosemary Maione had been able to work unsupervised for so long, but said the state government’s own task force would address that and other questions.

She also failed to explain the remarkable revelation that Ms Maione was not accredited at the time of Ms Smith’s death, but quickly obtained accreditation after Ms Smith died.

“There are system failures and there are some very unique circumstances to do with this case, which mean that Ann Marie, I think, was particularly vulnerable,” Ms Lensink told Radio FiveAA.

“That is why we have established this task force, because we don’t believe there have been enough checks and balances in the system to have identified what was going on in her case.

“There are potentially others through aged care and a range of areas that we want to make sure that we are putting layers in safeguarding so that this doesn’t happen again.”

There are now four inquiries into Ms Smith’s death — the SA Police inquiry, a task force announced by Premier Steven Marshall, an SA Coroners inquiry and the federal inquiry, with the Royal Commission into the Abuse and Neglect of People with Disability having also flagged its own inquiry once the others have been completed.