Submission 58 — Karen Burgess — Inquiry into services for people with Autism Spectrum Disorder | External submission

Submission

No 58

INQUIRY INTO SERVICES FOR PEOPLE WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM

DISORDER

Name: Karen Burgess

Date Received: 4 April 2016

Submission S058 Received 14/04/2016 Family and Community Development Committee

Content

The Box

General Neglect

Emotional

The Environment

Fraud

The System and other Departments who could have provided assistance, failed to act. 15
How was this Abuse Allowed to Continue? 18
Howl raised issues, who I raised with, what issues I raised and what happened as a result? 21
Criticism 29
Recommendations 31 10.Conclusions 32

Introduction I will be providing the background of events that occurred, while I was working at

Aspect Heatherton. I will be providing details of the abuse, I witness and what was

reported to me. I will be describing in detail the extent Autism Spectrum Australia went to, to cover up breeches in a number of predominate pieces of legislation

including the Human Rights Act 2004 and the Disability Act 2006. I will detail the

complaints I made and how rather than addressing these complaints the organisation threaten, terminated my employment, terminated the other staff who

continued to complain, intimidated and threaten me with legal and criminal action. I

will demonstrate how Autism Spectrum Australia has gone to great lengths to

ensure I don’t speak of what happened and the threats I have had to endure for ensuring the rights of people with Autism and an Intellectual Disability.

This submission will also reflect on the systems, the people, other Departments and

the organisation who were meant to act protectively yet failed to act and provide the

supports to the people with Autism, who were experiencing this abuse. I will

highlight also the system of abuse and the number of people who became complicit in this abuse.

The Background I started working for Aspect, which is owned by Autism Spectrum Australia. I started

working at Aspect as the new Service Leader on the 7th of April 2015. I was based at the Heatherton site, . I was employed as the

fulltime and I was part of the small Senior Management team within the Victorian Aspect

Branch.

The service at the Heatherton site is designed to provide day activities to Adults and

Young people with Autism and other disabilities. The clients at this particular site have

complex and challenging behaviours. My role as the Service Leader was to oversee the

operations of this site.

My work history included: I have been working in Disability Services, middle management

and supervisory roles since 1997. I worked with DHHS for 14 years (10 years working as

a House Supervisor). My extensive work history has me consistently working with people with behavior of concerns and who have complex behaviors.

From 2010 I was working as a Sessional Trainer and Assessor for the Community Services

Packages including the Disability and Youth Qualifications.

My Qualifications include:

2015 Graduate Certificate Management (Learning) Distance Learning

Australia (Completing)

2015 ‐ Diploma of Community Services

2014 Diploma of Vocational Education and Training (TAE50111), Wayne

Harrison Training Group, South Australia

2009 Advanced Diploma in Disability Work, (CHC60112) Skills Training

Australia, Knox, Vic

2010 Advanced Diploma of Community Sector Management (CHC60312)

Skills Training Australia, Knox, Vic

2012 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment (TAE40110) Line

Management, Fortitude Valley, Qld

2010 Certificate IV Training and Assessment, (TAA40104), Employ‐Ease

Boronia, Vic

2010 Certificate III Home and Community Care (CHC30202), Encompass,

Geelong, Vic

2002 Certificate IV in Community Service (Disability Work) Box Hill

TAFE, Vic

1996 Diploma of Child Care and Education, North Point TAFE, Qld

As the Aspect Choose and Connect Victoria Service Leader at Heatherton, I was

responsible for managing the delivery of a range of high quality community services that support personalised inclusive lifestyles approaches for adults and youth with autism

and other disabilities.

In this position, I had a direct responsibility for the day‐to‐day management of a site for

managing the services and programs, and in consultation with the Manager my role was to increase the range of support options available to grow and develop services and

programs to achieve personal outcomes for clients.

In this role I was responsible for developing the strategic plan in line with the organisations mission statement and objectives. This includes:

a) Leading the development, direction and performance of the programs and services provided through Aspect Choose and Connect Victoria

b) Leading the development of collaborative relationships with the families and carers of people using Aspect Choose and Connect Victoria services and other

key stakeholders.

c) In consultation with the Manager develop and maintain effective relationships with funders, donors and supports

d) Searching out new service and program opportunities consistent with Aspect’s strategic directions and strategic plan with a priority on developing community options for people with autism and their families.

e) Supporting Aspect‐wide initiatives that enhance service quality and access to Aspect services in a manner consistent with Aspect’s strategic directions,

values, policies and procedures.

I was fired on the 15th of July 2015 at 3.57pm via email. I was fired 57 minutes after an

Officer from the Disability Services Commissioner had spoken to r the Victorian Manager of Aspect. During my employment I made a number of complaints

regarding the concerns I have, specifically related to the number of restrictive practices

that were occurring on a regular basis and were harming clients. My observations

included poor and illegal practices, poor quality of client care and client abuse. The

restrictive practices, which were used (and I believe are still being used), have not been

appropriately reported and would not even comply with the guidelines as approved by the Office of the Senior Practitioner (OSP) as defined under the requirements of the

Disability Act 2006.

My concerns for this workplace extended further and there were also a number of

breaches under the Workplace Legislation as highlighted in my Points of claims. There were a number of breaches in other legislations and this is

also highlighted.

Following my complaints, I saw no real attempt made by Aspect to address these issues. Instead, the Executive and Senior Management team at Autism Spectrum decided to

terminate my employment. My termination letter included fictitious information and I

was not provided with the opportunity to respond prior to my termination.

These complaints centered on a number of incidents involving the poor treatment

of adults and young people with Autism. The complaints included the quality of

care and the supports and the unsuitability of staff that did not hold current Working with Children Checks, let alone suitable and up‐to‐date Qualifications. The complaints made also highlighted a number of illegal practices and breaches in gislation and Policy.Le

Within weeks following my termination, Staff X continued to report abuse. This resulted

in Staff X also being fired.

Prior to reporting the abuse at Aspect to the Disability Service Commissioner, I report the

abuse via Autism Spectrum Australia’s internal reporting processes. This did not result in

actual improvements to the service and support practices or the quality of care for the clients. There was a complete lack of response by the organisation and ineffective

investigation of these matters. The investigations that are alleged by members such as

in relation to his investigation in to my complaint were incomplete. This

investigation was not comprehensive, nor did it allow natural justice in ascertaining information or disseminating this information. It is impossible if a full investigation was

to have taken place that ‘no wrong doing could not be ascertained’ as stated in this

document.

Once I realised the organisation was not taking my concerns seriously, I spoke to the

Disability Services Commissioner.

Weeks after receiving this letter by , in early October the Disability

Services Commissioner (DSC) decided  their own current  investigation would be

suspended and they will be handing matters over to the Victorian Police. In my original

meeting with the DSC in early July 2015 I requested the assistance of the Police as I believed the conduct of this organisation and it’s members warranted a deeper criminal investigation into it’s conduct.

I believe that in response to providing my report of the abuse at Aspect to the DSC,

Autism Spectrum sent me a Letter of Demand. This letter of demand states that I am a criminal and my workplace behaviours were illegal.

Among other things Aspect threatened me with further legal

action, and in point 2.3, I am called a criminal and refers the matter over to the police for further investigations. To this, I rang and spoke with and requested the

Police contact details as referred to in this letter, as I feel I could assist the Police with

these inquires. confirms he “put this request to his client”, I never received any further information.

As seen in the letter from Autism Spectrum I believe the CEO attempted to coheres me to

document the details of my complaint in order to create evidence to build a legal case

against me. In response Julie Phillips provided to Autism Spectrum Lawyer a reply letter.

I maintain I did not engage in any wrongdoing, as all actions taken by me were in order to

report abuses, protect vulnerable people and provide evidence of criminal activity.

In my Unlawful Termination case, after reaching a very reasonable agreement with

Autism Spectrum Australia I received their Deed of Release. This Deed of Release

contained illegal clauses attempted to take away my basic legal entitlements. As a result, I

could not legally sign this document to finalise our agreement. My lawyers at the time sent another Deed of Release, which excluded

Autism Spectrum and their Lawyers unlawful clauses. Autism Spectrum did not sign this

Deed of Release to finalise negotiations.

I have Dyslexia, Dysgraphia and Dyscalculia. My neurodiversity places me on the Autism

Spectrum. Autism Spectrum Australia, promotes about Dyslexia and supports inclusion

for people with neurodiversity in their promotional material. In light of this and before I

started working for with this organisation, I felt confident I was in a workplace that was appropriately resourced to support people. This organisations marketing material, left

me feeling confident in the direction it was taking to support of people with disabilities

and their families.

What I found actually at the workplace was a whole system of abuse. Autism Spectrum

Australia failed to act and protect the clients at Heatherton. While there is much bravado

about what Autism Spectrum Australia state how they work with people with Autism, I

did not see it. The treatment of the clients is still in my opinion horrifying and not within community or legislative standards. This whole system, which supports the staff that

maintains their poor treatment and abuses of the clients, is utterly unacceptable. I don’t

believe much has changed in the year I began reporting this.

Autism Spectrum Australia also has Legislative requirements to protect me for making

complaints and they failed at this too. The Disability Act 2012 Amendments clearly

highlights the responsibilities of organisations to offer protection to people who make complaints. They failed. By terminating my employment for making a complaint, this

again is a clear breach of the Disability Act 2006 and the intention this legislation has in

protecting the rights of people who make complaints. .

The Abuse. The clients at Aspect Heatherton, where especially venerable.. Many of the clients

were non‐verbal and had complex communication and support needs.

 A Box was built in September 2014 and was not destroyed until the April 23rd

This Box (The Coffin) was for the purpose of confining and isolating clients.

and built the box with as a ‘Behaviour

Support Strategy’. On the 14th of April 2015 stated to me that the Box was built for

“putting clients in”. He stated the Box was used on a

regular basis. stated that the clients where chosen if they “misbehaved”. I asked him how he got the clients

into the box. stated, “You get them in” whilst

gesturing a pushing motion with his arms. He said to

me “you know what it’s like!” He continued to make a pushing motion during this discussion. It was clear to

me, by what he was saying and his body language that

the clients were forced into the box by Aspect staff.

There is a lock on the outside of the box. The Aspect

staff were in the process of collecting and painting

egg cartons to be fixed to the inside of the box for the

purposes   of  sound   proofing.    I  asked

dismantle the box and he refused

and he stated, “it’s a good strategy”. I later found out

that clients were encouraged by Aspect Staff to paint the box and the egg cartons.

   The previous manager at the site was                        . Staff reported to me that

s had endorsed the use of the box and he supervised the building of it. Staff

reported to me that it was an approved and appropriate strategy. They did not

question its use nor asked for documents that set out its usage and approvals.  Member of the Behaviour Specialist Support Services from Department of Health

and Human Services (DHHS) Southern Region, , confirmed in a

document to the DSC that she was aware of the Wooden Box and it’s purpose.

stated in documents that the box was used as a calming device for particular clients. While she never witnessed the box or it’s usage she also did not checked to see if it

had been reported on the Restrictive Interventions Data Systems, nor did she

consulted with the OPP and any other professionals regarding it’s appropriateness or effectiveness. As a result she condoned the box and it’s use.  I refute any claim this Box was never used. The staff who made the box confirmed

with me it was and this is what I reported in my complaint.  Staff physically assaulted clients. This occurred regularly and was the common method for pacifying clients. The language used was “physical restraint” in describing

the staffs’ interactions however these restraints being used where not approved by

any approved person, were not communicated or reported when they were used and was not discussed with significant others such as parents and other professionals.  I observed Staff ‘gang up’ on the clients to get them to comply with instructions. I

observed staff standing over clients in a threatening manner. If clients did not comply,

the staff would force the clients to complete a particular demands. Staff would yell or physically move clients by forcing them to complete meaningless activities. For

example, Staff would force clients to take medication by shoving the medication down

client’s throats or by holding them and forcing them to the ground. Staff would grab clients to move them or hold them in pressure point position. This was reported to

DHHS and Aspect Management. No action was taken against staff who did this. The

person who reported these events was later fired.  Clients were locked in classrooms at the site for hours. They were not provided with water or food while locked in the classroom. Some clients had medication, and this

was not administered during these lockout periods. Instead staff disposed of the

medication, so not to alert other services to the fact the medication was not administered to the clients.  To pacify clients who were exhibiting ‘behaviors’ staff would hold clients down by

their wrists. Staff would hold clients by their wrist or use pressure holds to move

them.  Staff would force clients to do things. For example, a client wanted to jump on the trampoline however she was ‘meant to be doing arts and craft’. The staff member

forced her off the trampoline and physically pushed her to the arts and craft room.  Staff would grab and shake the clients. Staff grabbed clients around the neck and

forced them to move.  Areas of the Aspect Heatherton were often locked to prevent clients from accessing

the outside area. Clients could stay inside all day without being able to access the

outside area.  Three separate staff on three separate occasions reported to me they believed that

it was just luck “someone had not died.”

General Neglect.

 Clients were left unattended sometimes for hours.  Clients were left unattended and in their own urine. Clients were not assisted to use

the bathroom.  Staff would drive around all day and clients would not be allowed to leave the bus. Staff tell me they did this because clients had “behaviours.” Clients did not have toilet

breaks. Client lunch would be accessing a drive‐thru and continuing to drive while

clients sat in the back of the bus and ate. When I asked staff why this occurred, they tell me they felt it was unsafe to take clients out into the community. Staff would then

record in the program report and in the client diary clients participated in the

program activity. This was untrue.  Other clients were not given drinks or food. Staff used food and drink as a reward and a punishment.  Staff lied about why clients could not have drinks. For example, it was reported to

me a client had a medical condition, which required a fluid restriction. After checking the client system I discovered this information was untrue. I also checked with the

clients’, the residential staff stated it was untrue. The staff just did not want to get the

clients drinks because the clients could not access their own drinks as all the areas

were regularly locked. These locks were put in at the site as I was told in about December 2014 and when Autism Spectrum had taken over as the operator. These

locks on these doors where completely unnecessary.  Staff made claims the clients drink requests were related to ‘behaviors” so staff did not provide clients with drinks.

      Staff  did  not  have  a  good  understanding  the  client’s  health  needs  and

misinformation about the clients health needs was often shared with new staff.  Staff would show no interest in interacting with the clients or providing supports. Clients who had one to one support – the one to one’s staff would often not be provide

support to clients. This would result in other clients being assaulted.  This picture shows how clients were injured

as a result of the one to one staff member not providing support. It was negligent. This client

was regularly assaulted.

Emotional

 The staff would talk about the clients in a

derogative manner. One conversation includes  staff referring to the  clients as

“fuckers”.  Staff often further restricted the clients based on their behaviors. They would punish clients by not allowing them to go out in the community or in activities they

know the clients enjoyed.  Clients would be forced to make statements of apology and if they didn’t they would be punished further. This punishment may include for example – not getting a drink,

or being excluded from activities or not being able to go out in the community. Staff

made strong statements about the clients needs to “learn” how to be remorseful when

they had done something wrong. This was consistent among the Heatherton staff team. The staff tell me that the clients need to learn to say sorry to the staff at the

Heatherton site.  Staff made fun of the clients and would speak about them in front of others in a negative and derogative manner.  Staff would make fun of the abuse they participated in. For example, one of the

toilets at the Heatherton site was broken and one of the staff believed there was

another bathroom behind a lock door that had not been in use. We located the key and while I was opening the door, the staff member stated “There is probably a client in

here we forgot about.” This was in reference to the lockable wooden coffin box that

was removed from the site about two weeks earlier. I said to this staff member that I did not find that statement at all funny. He laughed. Later he announced to the staff

group what had happened and he laughed again. Other staff laughed too. I did not find

this situation funny at all in fact it highlighted to me how accepting of the abuse and

the abuse of clients staff at the site are.  The staff often referred to and spoke to the clients as if they were children.  Staff would make comment and tease clients about their physical appearance

and/or  their behaviors. They would mimic the  client’s speech or mimic  their

movements.  Staff regularly yelled and called the clients names.  Staff made threats of physical violence if clients did not comply. This included being

locked in rooms or being left unattended.  The staff blamed clients if they were incontinent.  Staff would provide food to clients and then take it off them if they misbehaved.  Staff would humiliate the clients and clients would wet themselves. Staff humiliated

the clients on purpose.  Staff would swear and shout at clients. Staff would yell instructions at the clients.  Staff would ignore clients if the clients spoke to them or asked for help.  Staff had a condescending manner when they spoke to clients.

 Behavior support strategies were not reviewed or current.

The Environment

 The physical environment was dirty, cluttered with broken furniture with general debris and black

mold. There was water damage in most of the rooms

and when it rained often the rooms would become

soaked. It had been like this for many years.  The furniture was not suitable for people with

Behaviours of Concern and there was little thought

about would be suitable in this environment. This meant that often the furniture was used as weapons to throw at staff and other clients.

This was a huge risk to others. When clients did throw furniture staff would

victimised the clients further for doing so.  The general design of the site was not suitable for people with behaviours of

concerns and items were easily broken on a regular basis. There was no long‐term

planning or solutions sort to rectify this situation. The clients were just blamed for this

and further restrictions put in place as a result.

Fraud

 Staff reported they worked when they did not. They took days off work and would

not show for work and then not record this on their staff recording system. This resulted in staff accumulating excessive amounts of leave they would ultimately get

paid for. I never gained full access to this recording system I now believe because a

number of breaches would have been highlighted here also.  Some staff where paid overtime on a regular basis despite not actually working. I feel this was a way staff was rewarded for not reporting incidence.  Items purchased for the Heatherton site, however this was ultimately bought for

staff usage.  Incident reports were being changed and altered by team Coordinators and this was

a matter of practice and staff reported to me that many of their incident reports

where never submitted. This prevented reports from being generated.

Over a period of three months I reported all of this to Aspect management. On the

6th of July and in my final attempt to engage with the organisation and alert them to

the continued events, to       Director, Community Services & People          r

and , National Director, Aspect People, who stated they conducted

an investigation into my complaints would not be taking any further action and as I

no longer worked there thy ultimately considered the ‘case closed’.

The System and other Departments who could have provided assistance, failed to act.

The staff to client abuse at the Heatherton site was occurring for over decade. This site

was known to the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) for it’s poor

quality treatment of clients. DHHS approach was to provide further support and funding to the site. Some additional funding that was provided was a Behaviour

Support Practitioner . She worked for 3 years

at the site and was funded to attend the site for full days once a week.

was required to support Aspect staff to develop and implement positive behaviour support strategies. Whilst I worked at the Heatherton site I hardly saw her there.

highlighted to me a number of cases where she also witnessed the abuse

and poor treatment of clients. I made a written request to and for information relating to the progress over the last 3 years. I was not provided

with any information despite numerous requests.

I highlighted with both            and          my concerns regarding the

treatment of the clients from Heatherton.

While I requested support from           and from           and specifically to

help manage my concerns regarding the staff to client interactions: instead

dismissed my concerns as an Aspect “management issue” and suggested I manage it internally from the organisation. I did not receive support to address my concerns

from this Behaviour Specialist Team and they failed to offer referrals to

someone who could help. Clearly there was a reluctance to be involved. They failed to improve the quality of the service for the clients. They failed to act protectively and as

the members of the funding body had access to resources and additional supports to

assist me to raise this very important issue.

became complicit in the abuse. She disclosed serious incidents of abuse and poor client care to me. When I asked her if she had reported this she just looked at

me.        did not respond to this question.   I asked for records and documents

relating to meetings. I requested the documents that indicate the planning and

recorded improvements from the last three years in which she was working at the site.

I could not find any paperwork, I was not given any paperwork and nor could provide me further information of any quality assurance systems, strategies or

management plans that she had implemented or oversaw during her 3 years working

with the Heatherton staff and management.

The ‘special relationship’           had with the previous site manager                       ,

clouded her professional judgment and she was unable to sufficiently advocate for the

clients at the site. I believe that both            and          would collude

information and share information about each other’s worksite to protect their own interests.

Overall the staff, the Senior Management Team from Autism Spectrum Australia and

Victorian Aspect, including the Victorian Aspect Manager r, Work

Health and Safety, and Behaviour Support Service from DHHS, acknowledged the abuse although expressing being appalled by what they saw, they did nothing

about it.

I furthered this point in a conversation with , on the 1st of July and by phone. I asked for greater input by the organisation to deal with the poor practice and

the staff to client abuses. She stated that the organisations response to provide

training was sufficiently addressing these issues and “what else is there to do”. No further action was intended and this was further highlighted in the letter as sent to me

by r in relation to the number complaints, which largely focused on the

care and support of clients at the Heatherton, site.

I requested  better management controls and performance management  to be

implemented to address  staff continual underperformance. Especially  staff who

continuing to engage with clients in this an abusive manner. My solutions were ignored.

There was reluctance by the Autism Spectrum Australia to thoroughly investigate and

identify people who continually underperformed and abused clients. Later that day

and following this conversation with                , I was called by                  the

Victorian Manager of Aspect to attend a second meeting which was now being planned

after a scheduled meeting, to discuss my now performance issues. This was not to be

scheduled the following day, on the 2nd of July.

r  in  this phone conversation reported  to me  that there were

complaints made about me, as alleged by who is the Work Health and

Safety Manager/Consultant at Autism Spectrum Australia. stated that he had

reported to her a number of complaints about me and she wished to now discuss my performance at this second meeting. tells me I am not allowed to discuss this

with r directly and she gives me the impression that he is very angry and

upset about my alleged conduct.  I rang           r following this phone conversation

with on the 1st of July 2015, who states he was not angry, he said and

denied the alleged complaints as stated by and he stated told me he spoke

about WHS. I asked      to attend this meeting that       had called for the 2nd of

July however        did not want            to attend. As a result of not being able

to organise a workplace advocated in such short notice, changing meeting times and

changing the purpose of this meeting over the next 12 hours, due to since April raising

a number of very serious issues with the organisation which by all accounts where not be investigated or addressed ‐ I again become increasingly upset and stressed and

went of stress leave as a result of being bullied at work.

So the people I requested support from at Aspect failed to provide the help needed to fully address the issues as contained in the complaints being raised.

To highlight to the reader too, I went to a number of Authorities to ensure the

breaches that were occurring  at the workplace were addressed.  I have more

information regarding these Departments and who provided assistance and who did not.

How was this Abuse Allowed to Continue? Many people where complicit in the abuse and poor practice. Contributing factors are:

 The staff and Senior Leaders had a very poor attitude towards people with

disabilities and their families.  The staff, I believe understood concepts of Human Rights however they disregarded these principles for what was perceived as easier use of restraint and restrictions.

They were actively trained in the approach to subdue people which did little but

support the staff’s view their abusive approach of restraint was appropriate.  The Staff and Management team did not have a good understanding of the Disability

Act 2006 and other relevant Legislation. What knowledge they did have they

disregarded.  The Staff and Management attitudes towards the clients were negative. They re‐ enforced negative disability stereotypes.  The Staff and Management team were unqualified and under qualified for the

complex role required to provide support. During my time, the staff participated in a lot of training. This training was both internal and external. The skills and

knowledge from this training were ignored and not applied in any meaningful way

to the clients or the workplace.  There is a ‘group think’ mentally. This extended into the recruitment process. The management team focus was to employ people who were compliant rather than

qualified. If you didn’t comply with this groupthink, you denied shifts and socially

isolated from the staff group. Staff assisted with this process by applying pressure and excluding staff from social activities.  Employees’ who complied with the status quo were continually groomed. Some

staff where paid for their lunch period while others were not. Some staff where

allowed  to  arrive  late and  leave  early. There were a number  of  special

arrangements for staff who did not complain. This meant staff were fearful of

losing these special arrangement in the event they made a report. There was a

relationships with not reporting and management who then protected those who didn’t. Being paid full days to attend training and not attending. Having days off

work and being paid for this outside of staff awarded leave entitlements. Staff

feared these informal bonuses would be retracted. I believe this supported the negative culture and people did not report.  The employees who did not report the abuse were rewarded by the Team

Coordinators and the previous manager; while other staff who raised issues where

bullied and persecuted by the team. When staff raised issues they were excluded from the social group.  If staff did not understand these covert messages of how the organisation operated

the team coordinators and the previous manager would overtly threaten others. In a meeting on the 21st of April, all

threatened me with violence if I did not comply with how the workplace operated.

They told me that I was to ‘do what I was told and nothing will happen to me’. They

said they would deliberately leave me in in unsafe situations with clients who are aggressive and assaultive. They said they would not provide me with assistance or

support. who attended this meeting did not interject while the other

two men threatened me with violence. I reported this to and this was not reflected in my supervisions notes. I provided HR and

r with this information as well. Their responses were for me to attend the

Employee Assistance Program.  I  felt this response was extremely inadequate

especially given the violence threatened. was highlighted in a meeting with as ‘my workplace buddy and mentor’.  Management did not focus on qualified staff nor were they interested in recruiting

that had disability or other relevant qualifications.  The recruitment for a new staff took over three months from interview to

employment. Paper work went missing and forms were not submitted.  During the interview, management did not know the suitable skills and abilities

they were considering for this position and had the view ‘anyone can do this job’ attitude. The Management team was not interested in finding suitable and qualified

workers.  The Incident reporting systems at Aspect was unlawful. The strategy for staff was, if staff were involved in an incident, they were to report it to the Team Coordinator.

The Team Coordinator would determine if it would be reported and then write the

Report. (Later r stated this was to ensure their auditing systems

and the reports were written correctly.) The staff would then sign the Report after

the Team Coordinator wrote it and the Team Coordinator would submit the report. Incidents were not reported as the Team Coordinators failed to write the report.

Staff highlighted this to me when I first started as it was preventing staff from

reporting incidents. During my time I tried to get reports to DHHS however no one

had access to the DHHS fax number and trying to obtain this information prevented direct reporting. I raised my concerns with the reporting process to at

Aspect with r.  The workplace systems were not inadequate nor were there specific policies and procedures that related to Aspect Day Services.  Staff did not have computer access and could not access client information. The only

access to the computers was through the Team Coordinators. These Team

Coordinators did not share nor did they keep up to date client records. I asked to see the client records. It took months getting access and training to use this

software and yet when I did get access, there was very little information recorded

on the client electronic recording system. I could not find a sufficient amount of information given the length of time the clients were attending the service. When I

questioned this, management tell me the information is there however has just not

been entered into the system. I did not find this was the case.  The paperwork they did have on the clients, the information was old or clearly had not been reviewed to meet current Positive Behaviour Support approaches.  It was difficult to get access to paper work. This included the incident reporting

systems, which needed a specific process for reporting. I did not get access to this reporting process until the end of May and only after a number of requests to get

this information. Information sharing was not forthcoming. I did not have access to

all the information, which impacted, on my ability to perform my duties. I reported

this several times and this did not result in ongoing support.  The documents do not reflect the actual events and activity the clients did at the

site.  Staff reporting of events with clients did were not factual  There was chronic understaffing at the site. This was reported on a number of

occasions.  Autisms Spectrum Australia manufactures information to support their claims.

Often and regardless of the facts its members deny events in spite of hard facts.

How I raised issues, who I raised with, what issues I raised and what happened as a result?

The moment I started working at the site I began raising very serious issues. I raised these issues verbally, via emails, in meetings, via the complaints system, through

internal WHS systems and through Incident Reporting.

The people I spoke to directly were:

 Adrian Ford (CEO)  (Victorian Manger)  (Human Resources Coordinator)  s (Service Leader)  r (WHS Consultant)  r (Manager on the Executive)  (Injury Manager)  (Manager on the Executive)  (Manager of the BIS Southern Region)  (BIS Consultant Southern Region)  (BIS Consultant Southern Region)  (BIS Consultant Southern Region)

On the 23rd of April 2015, after I dismantled the box, Adrian Ford (CEO) rang me. He

thanked me for getting rid of the box. During this conversation Adrian said they would

be addressing this and taking it very seriously, he gave me assurances. I believed at

this time Adrian was going to address the issues at this  site.  I felt  I was given

assurances the organisation was taking this seriously and was planning to continue

address this within the staff team and I believed they would provide me with additional

supports. I also believed that following this conversation that Adrian had already had consulted with the appropriate authorities regarding this practices and the existence of

the box as per the requirements under the Disability Act 2006.

From the 22rd of April 2015, I continued to raise a number of practice and client care issues. This is highlighted in my supervision notes.

On The 29th of May, Staff X reported 3 staff held a client down to the ground by his wrists. This was a staff to client assault. The response by the staff was unnecessary, it

was not a behaviour management strategy, it was not endorsed and did not get

reported via RID’s. Two incident reports were sent to              and           r

on the 2nd of June 2015. (I had not received any of the reporting processes at the time and up until the 4th of June I had to send all reports to Hawthorn office. At this time and even

after a number of requests  I  still did not have access to the organisations internal

reporting processes.) This report was sent in to head office at Hawthorn and to the appropriate managers on the Monday the 2nd however when I followed this Incident

Report and there whereabouts I discovered they had not been submitted to the DHHS. I

followed this up internally and both               and            r deny having

received these reports on the 2nd of June. On the 4th of June

I raised again these incident reports and the urgency to have them sent to DHHS for

reporting. Instead of the reports going to DHHS I am asked to change the category of the Incident reports from a Category one and down grade it to a category two. I refused

to do this and state if would like to down grade this report than she will need to

record this directly on the document herself.

The following day states she was receiving complaints from staff and aside

from this did not elaborate further. On the 9th of June my job role was being changed

and this was reflected in a new induction and orientation plan as sent via email and by

the 11th of June I was being asked to attend a meeting regarding the complaints had received from staff.

On the 15th of June 2015 and at this meeting with r (Victorian Manager) and (Senior Human Services Coordinator) I attempted to

respond to a number of complaints had received from staff. The staff who were

making complaints I had identified previous as having concerns regarding their

interaction with the clients. Earlier when asked to attend this meeting did not

provide me with any information and did not indicate there were any performance issue. In fact my performance was not brought into question until I received the

complaints in writing on the 18th of June and only after repeated requests to have these

“complaints’ put to me in writing and before the meeting on the 15th of June.

I stated to at the time, the way the meeting was conducted and the contents of the complaints was bullying. I stated I now feel very stressed with the

current events. I stated that the intent of the meeting was not fully explained to me as

stated in the emails previously before attending the meeting. I clearly stated I felt these

complaints were vexatious particularly given that I had raised a number of serious

concerns  that  clearly were  not  being addressed and  the  staff who  regularly

underperforming were not being managed.

had not tested the information to see if the complaints where factual. The list of 27 (plus) complaints I receive is ridiculous. My response to the points put before me

is included in this document.

On the 16th of June I had off work. I was planning on taking the week off. However I was back on the 17th. I requested these complaints prior to the meeting to be put to me in

writing and not until the 18th of June. I provided a written response to the list of

complaints from the meeting. (To note here and in later legal documents claims she held a meeting with me on the 16th of June. Times like this just highlight how

carelessly people make statements about events in an effort to protect the business. They

can make grossly inaccurate allegations, which are not scrutinized, and those making the claims are not held to account. Mind you for the same reason of maybe a wrong date

stated, which  is what will be the claim, for staff X  it resulted in reason for their

termination. )

I was fired on the 15th of July, while on Work Cover. My termination letter was emailed to me and later arrived in the mail. There was no meeting in relation to my

performance as contained in this letter and I deny the contents as described.

Autism Spectrum did not submit my work cover claim forms nor did they notify payroll

of my illness. Instead, Aspect claimed I had not reported for work. Payroll,

rings me to confirm she had spoke with r who believes I had not

reported for work. In later court documents it is stated that r knew and understood I was off work sick for 28 days.

Following these conversations with payroll, I realised my Work cover documents has

also not been submitted to the Insurance Company and so I did this myself. The Work Cover injury Manager claimed to be sick during this time even though I

spoke to him several times and sent emails over this period. There was no reason given

as to why my original submission was not submitted and no feedback provided to me.

(Separate to this it is important to note Autism had originally underpaid my Work Cover entitlements and only after several complaints to the organisation was this

actually paid.

Criticism The current Disability system is rife with abusers. They are promoted to senior

positions and continue the abuse. There impropriety is not addressed.

Employment is lorded over staff as way to get them to become complicit in the abuse.

Even if staff don’t participate in the abuse they feel they need to maintain their silence

in order to maintain their employment.

People who raise issues are subjected to intimidation and threats. These threats range

for being threatened with violence, being charged with criminal offences, being

civically sued, loss of employment, not being paid entitlements and being pushed out

of the sector.

People who make complaints lose their jobs. It is costly and time consuming to pursue

unfair dismissals via the courts. Often staff do not have the personal energy, the money

and the resources to pursue lengthy legal battles. Large disability organisations rely on this, and many incomprehensible events and abusive people go unreported.

In relation to Aspects treatment of me, there have been clear Legislative breaches. For

example, it is a breach of the Work Health and Safety Legislation to fire someone while

on Work Cover, yet that is what Aspect have done. In terms of recording and providing employees with accurate pay slips this is against the Legislation. My payslips don’t

reflect payments made and requesting this to be provided has not occurred. It is a

breech not to submit Workcover forms and make reports to the Department of Health and Human Services. Yet time and time again this organisation has been able to work

outside of the current standards and run their own appalling agenda.

If I want legal advice it comes at a great cost, money and resources I don’t have. I

believe Aspect is aware of this and this leads uses these systems to exhust people who make complaints. They use Government funding and philanthropic donations to in the

continuation to threaten staff. This ensures the culture of abuse and fear is not

addressed or rectified. It is used to protect the brand of the organisation rather the clients and families.

There are no clear supports for staff in this system to make safe complaints. Due to my

complaint crossing over in Legislation and jurisdictions each department is unwilling

to handle it, they referr the matter to the other departments. This creates “system

fatigue” as I cannot find any one department who has the expertise to advise me about

this case.

Making complaints has come as a high professional, legal and personal cost. I have

been warned I could be forced to pay Aspect damages and extensive legal costs. This

could result in me being bankrupted: just for speaking out. This frustrates me. I never

believed when  I  originally went to the  Disability Commissioner;  I would face

Bankruptcy for doing so. Yet these are the ongoing threats that are being presented to

me. I am currently unemployed and I am worried I will be unable to work in the

Industry again.

There is no system monitoring these organisations’ against the Disability Service

Standards client care and client quality standards. These Organisations are unable to

adequately monitor their own abuse strategies and client quality care systems.

Training for disability works is inadequate and do not meet current professional and community standards.

The Aspect’s Management and Performance systems and processes are inadequate.

Autism Spectrum Australia ability to deal with incidents like this is inadequate.

The DHHS’s reporting system is inadequate. Aspects’ reporting system is inadequate.

People with Disabilities and their Families are not represented as partners. Many

Members of the Board and the Executive, and Management Team don’t have a disability; they don’t have community service qualifications.

The Disability Sector needs a separate and independent Association responsible and

capable to investigate abuse claims. They need to have specialised investigative

powers and can bring legal action against Organisations for wrongdoings. These processes need to include better safe guards and protections for Whistle‐Blowers

while investigations are occurring. Following this investigation the report needs to be

made public. The findings should be able to be used in civil cases.

Recommendations  I strongly believe that by making these investigations public result in better transparently and accountability.

 There needs to be a National Disability Policy Framework that unifies organisations

and oversees the minimum policy standard for the whole disability industry. This

framework needs to also progress policy, research and innovation for the disability sector. It also should provide advocacy and leadership to the Industry.  There needs to be an External National auditing body, which measures the quality

performance of Organisations against the Disability Service standards. This auditing body needs to take into account the client quality systems and measure the quality of

care of the Organisation. I also want to see a rating system, which rates the services

from 1 to 3 years. I want funding to be attributed based on this rating and licenses and

funding at risk of being withdrawn if Organisations don’t reach a minimum 2‐year quality benchmark. I want staff self‐reporting along with external auditing reports to

assist with measuring the performance standards and benchmarking.  The Disability Qualification needs to be strengthened. There needs to be an Industry minimum standard for all staff to hold a minimum of a Certificate IV in Disability.

Qualifications should be considered out of date if older than 10 years. Recently the

Advanced Diploma in Disability was ceased by the VET sector. I want this to be

reviewed and a New Qualification to include an Advanced Practitioners’ Qualifications that focuses in better skills and knowledge for Disability Workers. This would need to

be at an Advance Diploma level. A focus on improving the Disability Qualifications and

strengthening the skills and knowledge of the disability qualifications is critical.  I want Disability Workers to be licensed to work in the sector. The national

disability body will oversee these licenses of workers to ensure state‐by‐state

monitoring. Professionals complete a minimal amount of training per year to maintain

their license.  Working with Children Checks should be Mandatory for all Disability Workers also.  Mandatory Reporting Laws to include Disability Workers. Failure to report to also

include Non Government organisation disability workers.

 The Disability exclusion list to include all disability workers for all sectors and is a

national system.  Strengthen Union and their involvement in the workplace and have one Disability

Service Union to represent the whole Disability sector.  Heavier penalties in place for Organisations who willfully abuse clients and willfully

intimidate, threaten and harass those who complain about the abuse and wrongdoing.  The Justice systems needs a better system for investigating crimes against people

with Autism and Lawyers who can specialise in providing litigation advice and

services for compensation.

Conclusion I have been devastated by my experiences with Aspect. The sheer volume of vexatious,

defaming claims made by members about my performance and my character have been

very harmful to me professionally and personally. For those who are reading and

watching this case ask Autism to produce documents regarding this and correlate the information being supplied. The information as supplied by this organisation is neither

consistent nor accurate. They clearly feel they need to discredit and threaten me to

ensure their reputation is maintained and upheld. But for what end? I did not want this. I only want improvements at the workplace for people with Autism who attended the site.

The treatment of clients is inhumane and the responses from those who should have

been protecting people. Yet to have this addressed has come at a great legal, professional

and personal cost.

There have been many reports and conversations before my employment. I know many

people where aware of a number of issues from this worksite. There have been many

reports about the abuse and poor treatment of the clients and the poor practices at Autism Spectrum Australia. I am not the first person to have raised it. However there is

something wrong when so many people complain about the level of quality of care and

this does not result in actual improvements of this support and care.

When considering the leadership in these organisations these funding bodies need to

ensure the safety  of the  clients and they need to act protectively in the event

organisations fail to prove suitable standard of care. There needs to be greater penalties

for organisations that consistently under perform and abuse clients. Laws are in place and these laws need to be exercised.

Those in Authority have a responsibility to take action and send clear messages of what is

acceptable. Failing to do this is allowing the system, organisations and ultimately people

continue to abuse people with disabilities.

The response by Autism Spectrum Australia was to scare and intimidate me into

submissions so this information could not be shared. This is how they operate in the past

and now. The Executives and Senior Managements attempt to previse natural justice and rights of workers and people with a disability who attend their service. This organisation

needs to be held to account. I call for a complete overhaul of this and other disability

services that continue to shamefully act to harm people with disabilities and their

families and the wider community.

EXCLUSIVE

Australia’s largest autism service provider is under investigation after staff built a large wooden box to lock up distressed clients at a Melbourne day centre.

Disturbing images show the box was fitted with a metal lock and kept inside a classroom at Autism Spectrum Australia’s (Aspect) site at Heatherton, in the city’s south-east

et _ Autism Spectrum Australia’s (Aspect) site at Heatherton. Photo: Meredith O’Shea

The two-metre-tall box was to have had egg cartons fitted inside for soundproofing. Clients with autism had painted the exterior as decoration.

This is a picture drawn by an ex‐student from an Aspect School from NSW. The mother contacted me. She me tells a number of restrictive interventions were used on her daughter and this has had long lasting impact to her daughters health and wellbeing. The mother tried to raise her concerns with the current Autism Spectrum Australia school management and Executive team, however she was met with a wall of bureaucracy. She withdrew her daughter from the school. Her daughter is now home schooled. Her daughter has regular therapy to help deal with the events that happened at the school. To date there has been not official response by the organisation and little support or acknowledgment of the impact to this family.

Submission 58 — Karen Burgess — Inquiry into services for people with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Submission

INQUIRY INTO SERVICES FOR PEOPLE WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM

DISORDER

Name: Karen Burgess

Content

Page

The Box

General Neglect

Emotional

The Environment

Fraud

2015 Graduate Certificate Management (Learning) Distance Learning

Harrison Training Group, South Australia

2009 Advanced Diploma in Disability Work, (CHC60112) Skills Training

Australia, Knox, Vic

Skills Training Australia, Knox, Vic

Management, Fortitude Valley, Qld

Boronia, Vic

2010 Certificate III Home and Community Care (CHC30202), Encompass,

Geelong, Vic

2002 Certificate IV in Community Service (Disability Work) Box Hill

Emotional

The Environment

Fraud

Victorian Aspect, including the Victorian Aspect Manager r, Work

EXCLUSIVE