Left without food, and only allowed access to a sliver of her disability pension, Rachael* describes her short stint under the care of a self-funding, independently operated government institution as a nightmare.
Rachael wants to share her story, but it’s illegal for us to identify her.
We can’t tell you her real name, where she lives, what her job is or what her hobbies are.
And we definitely can’t show you her face.
It all began with a severe bout of mental illness, when a doctor raised concerns about Rachael’s ability to make decisions and care for herself.
She was referred to the State Administrative Tribunal where, against her will, it was decided the state would take control of her finances.
The WA Public Trustee was appointed Rachael’s administrator, which meant it had absolute control of her money and, through that, control of her life.
‘I can’t survive by fasting’
The Public Trustee did not make any contact for three weeks after it took control.
Rachael couldn’t access her disability pension to pay for necessities, including food, because she was blocked from accessing her bank account after the administration took place.
She had to beg for access to her money via email after unsuccessfully trying to call the Public Trustee’s office.
Rachael
“My stomach and my body can’t afford to wait. I can’t survive by fasting.”
“While I am writing this email now, my body is trembling, twitching and shaking.”
Her anonymous trust manager wrote back with a one-sentence response the next day.
TM33
“I can confirm that your [redacted] account that your pension was being paid into is now unblocked and $200 has been forwarded to that account for your use.”
Rachael wonders why it took weeks for the Public Trustee to make sure she could afford to feed herself.
“Instead of coming out [of] hospital and trying to recover … I was getting a lot of stress by dealing with this stuff,” she said.
“They didn’t listen. They put me on, and since it started, it was such a nightmare.”
The Public Trustee has previously denied responsibility for any instances where clients were unable to access money, and pointed the blame at banks for failing to understand administration orders.
Behind a veil of secrecy
Rachael successfully removed the Public Trustee as her administrator by proving to the State Administrative Tribunal that she was capable of making her own decisions.
She wants to speak out about her short stint – only four months – under the Public Trustee’s control.
But confidentiality laws mean it’s illegal to publicise her identity, and similar restrictions are in place in most states across the country.
Under WA’s Guardianship and Administration Act, identifying Rachael is a criminal offence with a potential penalty of one year’s imprisonment, or a fine of up to $10,000.
It means even though Rachael wants to share her story, and she’s no longer under the Public Trustee’s control, we can’t show her face.
The rules exist to protect vulnerable people from being exploited, but there have been calls in other states to repeal gag laws following a Four Corners investigation in 2022.
“Enabling people to talk about their own guardianship experiences outweighs the protective benefit of retaining the restriction,” Queensland Public Advocate John Chesterman said last year.
Responsibility in hands of vulnerable
The Public Trustee manages the assets of some of the community’s most vulnerable people in their “best interest”.
However, it relies on its clients – who are often deemed incapable of making their own decisions – to scrutinise their own affairs.
In Rachael’s case, she was pressured to stop paying for security cameras and alarms at her home due to her limited income.
All the while, the trustee was using her money to pay for insurance she already had.
Just as she was only given access to her money for food after persisting, she was only refunded the cost of the unnecessary insurance after making a complaint.
It mirrors the experience of many who have negative experiences with the Public Trustee, according to WA Auditor-General Caroline Spencer.
“If you think about other institutions that care for vulnerable members of our community … there are often organisations or safeguards within the institution that provide scrutiny and review,” she said.
“The Public Trustee is really one of the least scrutinised public entities in the state.
“We see it as not meeting … modern public accountability expectations.”
The Public Trustee raised $23.7 million in fees from estates and trusts alone in 2022, and manages $1.5 billion in assets.
“It doesn’t have the same sort of level of oversight and scrutiny that other entities that hold private monies in trusts, such as superannuation funds … also have,” Ms Spencer said.
In a statement, the Public Trustee said it was “already heavily scrutinised”, including through the Office of the Public Advocate, Ombudsman, Public Sector Commission, and State Administrative Tribunal.
Faceless agents, faceless Australians
The ABC has revealed numerous accounts of people under state care being left without food, charged exorbitant fees despite having little means, and being forced to do things against their will, and arguably against their best interest.
The Disability Royal Commission last year heard from people around the country, illustrating a systemic lack of consultation with clients about their needs and wants.
“A theme which will emerge is not receiving any reasons for a tribunal’s decision,” Senior Counsel Assisting Kate Eastman said as she introduced the public hearing.
“[And] feeling invisible because of the strict confidentiality provisions that apply to guardianship proceedings and feeling silenced.”
In WA, the Public Trustee’s fees and funding structure are being reviewed by the Department of Treasury, and the Auditor-General is conducting a forensic audit of the trustee’s transactions.
WA Attorney-General John Quigley has previously said he will not interfere while the inquiries were ongoing.
However, the reviews do not include scrutiny of gag laws, the Office of the Public Advocate and State Administrative Tribunal, or care provided by the Public Trustee beyond its management of financial transactions.
*Editor’s note: Photos in this story have been digitally altered and names have been changed as it is illegal to identify people under state administration or guardianship.
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This has been going on for years and sounds like something out of the dark ages in a totalitarian State. Incompetence, negligence, misappropriation, lack of responsibility and lack of caring seem to be institutionalised and because that seems to be situation normal for some States they do nothing about it. Shame on them!