The royal commission is examining the role and responsibility of Life Without Barriers,a not-for-profit company that turns over $750 million a year,in preventing and responding to abuse,neglect,exploitation and violence against people with disabilities who receive its services.
Life Without Barriers chief executive Claire Robbs did not visit any of the homes where the abuse occured.Supplied
At a hearing on Tuesday,the company’s chief executive Claire Robbs apologised to a disabled woman known by the pseudonym Sophie,who was raped by a man she met through an online dating site after,imposing rules that treated her like a teenager.
“The physical abuse Sophie experienced is unquestionably not in keeping with Sophie’s right to feel safe and respected in her own home,” she said.
“I do not condone the violence towards Sophie,and I offer Sophie and her family our sincere apology for the harm caused to her,including for the manner in which our investigations into the matter was undertaken.”
But when asked whether she would raise a similar assault with her board if it happened in 2021,Ms Robbs said she would not because “the sexual assault didn’t occur whilst she was in our care” and reports were only made to the board where the home had “responsibility”.
“I appreciate the magnitude of something like this in someone’s life,I’m not questioning that at all,I’m just hesitating what the purpose would be,” she said.
The chief executive revealed she had never visited any of the homes where witnesses before the commission had been abused and mistreated.
Counsel assisting Patrick Griffin SC challenged Ms Robbs on the home’s responsibility for Sophie’s assault,putting to her that the strict rules imposed on the woman – which the company’s policy director Stephen Doley told the commission on Monday were inappropriate – put her in “a more vulnerable position”.
“Do you accept that proposition?” Mr Griffin asked.
Ms Robbs replied:“No”.
“You know that staff apparently expressed surprise in the sense that[Sophie’s rapist] was surprised he was picking someone up from a disability home?” Mr Griffin said.
He pointed out the offender,who was charged and convicted over the sexual assault,had arrived at the home to pick Sophie up at 9pm,three hours after her curfew.
Ms Robbs continued to defend her stance when asked if the home had moral responsibility,saying this was not the standard relevant to board reporting.
During her apology,she said she recognised “we should have been more supportive in relation to Sophie’s wish to engage in sexual relationships,including to ensure that Sophie had a safe location to do so”.
“I thank Sophie for her unique insight to the importance of romantic and sexual relationships for people with a disability and I commit to leading further actions we will take as an organisation that are informed by the people we support.”
Ms Robbs also apologised to a woman with autism and an intellectual disability known by the pseudonym Rebecca,who told the commission last week of a 2018 attack by another resident at a Melbourne group home,in which.
“For Rebecca and her family,I apologise that Rebecca felt she needed to have a goal of feeling safe in her own home,” Ms Robbs said during her evidence on Tuesday.
“No home should feel violent and unpredictable and I appreciate the conflict between residents can cause considerable distress,both to those directly impacted and people living in the home.”
She issued another apology to a woman known as Natalie,who nearly died from a bowel condition exacerbated by the failure by staff to follow nutrition and care protocols,as well as a man known as Robert,who was traumatised by the violence around him.
The hearing continues on Wednesday.