Prisons of silence: the dark side of the Australian disability support system

Implementation of controls to ensure family financial compliance are so simple as to beg the question, 'Why was the program implemented without adequate controls to protect Karen against financial abuse?'

Funds could have been deposited in a State Trust Account in her name rather than a private bank account in the name of her adoptive mother, allowing DHS to audit transactions at will. A ban on cash withdrawals would have prevented a family member from withdrawing $30,000 in a single day.

And why has Karen been blocked from speaking in public for nearly four years? She has two university diplomas and does not require a Guardian. Yet, she is prohibited from the most basic of human rights – conversation.

The family's response has been arrogant and entitled. When DHS and the Office of the Public Advocate (OPA) stepped in to protect Karen from reported abuse in 2010, the family used the intervention as the basis for a lawsuit. They eventually received $20,000 from each party. A family member joked afterward that their strategy as serial pests often produces financial results – in this case a $40,000 deterrant for DHS and OPA to 'back off and leave us alone.'

While her adoptive family celebrates, Karen continues to live in a prison of silence. The recent calls for a Royal Commission into financial, emotional and physical abuse of persons with disabilities has never been more timely or necessary. Unless these issues are resolved, harm will continue to be unleashed on the vulnerable, particularly by savvy families who have already worked out the gaping holes in the system that allow rorting at this level.

Perhaps Karen's story will inspire political action to restore Karen's human right to speak, to stop the embezzlement and abuse, and to re-open the door to a better future for Karen and other Australians with disabilities.