A royal commission has heard the exhausted mother of an intellectually disabled woman had to abandon her daughter at a NSW care home to get help.

May 24, 2021

The exhausted mother of an intellectually disabled woman had to abandon her daughter at a NSW care home to get help, an inquiry has heard.

The royal commission into violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of people with disability is hearing evidence on Monday from National Disability Insurance Scheme participants living in residential care facilities.

The first of the five-day examination of NDIS providers will hear about the experiences of two people who live in a group home run by Sunnyfield Disability Services in western Sydney.

Counsel assisting Kate Eastman told the commissioners that in 2011 the only way the family of a 23-year-old intellectually disabled woman could get help caring for her was to legally abandon her at a respite home when she was aged 13.

“Her mother was overwhelmed and a crisis situation (had) developed,” she said.

“At that time the only way they could get (their daughter) into full-time residential care was if they legally abandoned her.”

The woman has Prader-Willi syndrome, a genetic disorder that has caused her to have impaired physical development. She is also autistic and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Ms Eastman said the young woman has been receiving support and accommodation services from Sunnyfield since May 2017, but the relationship broke down after her family became worried about some incidents in the group house where she lives.

“One of her early complaints was to inquire how (she) broke her finger,” Ms Eastman said.

“(Her family) tried to raise her concerns and made a number of complaints about what was happening.”

A year later, Sunnyfield said it would no longer care for the woman, saying it wasn’t in the organisation’s “best interests” to continue caring for her when her family didn’t trust staff.

The woman’s support co-ordinator contacted 13 organisations but no suitable accommodation could be found.

Ms Eastman said the NDIS investigated the matter and the woman’s situation was found to be high risk but it had little power to compel Sunnyfield to provide support.

After two years, despite the efforts of multiple support organisations and the woman’s family, no alternative new accommodation had been found.

They stopped looking when the COVID-19 crisis hit and the woman continues to live at the Sunnyfield home. The organisation has not formally withdrawn its eviction notice.

“Communication between service providers and their clients and their families are plainly of key importance,” Ms Eastman said.

Sunnyfield is a 70-year-old not-for-profit charity providing support to about 1200 people in NSW and the ACT.

The hearing continues.