Bittersweet Justice: Australia

“A Melbourne woman has been awarded $2.6 million in compensation for the abuse and neglect she suffered in Victoria’s foster care system.

Law graduate Amy* was two-and-a-half months old when she was taken from her mother in an act designed to protect her from harm.

Instead, she endured years of mistreatment at the hands of a foster family that eventually adopted her.

“There was sexual abuse, violence, neglect, emotional abuse,” she said of her time in their Melbourne home.

“There were basic human rights that were denied to us.”

Under a Victorian Supreme Court settlement, the state government and foster care agencies OzChild and Uniting Vic.Tas will pay Amy a combined $2.6 million, plus costs, and apologise for her treatment.

Amy has turned to equine therapy to help her cope with the mental health conditions caused by a childhood punctuated with trauma.

This includes severe PTSD, anxiety and depression, an eating disorder and dissociative disorder.

She decided to sue the government and foster care agencies after she sought access to her documents.

“There was very strong evidence the state and the other entities who were involved in her care [had] lots of red flags, lots of complaints, lots of clear evidence of neglect and abuse,” Amy’s lawyer Angela Sdrinis said.

In court documents seen by the ABC, Amy detailed allegations of abuse ranging from having food withheld and being left unwashed to being sexually abused and forced to share a bed.

She alleged over the years, numerous notifications were made to the department and foster agencies about conditions in the home.

The notifications included a letter written by Amy’s biological mother when she was about a year old.

One of the hardest pills to swallow, Amy said, was learning how much was known, or should have been known, about the abusive household she grew up in. That included notifications being made to the department.

“[The Department of Human Services] knew we were being abused, foster care knew we were being abused, our primary school knew we were being abused, family members knew we were being abused, friends knew we were being abused,” she told the ABC.

“How do you rationalise that, knowing that all of your trauma was completely avoidable?”

Amy discovered the alarm had been raised about the safety of children living with the family before she was even born, and well before the state allowed her foster parents to adopt her.

“At least one child had come out of the home and had said that he had been raped,” Amy said.

“They knew this before they even placed [me] into the care of this family.”

Amy turns her head to face a horse under a blue sky dotted with white clouds.
Amy says documents show the Department of Human Services was aware children were being abused under the care of her foster family.(ABC News: Danielle Bonica)
The family also took in about three dozen other children over the years Amy was in their care, in addition to their biological children.

Amy was in nappies when the biological son of her foster parents, a boy on the verge of adulthood, began sexually abusing her.

That sexual abuse continued even after he grew up and moved out.

Amy said her foster mother was aware of what was going on.

A record payout

The $2.6 million, which several high-profile lawyers believe sets a record for a ward-of-the-state payout, took into account lost future earnings as well as pain and suffering and medical expenses.

“To my knowledge, there have been no similar settlements in ward-of-the-state claims in Victoria, and potentially throughout Australia,” Ms Sdrinis said.

“There have been a handful of ward-of-the-state cases, abuse-in-care cases, which have gone to verdict and they’re all considerably lower than the $2.6 million that we achieved.”

Ms Sdrinis said assessing damages for a ward of the state was particularly difficult.

“Unlike maybe the private school claims, or the claims against priests, where kids might well come from a good family, you’ve often already got trauma and behavioural issues,” she said.

“In terms of assessing the claims, you sort of have to try and unscramble the eggs.”

That’s among the reasons many opt to go through the National Redress Scheme, where the maximum payment is $150,000.

The latest figures from the scheme show it has approved 10,659 payments, averaging $88,000.

Complex illnesses after time in care

Each dollar Amy was awarded represented the emotional and physical scars inflicted on her as a ward of the state, and the impact these scars have on her ability to earn an income.

“Our client was very smart and despite the terrible abuse that she endured, her escape was education,” Ms Sdrinis said.

“She managed to get herself through school, through university and she attained a law degree and there was every prospect that she would have done amazingly well as a lawyer.”

Despite at one stage being on track to become a barrister or solicitor, Amy is now unable to maintain a job, crippled at times by the complex mental and physical illnesses resulting from her time in care.

“After leaving the law, I kept demoting myself … I did hospitality and I did cleaning and each time I just couldn’t cope,” Amy said.

The adoption, which Amy believes should never have been allowed to take place, has now been discharged.

Legally severing ties with her foster parents is part of her mission to heal and avoid passing her trauma onto her children.

“I may not be physically, emotionally and mentally the person that I am because of the failure of all these people and the trauma that I experienced,” she said.

“But at the very least I can be given my identity back and that feels really good.”

Foster care agency ‘deeply sorry’

At the time of publishing, Amy has only received an apology from OzChild, which she said added insult to injury.

In a letter of apology, OzChild said it was sorry for the part it played in her trauma.

“I am deeply sorry for the abuse you suffered during your placement, a time where you were particularly vulnerable,” the letter signed by OzChild’s chief executive Lisa Griffiths said.

“OzChild is committed to protecting the safety and wellbeing of every child in its care.

“I am sorry that your experiences were not in accordance with this commitment.”

For Amy, the apology was underwhelming.

Uniting Vic.Tas told the ABC it unreservedly apologised for hurt and distress caused to Amy.

“We have reached out to the individual involved, through their lawyers, to offer both a written apology and a personal apology, how ever they may wish for that to occur, and in whatever setting they feel comfortable,” Uniting Vic.Tas chief executive Bronwyn Pike said in a statement.

A spokesperson for the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing said while it did not comment on individual cases, it apologised unreservedly to children who experienced abuse of mistreatment of any kind while in care.

“The department has implemented significant changes to improve safety and oversight of children in foster care,” the spokesperson said.

The department is expected to issue Amy with a written apology.

She is unconvinced conditions for children in care have improved enough, an assertion that’s supported by experts.

‘A toxic trio’ impacting foster sector

Director at the Australian Centre for Child Protection, Leah Bromfield, said despite years of work to improve the system and a royal commission, children were still suffering.

“As much as it pains me to say it, a number of children in care today are still being harmed,” Professor Bromfield said.

“We’ve gotten better at screening carers, we’re seeing less of the adult perpetrator child sexual abuse, less of the really awful physical abuse.

“But there are a whole lot of things that either haven’t gotten better, or in some cases, things that have gotten worse.”

According to the latest information from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare there are 46,200 Australian children in out-of-home care, up 7.3 per cent from 2017, when the child abuse royal commission was finalised.

“We’ve had a lot more children go into care at the same time we’ve seen a real reduction in the number of foster carers, and we’re seeing real pressures on child protection systems in terms of caseload for caseworkers,” Professor Bromfield said.

“More kids, less carers, and less time by caseworkers, that’s a pretty toxic trio of things to happen.”

Professor Bromfield said in addition to adults preying on children both online and in the real world, more children were falling victim to physical and sexual violence perpetrated by other children in care.

“I’m worried about children in all states and territories in Australia,” she said.

“I’m not denying the lack of care and attention that’s coming from government.

“Unfortunately, the pressures on the system mean that knowing better is not always translating into doing better.”

Despite complaints to police, the family who adopted Amy have never faced criminal charges for the abuse perpetrated against her as a child.

“I just really don’t want to send a message to survivors that because I’m not identified, it means that you should feel shame,” Amy said.

“The shame is not ours to bear.”

*Amy is using a pseudonym as the ABC cannot identify her for legal reasons. ”