Multiple sexual assault allegations, reports of gay conversion therapy, forcible restraint and unqualified pharmaceutical treatment are among the harrowing list of experiences described by former residents of a West Australian rehabilitation centre in the findings of an inquiry revealed on Thursday.
More than 70 witnesses gave evidence to the inquiry into a Christian-based residential rehab centre run by the Esther Foundation.
The inquiry found there was a long list of troubling practices employed at the facility under a lack of oversight.
"We heard so many heartbreaking stories from people subjected to many forms of abuse, often when they were young and vulnerable," Maylands MLA and inquiry committee member Lisa Baker said in state parliament on Thursday.
The West Australian government also announced on Thursday that it would ban conversion therapy, which is based on the idea that a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity can be changed, suppressed or eradicated through practices ranging from psychiatric treatments to spiritual intervention.
Several former residents had reported being subjected to or witnessing suppression and conversion practices.
Inquiry begins
The Esther Foundation inquiry was launched in April after former residents of the Kalamunda-based facility near Perth spoke out about allegations psychological abuse and inappropriate treatment.
Witnesses told the committee that Christian practices deployed by the centre's leaders – including being held down forcibly for the exorcism or "deliverance" of demons – were traumatising.
In March the Esther Foundation issued an "unreserved apology" to its former residents before going into involuntary administration in April.
Cara Phillips, who was among the former residents who spoke up earlier this year, said it was moving for the stories of former residents to be heard.
"Since I started speaking, so many people have come and said, 'Well, I complained to this person, I complained to this person,' even some official complaints — nothing happened," she told ABC Radio Perth host Nadia Mitsopoulos on Thursday.
"It took this groundswell, I guess, of everyone coming together, for that to be the case.
"To be believed is a wonderful thing, and hopefully brings about actual policies and change in these areas."
Former residents told the inquiry their experiences at the facility had left them with broken family relationships, a mistrust of women in authority, financial impacts and a deep fear of religion, god and hell.
Unqualified treatment
The witnesses described having been denied medication that had been prescribed to them prior to entering the facility, and some said they were forcibly given medication that had not been prescribed to them, including antipsychotics and diazepam.
They received unqualified and incorrect diagnoses and had limited interaction with qualified healthcare professionals.
One Indigenous resident reported that she was told to perform traditional dances to "shake off ancestral spirits".
Witnesses also told the committee they were physically restrained by being sat on, tied to another person or a bed, or locked in rooms.
The inquiry heard that residents were alienated from their families, sometimes for more than 30 days, and that their phone calls and letters monitored.
"If you're there for a long period of time, at a [formative] time in your life, it really develops a lot of your character and how you emotionally respond to situations," Ms Phillips said.
"I think all of us – including myself – are still unpicking that and maybe will be for a long time."
The report states that the committee also received submissions in support of the foundation from people who said the the program was a major part of their rehabilitation.
Lack of oversight
The inquiry found robust frameworks, including licensing schemes, were needed to regulate organisations such as Esther House.
"Western Australia has a chance to be a leader in this regard," inquiry committee chair and Thornlie MLA Chris Tallentire said.
"We recognise there are other facilities in Western Australia that are operating with a similar absence of external oversight."
The Esther Foundation, which received $4 million from the federal government in 2019, was founded by Patricia Lavater out of the Pentecostal New Day Ministries in Perth in the 1990s.
Ms Lavater left the organisation in 2019.
The WA departments of Health and Communities were among the organisations that referred young women to the Christian rehabilitation program.
Multiple state governments also financially supported the centre.
In response to the allegations made earlier this year, the foundation's then-leaders said an "independent and suitably qualified person" would be appointed to work with former residents who wanted to discuss their experience.
WA Police urged anyone who thought they had been a victim of crime through the centre to report it.
