Two brothers with disabilities were discovered severely malnourished, naked and locked in a room with no food or furniture, the disability royal commission has been told.
The commission heard on Monday about the shocking case of two young men, aged 17 and 19, who authorities found living in squalid conditions in May 2020.
The inquiry, holding its final public hearings this week in Brisbane, is exploring the issues of neglect and abuse against people with disability through the brothers’ case, as well as via the response of authorities.
Kate Eastman, senior counsel assisting the commission, said the young men lived with intellectual and various other disabilities.
They were given the pseudonyms Kaleb and Jonathon by the inquiry.
Eastman said that in May 2020, a neighbour called authorities, who discovered the brothers’ father deceased, while the young men were in a locked room with little furniture, soiled nappies on the floor and excrement on the walls.
“On the day Kaleb and Jonathon were found, they were taken to hospital,” Eastman said. “They were diagnosed with severe malnutrition and a condition called Kwashiorkor, a disease that’s characterised by severe protein deficiency. It’s a disease that is very rare in developed countries like Australia.”
A neighbour told the royal commission she had gotten to know the young men and sometimes helped care for them. She was also sometimes able to communicate with them because their bedroom window faced her kitchen.
The inquiry heard there were times when the neighbour would play relaxation music out loud while they were locked in their room.
“Sometimes you’d whistle through the window and Jonathon would whistle back,” Eastman said.
“Yes,” the neighbour replied.
The neighbour told the commission the brothers were “just lovely” and she cared about them.
“I understood what trauma feels like and what it feels like to be abused, so I understood them,” the neighbour said.
She said their father would sometimes swear at the brothers, and she described the squalid conditions they lived in, saying there was sometimes no hot water and little furniture.
Eastman said: “On a few occasions, they were locked in their room all day and night? And when they were locked in their bedroom, they were not able to access water, food or the toilet unless their father gave them access?”
“Yes,” the neighbour confirmed.
The inquiry heard the neighbour had encouraged their father to seek help, but she agreed he had tried hide their circumstances from authorities.
The neighbour also told the commission she was surprised that the department of housing had twice attended the property for an inspection but did not enter the home.
The commission heard that an investigation of the father’s financial records found a high level of cash withdrawals, which were spent on alcohol, cigarettes and gambling.
It was also told that Kaleb was a National Disability Insurance Scheme participant but Jonathon was not on the scheme due to the father’s apparent concern this might affect his carer’s pension.
Eastman said Queensland authorities were aware of potential risks to the brotherswhen Kaleb was born in 2000. He had been identified as a child at risk of neglect and spent two years in foster care before being returned to the father.
Jonathon was born in March 2003, and by 2004, the father was the sole carer for both.
Between June 2000 and May 2020, there were 30 occasions when concerns about neglect were raised with Queensland authorities, the commission heard.
It heard that 19 child protection notifications were made to the Department of Child Safety and on three occasions a risk evaluation deemed the family’s risk as “very high”.
Eastman told the inquiry it would be open to the commission to find that Kaleb and Jonathon experienced violence, abuse, neglect and the deprivation of their rights while in their father’s care between 1 June 2000 and 27 May 2020.
She said counsel assisting the commission would submit that these events were preventable.
“There is nothing about Kaleb or Jonathon’s age, disability or their personal circumstances that made it inevitable that they should individually or together experience violence, abuse, neglect or a deprivation of their human rights,” she said.
“Their neglect was excused with statements such as, ‘The father is doing his very best’,” Eastman said.
Both young men now receive NDIS support and their affairs are managed by the Queensland public guardian.
Representatives for the Queensland government are expected to give evidence on Wednesday.
The inquiry continues.
