One of Australia’s biggest disability service providers has been urged to compensate a woman for sexual assault inside a group home.

The Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability has recommended that Life Without Barriers (LWB), one of Australia's largest disability service providers, consider making a “ex gratia payment” to a woman referred to as Natalie, who was sexually assaulted by a male support worker in one of LWB's group homes in 2014. 

It is the first time the commission has recommended a person with disability receive a monetary payment. 

The commission found that LWB failed to heed multiple warnings about the support worker's behavior, and failed to take timely action to ensure that all staff were trained in recognising and preventing sexual abuse. 

Complaints about Natalie's personal care being carried out by male staff continued to be raised by her family and advocates in subsequent years. The commission found that LWB exacerbated the trauma experienced by Natalie and her family by repeatedly breaking assurances that her personal care would not be provided by men without adequate communication. Natalie has cerebral palsy, intellectual disability, and is mostly non-verbal. She was rushed to the hospital and nearly died in March 2020 due to LWB's failure to keep proper medical records and seek timely medical care prior to her hospitalisation. She moved out of the group home in late 2020 and is no longer a client of LWB.

LWB CEO Claire Robbs has apologised for the company's failings during the hearing but was found by the commission to be “reluctant to accept that there had been any significant deficiency in the operations of services provided by the organisation”. 

The report said that LWB “failed to protect residents in the Lismore houses and Melbourne house from violence, abuse, exploitation, and neglect”. 

The inquiry also examined the experiences of residents at a Melbourne group home where “interpersonal violence became normalised” because LWB did not take adequate action to eliminate resident-to-resident violence.

The recommendation that LWB pay financial compensation to Natalie was one of six included in a report published by the commission. 

The commission also recommended that LWB provide further information about its progress towards improved record-keeping and incident reporting. 

LWB has accepted accountability for the failings identified in the hearing and expressed its deepest regret. However, LWB could not comment on whether Natalie would receive financial compensation as the matter was the subject of current litigation.