People with Disability Australia Incorporated

Text reads: A right delayed is a right denied. - Dr Martin Luther King Jr.

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Grand Western Lodge Campaign

PWD has Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations

NSW Ombudsman's special report August 2011

The NSW Ombudsman’s special report to Parliament, More than board and lodging: the need for boarding house reform, released on August 17, draws on work by the Ombudsman since 2002, which has identified serious concerns about the safety, health, welfare and rights of the residents of licensed boarding houses and the adequacy of the system that is meant to protect them.
In his report, the Ombudsman highlights how he has “repeatedly found critical failings on the part of Ageing, Disability and Home Care (ADHC) to fulfil its responsibilities to monitor licensed boarding houses and ensure their compliance with requirements.”
The report also identifies how ''It is of particular concern that many issues we have identified in our most recent investigation and review work are consistent with those we initially identified nine years ago,” and that “The current legislation governing licensed boarding houses and the standards expected in such facilities are inadequate to protect already vulnerable residents from harm and violations of their fundamental human rights.”
This report is a further timely reminder of the need for the NSW Government to learn from this documented experience and expedite the much needed reform of the licensed boarding house sector.
The report is available on the Ombudsman’s website www.ombo.nsw.gov.au or can be read via this link: More than board and lodging: the need for boarding house reform.
PWD issued a press release in relation to the report, which can be read at Ombudsman’s Report a Damning Indictment of Licensed Boarding House Monitoring and Reform.
Read more: www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life/shocking-abuse-and-neglect-revealed-in-boarding-houses-across-nsw-20110816-1iwbk.html

Click here to read the press release issued by the Ombudsman’s office.
PWD received substantial media attention following the release of the report, with PWD’s President Jan Daisley quoted in a Sydney Morning Herald story on 17 August Shocking abuse and neglect revealed in boarding houses across NSW.
PWD’s Executive Director Matthew Bowden also spoke out publically on the release of the report, appearing on radio interviews on 2UE, ABC Radio National, 2SER and ABC Radio Central West.
PWD welcomed a press release issued by the University of Western Sydney, which quoted Dr Gabrielle Drake, a researcher and lecturer from the UWS School of Social Sciences who completed a PhD study in 2010 on the deinstitutionalisation of boarding houses for people with mental illness and disability. This media release claims that boarding houses are “archaic and should be abolished.” Dr Drake appeared on ABC Radio National on 18 August discussing her work around boarding houses and her reasons for advocating their closure. Click here to listen to Dr Drakes interview from ABC LifeMatters.
Given the strong support PWD has received in response to our letter writing campaign and updates around Grand Western Lodge, we would also like to take this opportunity to extend our thanks to everyone who has added their voice and weight to a call for action around Grand Western Lodge and broader boarding house sector reform. If this strong and persistent advocacy had not been in place, these residents would not have been afforded the opportunity for relocation and the safety and justice they deserve and the urgency for sector reform would have continued to go unnoticed.
PWD has a strong commitment to both individual and systemic advocacy in licensed boarding houses and will continue to prioritise this work. We will continue to provide updates of our progress on this work via email updates, our website www.pwd.org.au and this E-Bulletin
Click here to read more about PWD’s Boarding House Advocacy Project
Click here o read more about PWD’s systemic advocacy work around Violence, Neglect and Abuse
Click here to read more about the Grand Western Lodge case in which PWD worked to remove residents from a licensed boarding house where they were allegedly experiencing significant abuse and neglect.