State Trustees failed some of Victoria’s most vulnerable people
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An opening scene fades from black, showing Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass seated at a desk in an office. A banner appears across the bottom of the screen introducing the Ombudsman’s name and title. She is speaking directly to camera.
Glass: State Trustees is responsible for the finances of over 10,000 Victorians who can’t manage their own affairs, usually due to disability or illness.
Glass: We’ve seen over the last few years a significant increase in the number of complaints about State Trustees, raising questions about whether they act in people’s best interests.
The scene fades to a bar graph showing the rise in complaints made to the Victorian Ombudsman about State Trustees from 2015 to 2018. The graph indicates that the Ombudsman received roughly 250 complaints about State Trustees in 2018, which appears to be almost double the number of such complaints received in 2015.
The graph fades back to the Ombudsman speaking directly to camera.
Glass: People put their trust in State Trustees, and in many of the cases we saw, all too often that trust is being breached. Money being paid out when it shouldn’t be, money not being paid when it should. At the heart of these complaints is an overwhelming sense of powerlessness.
A slide appears with text quoting the Ombudsman [emphasis added]:
“At the heart of these complaints is an overwhelming sense of powerlessness”.
Glass: Many of these problems stem from poor communication.
The quote fades back to the Ombudsman speaking directly to camera.
Glass: In one instance, we saw State Trustees spending a third of a woman’s life savings on legal fees to contest a will that she didn’t actually want to contest.
A slide appears containing a quote from a State Trustees client [emphasis added]:
“[They] were bullying me to let State Trustees pursue a greater share of my deceased mother’s estate. WHICH I DO NOT WANT.”
The slide fades back to the Ombudsman speaking directly to camera.
Glass: Instances where money was being paid for fines that the person involved hadn’t actually incurred.
Glass: In another case, State Trustees didn’t check with an elderly woman about what should happen to her possessions and they all ended up in a tip.
A slide appears containing a quote from a State Trustees client [emphasis added]:
“She told me [my possessions] had gone into a skip and [were] taken to a tip. I was distraught [and] I couldn’t stop crying.”
The slide fades back to the Ombudsman speaking directly to camera.
Glass: This included family photographs. Very, very distressing.
The shot fades to an enlarging image of the cover of the Victorian Ombudsman’s 2019 report into this issue, titled: “Investigation into State Trustees”.
The image fades back to the Ombudsman speaking directly to camera.
Glass: Many of the problems we identified in this investigation were the result of State Trustees trying to contain the cost of its services. They moved to a new model, the result of that [being that] in one instance, we looked at where [there were] 48 different people dealing with the same person’s file.
A slide appears containing a quote from a sister of a State Trustees client [emphasis added]:
“[My sister’s] financials are now actioned by a call centre of anonymous bill payers.”
The slide fades back to the Ombudsman speaking directly to camera.
Glass: Some of the State Trustees staff we talked to said to us that it made them more transactional, it changed their mindset to the point where sometimes they forgot they were dealing with human beings.
A slide appears containing a quote from a State Trustees manager:
“We’re not managing a client as an individual, we’re managing the State Trustees’ pool of clients as a collective and we kind of forgot that they’re actually human beings.”
The slide fades back to the Ombudsman speaking directly to camera.
Glass: My investigation has been underway for 12 months already and in that time we have begun to see real improvements. Many State Trustees staff are very dedicated and have told us about their frustrations at not being listened to in the past.
A slide appears containing the text [emphasis added]:
"State Trustees have started addressing the issues raised
Reimbursing 13 clients
Issuing 11 apologies
so far."
The next slide appears containing an image of the report cover on the left of screen, with text on the right [emphasis added]:
14 RECOMMENDATIONS.
Glass: I’ve made 14 recommendations to State Trustees and other government departments, including reviewing the funding for State Trustees to ensure that people have the capacity to make decisions about their own affairs wherever possible.
The slide fades back to the Ombudsman speaking directly to camera.
Glass: And I’ve also asked the government to consider whether it’s right to continue the model of a state-owned corporation – whether the commercial imperative there, in fact, conflicts with the focus on human rights.
A slide appears containing the text [emphasis added]:
State Trustees has acknowledged that concern for its clients’ human rights
“must permeate everything we do”.
The slide fades back to the Ombudsman speaking directly to camera.
Glass: These are some of the most vulnerable people in the state and respect for human dignity means we must do better.
A closing screen appears containing the Victorian Ombudsman logo, with text below: “Read the report: ombudsman.vic.gov.au/state-trustees”. Beneath this are the logos of Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, with the handles of the Victorian Ombudsman’s accounts on these platforms.
The screen fades to black. End.
A woman whose life possessions were sent to the tip, an elderly man who had over $2,000 taken from his account to pay for someone else’s fines, and a person whose file was handled by up to 48 different staff in 14 months.
These are among the cases reviewed as part of Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass’s Investigation into State Trustees, tabled in the Victorian Parliament this morning.
Ms Glass found State Trustees had failed some of the most vulnerable people in Victoria. The agency manages the finances of around 10,000 Victorians who are unable to look after their own affairs due to disability, illness or injury.
She said the investigation heard about multiple cases where State Trustees had:
- failed to ensure client’s bills, expenses and aged care bonds were paid on time
- reduced clients’ quality of life by placing them on restricted budgets, when they had entitlements that could have been claimed
- neglected to consult clients regarding their wishes for their finances.
“At the heart of these issues is an overwhelming sense of powerlessness,” Ms Glass said. “The indignity of having to request money for a haircut to supplement a meagre allowance. The humiliation of going to the bank to collect your pension, only to find the money is no longer there."
“I acknowledge that many State Trustees staff are trying to do the right thing in what can be very challenging circumstances, and that the Ombudsman rarely sees the instances when clients are satisfied.
"But the evidence of dissatisfaction, directly impacting on State Trustee clients’ quality of life, is too substantial to be treated as other than systemic.”
Ms Glass said State Trustees, as a state-owned company whose sole shareholder is the Treasurer, operates in a commercial environment where there is pressure to reduce costs.
“While we found no evidence of individual decisions being made for commercial reasons, there is evidence of commercial pressures limiting its service as a whole,” she said.
She has made 14 recommendations to State Trustees and various state government departments, calling for:
- a review of State Trustees’ governance and status as a state-owned company
- a review of state government funding for State Trustees
- measures to increase State Trustees’ engagement with people with a disability and mental illness, carers and advocacy organisations
- measures to increase fee relief for clients in financial hardship
- a review of freedom of information laws to make it easier for State Trustees clients to access their own information.
- State Trustees and most government departments have accepted the recommendations in full or in principle.
Ms Glass initiated her investigation due to an increase in complaints to her office. In 30 cases reviewed in detail by the investigation, as a result, State Trustees has:
- paid or reimbursed around $65,000 to 13 clients
- apologised to 11 clients
- agreed to meet or consult with five clients.
Ms Glass added: “Since we have been raising issues with State Trustees throughout our investigation, we have already begun to see progress, and I welcome the commitment of State Trustees’ new CEO to making real improvements.
“I thank the State Trustees staff we spoke to for their candid assessment of the problems they faced; the dedication of many staff was apparent, as was their frustration at not being listened to in the past. I hope State Trustees’ new operating model addresses at least some of the serious issues this report identifies.”
She thanked the following organisations, who work with State Trustee clients, for information which assisted the investigation:
- Seniors Rights Victoria
- Victoria Legal Aid
- Office of the Public Advocate
- Financial and Consumer Rights Council
- Mental Health Legal Centre
- Villamanta Disability Rights Legal Centre
- Inner Melbourne Community Legal, Launch Housing
- Darebin Community Legal Centre and Mind Australia.
Read the full report here: Investigation into State Trustees
Media contact: 0409 936 235