Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Families and Payments) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Social Services, Senator Ryan. Australians were horrified by the evidence of appalling violence and abuse towards people with disability on last night's Four Corners program. In one harrowing account, Anne, the mother of a child with autism, said:

I could not sleep knowing my son was in that house. … I would park my car out the front of that house … so that if he did need something I'd be there. But the reality is … I couldn't protect him at that point. I had to get him out.

Was the government aware of these issues before the reports were aired on Four Corners? If yes, what action has the government taken, and, if not, why not?