Latest news with #publictrustee
ABC News
30-06-2025
- ABC News
Justice, change and a much-loved dingo featured in our top WA photos for June
By the time June came to and end, our reporters had filed stories holding power to account, documenting changing landscapes and illustrating the emotion of a high-profile court case. Stories included people sharing their struggles with the state's public trustee and public advocate, a verdict in the murder case of 15 year-old schoolboy Cassius Turvey, and the anxiety-inducing spread of a little beetle wrecking havoc in Perth's tree canopy. A pile of documents inks a timeline of Claire's* daughter's descent into the state care system. The mother and daughter's story highlighted how a system which is meant to care for some of the community's most vulnerable people can be weaponised against them. It spurred on an admission from the WA public guardian in a rare public appearance that some "vexatious applicants" are using the state guardianship and administration system to do harm. Daniel's* mother's assets were put under the care of the Public Trustee during a family dispute. The trustee charged huge fees to manage her assets, but made a loss on two rental properties in Perth. The day after Daniel's story was published, the Public Trustee said he would support the reduction of his office's fees by the state government. Jane* describes herself as a "reproductive refugee", having to travel interstate to undergo IVF with her own eggs because WA's laws prevent her from going through the same process at home. The procedure was successful and she was 30 weeks pregnant, due to have a girl, when she talked to the ABC in June, while the state government has announced its "intention" to introduce new legislation by the end of year. At Broome's Cable Beach, 2,100 kilometres north of Perth, a local shire redevelopment has blocked access to parts of the famous beach, frustrating locals and businesses. Faced with declining customers, some food trucks have had to relocate, leaving vendors "broken-hearted". Almost three years on from her son Cassius's death, Mechelle Turvey embraced the detective who led the murder investigation after the murderers were sentenced to life imprisonment. Mechelle's courage and restraint paved the way for justice to take its course, and has helped to improve the way WA Police interact with Aboriginal victims of crime. Marley was Bunbury's much-loved alpine dingo who sadly died earlier in the month. Though few knew how he'd come to live independently at Bunbury's harbour area, most long-time residents had a story about him, and many said he helped them through dark times. Over the past 16 months, reporter Bridget McArthur went to the habour to try and photograph the beloved canine, but only got close-up pictures once. Panna Hill, or Parlapuni as the Robe River Kuruma people call it, is a rock formation 1,400 km north of Perth outside the remote town of Pannawonica. For local woman Tuesday Lockyer, the outcrop is a place of spiritual significance where she feels at both peace and strength. In a sobering development in the state's fight against the polyphagous shot-hole borer, the government has conceded it is no longer feasible to eradicate the beetle, shifting to a management approach instead. About 4,800 trees in Perth have been infected, and iconic trees at Perth's Hyde Park have been chopped down and mulched as a result. This composite shows the tree canopy at an island in Hyde Park in late May, compared to a month later. The round 13 game between West Coast and North Melbourne was the first ever in-season AFL game hosted in regional WA, bringing thousands of people to the city of Bunbury, which is often bypassed by Perth locals and tourists. Local kids watched in awe as the oval they grew up playing on transformed into an AFL arena. The council hopes it's just the start of turning Bunbury into a sports capital. Roger Cook and Rita Saffioti's first budget since the election was pitched as being all about changing WA for the better. There are grand plans for the future, but in the short-term they're focused on building more homes and creating more hospital beds. That's meant they (and the journalists following them) have spent lots of time on construction sites lately. Stepping back from the high-vis and stage-managed events, those construction sites can be full of different textures and lines, making for some interesting scenes to photograph. While technology has evolved, has the reason we take photographs changed too? Kevin Parsons has a unique view of photography from the past to the present day. His mother, an avid photographer in Western Australia's Midwest in the 1950s and 60s, left him a cherished collection of photo slides and 8-millimetre film reels. Noongar artist Denzel Coyne honours his late parents by making traditional Indigenous artefacts — his tattoos commemorating them, and the woodwork converging in this picture. He started making the artefacts as an adult while in a rehab program, and has been enthralled by the process since — even teaching his daughter how to throw a boomerang. *Claire, Daniel and Jane are pseudonyms
ABC News
18-06-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Public Trustee wants WA government to cut fees for most vulnerable
The state agency in charge of managing the assets of people deemed incapable of making their own decisions says the government should help pay for services for its most vulnerable clients. Public trustees manage the finances and assets of people with impaired decision-making abilities, for example due to a head injury or dementia – annually, fees can range in the five-figures depending on the services provided. Around the country they are mostly self-funded by charging some clients higher fees to subsidise others who can't pay. In WA and Queensland, the agencies are completely self-funded. In a rare public appearance, WA Public Trustee Brian Roche said he believed the state government should help subsidise those who can't afford the trustee's fees. "There probably should be a partial appropriation to offset those that don't have capacity to pay," he said. Mr Roche made the comment while fronting a parliamentary committee. "We currently operate under what is termed as a self-funding model … we're meant to generate sufficient income to pay all of our expenses," he said. "We operate under whatever regime the government of the day has put in place. "Governments have choices … we don't [necessarily] have to charge any fees." The self-funding model was implemented in 2008 under Colin Barnett's Liberal government. The Public Trustee is bound by confidentiality provisions which forbid him from commenting on individual cases, and in WA the Department of Justice typically responds to media enquiries on his behalf. Do you know more about this story? Contact Cason Ho Do you know more about this story? Contact Cason Ho There has been increasing scrutiny in recent years amid allegations of public trustees charging exorbitant fees while providing questionable care. Mr Roche said the Public Trustee was unable to provide important details to the media about cases because of the constraints. But some clients and advocates say the confidentiality provisions mean there's no transparency. The WA Law Reform Commission is reviewing the state's Guardianship and Administration Act. In 2023, the WA government committed to implementing an independent advisory board for the Public Trustee and developing a new fee model.
ABC News
16-06-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
State charges woman with dementia $137k while managing assets at a loss
An "overworked and under-resourced" state agency, the WA Public Trustee, is facing fresh allegations of overcharging a vulnerable woman to manage her assets while doing little to no work. The agency is set to face public scrutiny in a parliamentary committee hearing.
ABC News
16-06-2025
- Business
- ABC News
WA Public Trustee office charges woman with dementia $137,000 to manage assets at a loss
An "overworked and under-resourced" state agency has charged a woman with dementia a six-figure bill while managing her assets at a loss. Public trustees control the finances of some of the community's most vulnerable people who have been deemed incapable of making their own decisions, for example if a person has a cognitive impairment from a head injury. It's illegal to identify people across most of Australia who are, or were, under state administration or guardianship. Daniel, not his real name, said he regrets ignoring warnings from lawyers to avoid the WA Public Trustee's office. "We enquired to a barrister ... she recommended not to go through public trustees," Daniel told the ABC. Daniel's mother had dementia, and was put into state administration under the Public Trustee during a family dispute. Over eight years, the state charged her $137,000 in fees for managing her finances and assets, including three properties in Perth. "For one of the properties, I managed, and they still charged us for it ... I can't see how they can be justified in charging for something they never even did," Daniel said. Financial statements, seen by the ABC, show the Public Trustee spent about $24,000 of Daniel's mother's money to repair one of the properties and replace an oven. The trustee's office then ran two of the houses as rental properties at a loss for several years. The most profitable year was straight after the renovations — the repaired three-bedroom house in Perth took in $17,114 in rent over a year which averages out to $329 per week. The average rent in the area that year was $461 per week according to the local council. Two years later, the same property brought in an annual total of $6,619 in rent, which fell thousands of dollars short of covering bills, and property and land taxes. "It's disgusting how a property in [Perth] can lose so much money," Daniel said. "They [mum and dad] worked their whole lives for all this — and it wasn't only their lives, we as a family worked together to build up these assets — and they [the Public Trustee's office] ran them at a loss." Do you know more about this story? Contact Cason Ho Do you know more about this story? Contact Cason Ho Several organisations which help people under state administration in WA have told the ABC they can't speak publicly about concerns they have with the system, out of fear of jeopardising their relationship with the Public Trustee and putting future cases at risk. The organisations include community legal centres and advocacy organisations which receive government funding. Public trustees are mostly self-funded by charging some clients more to subsidise others that can't afford to pay — in Western Australia and Queensland, the trustees are completely self-funded. The state is assigned as an administrator of "last resort" to manage a person's money and assets in their best interest, for a fee. The WA Public Trustee manages $1.7 billion worth of assets, as of its latest annual report. In response to written questions to the WA Public Trustee, a Department of Justice spokesperson said the agency was bound by confidentiality provisions, and did not directly answer questions about Daniel's mother's case, or concerns over organisations' fears of speaking publicly. "The Public Trustee charges fees in accordance with its Scale of Fees which is reviewed annually ... subject to scrutiny by the Joint Standing Committee on Delegated Legislation," the statement read. "Any person dissatisfied with the way in which the Public Trustee has dealt with their complaint has several avenues for investigating their concerns, including lodging a complaint with the Ombudsman or the State Administrative Tribunal." Succession lawyer Morgan Solomon works in the same field of law which falls under part of public trustees' remits, and says it's "no secret" the government agencies are stretched thin. "Dealing with the affairs of someone after they've passed away is inherently complicated work — it's the unravelling of essentially a life's worth of materials," he said. "The amount of work that ... staff there have to do is extraordinary, their caseload I think is in many cases unmanageable ... they do what they can with what they have." Mr Solomon urged the public to consider having wills prepared, and also enduring powers of attorney and guardianship. "A will comes into being only when you pass away, but there are other catastrophes that can befall us, which is the loss of mental capacity which can affect anyone," he said. "We just did a survey of a thousand Western Australians ... 60 per cent of families in WA are anticipating some kind of inheritance dispute, which floored us." Daniel said he believed there was a need for the state to manage the finances of some vulnerable people as a last resort, but said there should be more transparency. "They don't look after the people that really need it," Daniel said. There have been numerous accounts of state trustees and guardians around the country providing questionable care, and allegations of exorbitant fees for little work. In 2023, the WA Government committed to implementing an independent governing board to improve oversight of the Public Trustee, and the development of a more "transparent and equitable" fee model. The WA Law Reform Comission is also reviewing the state's guardianship and administration legislation. A WA parliamentary committee will be questioning the Public Trustee this week.
