There's growing pressure to reform the guardianship and administration system which controls the lives of tens of thousands of Australians across the country. The disability royal commission has recommended overhauling legislation, and lifting blanket gag laws which prevent people under state care from speaking out when things go wrong.
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00:00 Wendy and Martin have been married for one and a half decades, but they haven't seen
00:07 each other for almost three years.
00:09 How are you?
00:10 Are you sleeping?
00:11 They speak every day on the phone.
00:13 Nobody come see me.
00:16 Your guardian never come see you?
00:19 Nobody no.
00:20 A state tribunal has deemed Wendy unsuitable as a carer for her husband, who's been diagnosed
00:25 with dementia.
00:27 Despite Martin expressing he wants to live at home with his family, the state guardian
00:32 is forcing him to stay at a nursing home against his will.
00:35 You say you're helping him.
00:36 I don't think you're helping him.
00:38 You're putting a person there without any relatives to visit.
00:42 Is it good for his health?
00:43 It's not good at all.
00:47 It's illegal for us to identify Martin's entire family because of confidentiality laws
00:52 intended to protect him, even if he wants to share his story.
00:57 The Disability Royal Commission has recommended lifting these gag laws across the country
01:01 to improve the transparency of the system, as well as a host of law reforms to better
01:06 include people with disability in tribunal hearings, which decide who has control of
01:12 their lives.
01:13 Many of the hearings are only listed for 55 minutes, and when the outcome of that short
01:20 session can be big ramifications for someone's life, it's too short, and we do need to look
01:27 at something that's more comprehensive.
01:30 State and federal governments say they're reviewing the Royal Commission's recommendations.
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