Rhonda Trivett
October 17, 2017
Kingaroy resident Rhonda Trivett is one of nine women who will receive an ex gratia payment from the State Government after being wrongly placed in the Wolston Park mental health facility as a child.
Rhonda has been advocating on behalf of these “Forgotten Australians” for many years, speaking to Ministers at both State and Federal levels and making video histories of her experiences.
All the children were in State care when they were sent to Wolston Park, an adult facility.
While in the mental hospital they suffered neglect, often sexual and physical abuse, as well as seeing and hearing things that no child should have to witness.
A government apology in 2010 acknowledged the forced placements often led to an incorrect diagnosis of mental illness, which has had a significant impact on the women’s later lives.
Rhonda was sent to Wolston Park at the age of 13 and spent seven years in the notorious Osler House, one of the facilities at the hospital.
In later years, she has put her experience to good use, forming the South Burnett Peace Of Mind Association support group in Kingaroy.
In June this year, Rhonda travelled to Brisbane to speak and share her experiences at “Today I Am”, an art exhibition at the Performing Arts Centre that explored the women’s experiences.
At this event, it was announced that work had begun again on a reconciliation process with the survivors.
The State Government has now approved a Reconciliation Plan for the women.
Under the plan, the nine women will receive an ex gratia payment by way of acknowledgement they should never have been placed in Wolston Park.
As Queensland Mental Health Commissioner Dr Lesley van Schoubroeck said in June: “They had committed no crime. They did not have a mental illness. They had stood up to abusive authority in children’s institutions.”
The payment is part of a larger support package worked out by the government.
The State Government will also offer counselling and financial and legal advice to the women, and make arrangements for their ongoing support.
This will include facilitating access to relevant government services, such as health services.
The not-for-profit community service organisation, Micah Projects, will also be funded to arrange personally tailored support services for the women.
Health Minister Cameron Dick and Communities Minister Shannon Fentiman said the Reconciliation Plan reaffirmed the State Government’s apology made in 2010.
“While the plan cannot undo the harm that was caused, it has been developed as a genuine commitment to reconciliation,” a statement by the Ministers said.
The women have not had to sign away their rights to seek compensation in the future, including through legal proceedings.
The Ministers’ statement said the government had given an undertaking to the women involved to keep the amount of the ex gratia payments confidential.
“This further acknowledges the deeply personal nature of the impact on them of the decision to place them in the Wolston Park adult mental health facility,” the statement said.
The Reconciliation Plan report prepared by community advocate Betty Taylor has been tabled in the State Parliament and has been published online at the State Parliament website along with the Reconciliation Plan.
A supplementary report prepared by Ms Taylor for the government’s consideration contains the personal accounts provided by each of the women of their experiences at Wolston Park and how this affected their later lives.
As this report contains highly personal and private information, it will not be published.
