Queensland’s Public Trustee system to be investigated after Four Corners report revealed high fees and financial mismanagement
Excerpt:
The Queensland government has ordered two separate investigations into the state’s Office of the Public Trustee, after a Four Corners report revealed exorbitant fees and dire financial mismanagement.
Key points:
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Four Corners revealed how people under the control of the Public Trustee were left up to $1m worse off
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The program had to go to the Supreme Court to be able to report the cases
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There are calls for a compensation scheme to be introduced
Public Trustees are supposed to protect the finances of people with cognitive deficits caused by such conditions as dementia, brain injury or intellectual disability.
Queensland Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman said she took the stories featured in Four Corners “very seriously” and described them as “difficult to watch” and “uncomfortable viewing”.
“Their experiences are unacceptable for any Queenslander,” she said.
She announced an internal review of the Office of the Public Trustee’s practices and policies and an independent external review into the three cases highlighted in the program.
To read the rest of the article go to: Queensland’s Public Trustee system to be investigated after Four Corners report revealed high fees and financial mismanagement – ABC News
To read the QLD Public Advocate’s full report released in 2021 investigating these matters go to:
Public Trustee fees, charges and practices | Office of Public Advocate (justice.qld.gov.au)
To read the Public Advocate’s report – the Executive summary of “Preserving the financial futures of vulnerable Queenslanders: A review of Public Trustee fees, charges and practices”
opa-public-trustee-fees-and-charges-report-executive-summary.pdf (justice.qld.gov.au)
