By Tom Wark
A company caring for a mentally disabled man who died after walking into traffic has been hit with a record civil penalty against an NDIS provider.
Aurora Community Care’s “ongoing and flagrant disregard” for its obligations were slammed by a court last week after being sued over the death of a 38-year-old man with an intellectual disability.
Justice Wendy Abraham last week imposed a $2.2 million fine against the provider following the March 2023 incident.
The man left his Queensland residence without the knowledge of two on-site care workers and was fatally hit by a car.
Aurora was placed into liquidation shortly after being sued in February 2024, but the Federal Court allowed the lawsuit to continue to send a message to other providers.
The man required two-on-one care at all times but, the night of his death, one carer was asleep while another was in a separate room and did not notice him leave the house.
Aurora knew the man would try to leave the premises and there were no locks on his doors preventing him from doing so, Justice Wendy Abraham said in her judgment.
Further, the court found Aurora repeatedly failed to properly care for the man for the 18 months they were engaged by his parents.
“Aurora has, over an extended period, displayed an ongoing and flagrant disregard for its legal obligations as a NDIS provider,” Justice Abraham said.
The company’s liquidators did not defend the case.
The fine, due to the Commonwealth, is contingent on the court approving enforcement, with the company’s winding up delayed to allow for the case’s outcome.
The $2.2 million fine tops a $1.9 million penalty in January when a client of not-for-profit Valmar Support Services fatally choked on food.
Aurora failed to notify the NDIS regulator of the use of chemical restraints more than 50 times, the judge said.
“(The man’s parents) trusted that Aurora would provide the supervision, support and safe environment their son needed,” Justice Abraham said.
“Aurora did not provide those things.”
The man’s death was a “tragedy that could have been prevented”, the regulator said.
“This legal action and the significant penalty imposed by the court send a strong deterrent message to all NDIS providers to take their obligations seriously,” NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commissioner Louise Glanville said.
The NDIS Commission has already banned the sole director of the now-defunct Aurora. Mohamed Issak cannot be involved in certain NDIS activities until November 2034.
Another NDIS provider – LiveBetter – has been fined $1.8 million and admitted to criminal charges over a woman’s bathwater burns death.
Kyah Lucas died in Concord Hospital after receiving burns to more than 40 per cent of her body in a bath in February 2022.
LiveBetter pleaded guilty in the NSW District Court to breaching its primary duty of health and safety.
