While this is a problem it is not new. There have been ministerial enquiries over recent decades because too many people with a challenging ID were being caught up in the corrective services and mental health systems. This was happening because there was nowhere else to manage the really complex individuals. I am pretty sure that a number of people still caught up in the prison system in the NT would have an ID.
A major concern is the limited skills and abilities held by NGO workers who are paid a pittance to do the job that prison workers and mental health professionals should not be doing. They are also limited by legislation and should not have to seriously risk their own safety without proper risk management policies and procedures in place. What seldom make the news is the serious injuries sustained by NGO workers who sometimes are doing their best in extremely difficult circumstances.
A potential solution could be the introduction of specialist respite centres that could act as a place of safety until the plan for the individual is mapped out. But this would cost lots of money because the centres would need to be staffed by trained professionals who can be very expensive. And certain lobbyists would protest that the Government was resorting back to institutionalised methods to deal with the problems.
It may be disgraceful but IMO this problem will not be resolved until the Federal and State Governments accept that the solution can only come from a substantial increase in the budget for such services. The NDIS will get better at managing each client's management plan. But if the key support workers continue to largely be young people with limited training and on a low income, then the current problems could in fact get worse. The Governments are riddled with highly experienced experts in developing specialist community services. They need to get together to work on this and the Governments need to ensure that they are properly funded.
