FDS Insight Magazine Nov - Dec 2022

38 from former residents, staff and volunteers with a report due by the end of the year. Esther was awarded large federal government grants on the eve of the 2019 election, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison making a personal visit to the facility where he publicly endorsed its operations while announcing an ‘investment’ of $4 million. Morrison took personal credit for the taxpayer-funded grant, telling staff and residents: ‘I don’t invest in things that don’t work.’ As Crikey exposed in a series of investigative reports, the allegations of religious-based abuse stretch back over nearly two decades. The rehab facility was designed for girls and young woman. The foundation claimed it would provide treatment for addiction and mental health issues. However dozens of former residents have alleged they were subjected to exorcisms and all- night prayer meetings to rid them of demons and were denied prescription medications. As well as emotional and physical abuse, some former residents also allege they were sexually abused as minors and that this abuse was kept from authorities. Momentum for an inquiry has been building since Minister McGurk made a public invitation for former residents to contact her office with their experiences, following publication of Crikey’s first pieces in mid-February. The Esther Foundation — which has been under new management since mid 2020 — has since made a public apology for the actions of its founder, Patricia Lavater. (Lavater has now moved on to another faith-based rehab organisation in Perth.) A Facebook page for Esther survivors quickly gained more than 200 followers as former residents came to understand that they were not alone. ‘I feel a wave of relief — relief that our stories are being taken seriously and that they are believed,’ said former resident Cara Phillips, who has led efforts to gain justice. ‘When you speak out about something like what happened to all of us at the Esther Foundation, it is freeing, you feel support, you feel strong. But you also receive a lot of flak. You receive messages from people who do not believe you. Not only do you go through the trauma in the first place, and spend years trying to recover from it, you then go through the traumatic process of having to defend yourself and the truth of what happened against those who seek to protect the abusers and the institution they represent. Many of the women speaking out have experienced this flak, and have suffered the pain of having their stories challenged by the church and its defenders. ‘Since the stories of the survivors of the Esther Foundation first started coming out through Crikey, and now through other media outlets, unfortunately little change has occurred,’ she said. ‘Patricia Lavater still works with vulnerable people. The Esther Foundation issued an apology calling