Our History

In early 2022 Cara Phillips one of our founders bravely spoke to the media about her experiences at the Esther Foundation. Her bravery paved the way for other survivors to speak to the media also.

 

One of our other founders Gabriel Osborne saw one of these articles and started a Facebook group titled survivors of the Esther Foundation. The group quickly grew to the hundreds and Cara and Gabriel began working towards gaining justice

 

After a tireless media campaign with over a dozen victims speaking up the Esther Foundations reputation was gone, donations stopped and they went into voluntary administration.

 

We began receiving messages from victims of other mental health and AOD facilities stating they have also been abused in similar ways.

 

We realized this wasn't just a problem with the Esther Foundation. Abuse and Mistreatment was pervasive in WA health services due to the lack of government regulation and oversight.

 

A State Parliamentary Inquiry into the Esther foundation and unregulated private health facilities was announced. Over the next 5 months over 70 individuals shared their experiences.

 

In December 2022 the report was released detailing the truths we had worked so hard to expose. 3 months later the state government accepted all the recommended changes.

 

From the beginning work was being done to find pro-bono legal assistance for victims to begin a civil law suit. In Early 2023 Gabriel was successful in finding a law firm willing to assist all victims of the Esther Foundation. This is still ongoing.

 

Despite the fantastic work we have done for survivors of the Esther Foundation, victims of abuse all around WA are still suffering and afraid to seek help. With assistance from another survivor Kellie, Cara and Gabriel started Flying Free Inc. (Formerly Freedom from Institutional Abuse)

 

Work to gain justice for victims of the Esther Foundation is still ongoing, including meetings with politicians, the department of justice, former Esther Foundation sponsors etc, however a new focus to expand and assist other victims around WA has emerged alongside.