Yahoo News Morrison government’s $4m grant to group accused of ‘extreme religious practices’ was likely unlawful
The Morrison government gave $4m to an organisation accused of “extreme religious practices” – including exorcisms and gay conversion – on the same day the Australian government solicitor (AGS) advised the grant would “likely be without lawful authority”.
The former prime minister Scott Morrison announced the grant for Western Australia’s Esther Foundation in the lead-up to the 2019 election, declaring the organisation had “completely, completely captured” his heart.
The grant was part of the $2bn Community Health and Hospitals Program (CHHP). This week the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) found the federal health department had deliberately breached guidelines in administering the program and “fell short of ethical requirements”.
The Esther Foundation claimed to help young women with health, mental health, and drug and alcohol issues, but in April 2022 the WA government launched a parliamentary inquiry into the facility after complaints by former residents, staff and volunteers.
The inquiry found the definition and nature of the services provided were “unclear and blurred”. In its report, it detailed a range of allegations against the Esther Foundation.
“Some of the prevalent and consistent themes that emerged from the complaints and allegations included emotional and psychological abuse, coercive and extreme religious practices, LGBTQA+ suppression and conversion practices, culturally harmful practices, medical complaints, family alienation, physical restraints and assaults, and sexual assault,” the report said.
The inquiry heard from witnesses who “expressed feelings ranging from disappointment to betrayal, from sadness to anger”.
“They entered the Esther Foundation when they were in a state of extreme vulnerability and many reported leaving with more problems than they went in with,” the foreword by the chair, Chris Tallentire MLA, said.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup
There is no evidence that any politicians knew of the allegations against the foundation at the time the grant was announced. However, the damning national audit office report singled out the Esther Foundation grant as one that did not meet the guidelines.
Morrison announced the $4m grant on International Women’s Day on 8 March 2019.
“I’ve got to say the Esther Foundation completely, completely captured my heart this week,” he said in a radio interview the next day.
“This is an organisation that is transforming women’s lives at the most practical level by ensuring that they understand something that can never be taken away from any woman and that is their unique value. Their unique worth.”
In June 2019, according to the audit office, the health department found the grant was suitable despite the assessor providing fewer than 100 words in support, “all of which was copied from an Esther Foundation media profile and an activity plan provided by Esther Foundation on request from health”.
The audit found the health department did not do a financial viability assessment or obtain audited financial statements, as required under the grant guidelines. The foundation planned to spend most of the money on vocational training and other funds on vehicle fleet expansion and telecommunications, which were not consistent with the grant requirements.
The department then asked the minister at that time, Greg Hunt, to approve the grant “pending AGS advice about legal risk”.
Hunt approved the grant, and the agreement was signed on 18 June, “the same day Health received the project’s legal risk assessment from AGS”.
“The AGS advice indicated that making the grant would likely be without lawful authority,” the ANAO report found. “Health executed the grant agreement … without confirming legal authority for the grant”.
Related: Coalition staffers took classified documents after election loss, Labor claims in Senate estimates
As allegations about abuse at the foundation started emerging in early 2022, the foundation stopped taking referrals. It went into voluntary administration in April 2022. The health department then suspended future payments so the foundation only received half the $4m.
The 2022 WA report found senior government figures praising the foundation’s work “contributed to the social licence so crucial to the success of organisations fundamentally reliant on trust and goodwill”.
A range of state and federal politicians had supported the foundation over the years. Morrison thanked former WA Liberal MP Ken Wyatt for the “great job” he had done supporting it.
Former WA premier Colin Barnett and his Liberal government approved a range of grants, while Morrison confidant and WA Liberal MP Steve Irons mentioned them a number of times in parliament.
That was long before the board became aware of complaints in early 2019.
In late 2019 and 2020 the board started a renewal process. The founder, Patricia Lavater, and administrator Rodney Lavater left and new people and processes were brought in, but Esther Foundation did not publicly acknowledge the wrongdoing or apologise until the WA inquiry and media reports drew attention to allegations against it.
Related: Amy Remeikis on one year of the Albanese government - podcast
The inquiry found the leadership was “insular and nepotistic”, with Patricia Lavater a “singular and dominant influence” and that “faith-based practise was a substitute for evidence-based treatment”.
Lavater said she was a “strong person” and that people might be nervous to speak to her.
Witnesses said they felt “fearful, ashamed and controlled” and manipulated into staying. “Some residents reported being told they would go to hell, die or be raped if they left the program,” the inquiry heard.
Patricia Lavater said residents would be warned of the risks if they left at night.
There were allegations of exorcisms, of forced prayer meetings and of residents being told their homosexuality was caused by demons or was responsible for suicidal behaviour.
Lavater denied those claims.
Witnesses complained they were alienated and isolated from family, that their communications were monitored and there were reports of people being tied to people or beds, locked in and sexually assaulted.
Lavater said she was not aware of those things happening, although one vulnerable person was willingly tied to another with wool.
Related: Bridget McKenzie and Mark Coulton reject suggestion they ‘trespassed’ at inland rail project
The committee was not asked to investigate individuals’ actions, rather how such institutions could be “properly regulated to prevent a recurrence of these sorts of events”.
Other submissions supported Lavater and the foundation and tried to discredit complaints, saying positive stories were ignored. Some witnesses said they were helped and supported.
A report from the department of communities found “most residents had experienced positive shifts in their wellbeing in most survey areas, including overall satisfaction with and achievement in life, health and safety, and feeling part of the local community”.
Overall, the audit office found only two out of 63 major projects were “highly suitable” for the Community Health and Hospitals Program.
The health department secretary, Brendan Murphy, said there were “a number of challenges” in the CHHP, “in part due to the rapid genesis and implementation of projects that the former government selected and announced”.
The health minister, Mark Butler, said the former government “announced so many projects without assessment or guidance, and at such speed, that the department was forced to monitor the media to know which projects had been selected”.
