A warning this story may be confronting to some viewers. Australia’s so called forgotten children, former wards of the state, are again grappling with anxiety about spending their final days back in institutional care. Their fears are heightened in a national aged care review that is calling for priority funding to help those who have suffered abuse and emotional neglect, to remain at home.
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00:00As a young boy, Frank Golding saw his brother being sexually abused and dreaded bed time
00:09in the Ballarat Orphanage.
00:11I certainly witnessed other children or heard other children being abused within earshot.
00:15You know, it was just terrible. And so you went to bed each night thinking, I hope it's
00:21not my turn tonight.
00:23His 11 years in so-called care were marked by violence and cruel punishments.
00:28It was an emotional wasteland.
00:30Now he's 86 and, like many other care leavers, can't fathom losing his independence in his
00:36final years.
00:37I hear it all the time from my peers, I'd rather kill myself than go back into an institution.
00:44Monash University researchers have documented the experiences and concerns of more than
00:49100 care leavers as part of a Centre for Healthy Ageing report. They say many fear being re-traumatised.
00:57Residential aged care can be very triggering for care leavers. It could be having to go
01:03to meals in a particular room twice a day. It could be the fact that the front door is
01:09locked.
01:10They're calling for priority funding to help care leavers remain in their own homes.
01:15Now they're going into the aged care system, governments have no choice but to act and
01:20support them.
01:21The Federal Government says it's offering extra education to help aged care workers
01:25better understand triggers and concerns. And it says its new Support at Home program will
01:31include extra payments for those with diverse needs, including care leavers. But they don't
01:36have an automatic fast-track for in-home support.
01:40We certainly deserve to be put at the top of the queue. We were the state's children
01:45as children and I think the state has an obligation to look after us into our old age.
01:50A bad child could last a lifetime.
01:53A simple wish to spend their final years at home and at peace.