Our History
In early 2022, Cara Phillips, one of our founders, bravely spoke to the media about her experiences at the Esther Foundation. Her courage paved the way for other survivors to share their stories as well. One of our other founders, Gabriel Osborne, came across an article about Cara’s interview and decided to start a Facebook group called "Survivors of the Esther Foundation." The group quickly grew to the hundreds, and Cara and Gabriel began working toward securing justice for survivors.
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After a tireless media campaign, with over a dozen victims coming forward, the Esther Foundation’s reputation was irreparably damaged. Donations stopped, and the organization ultimately went into voluntary administration. As survivors of the Esther Foundation began to come forward, we started receiving messages from victims of other mental health and AOD (Alcohol and Other Drugs) facilities, stating they had suffered similar abuse. It became clear to us that this was not just an issue with the Esther Foundation. Abuse and mistreatment were widespread within WA’s private health services due to a lack of government regulation and oversight.
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A State Parliamentary Inquiry into the Esther Foundation and other unregulated private health facilities was announced. Over the next five months, more than 70 individuals came forward to share their experiences.
In December 2022, the inquiry report was released, confirming the truths we had worked so hard to expose. Three months later, the state government accepted all of the recommended changes. From the beginning, efforts were made to secure pro-bono legal assistance for victims to pursue civil lawsuits. In early 2023, Gabriel succeeded in finding a law firm willing to assist all victims of the Esther Foundation. This process is still ongoing.
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Despite the progress we have made for survivors of the Esther Foundation, victims of abuse across WA continue to suffer in silence, too afraid to seek help. With support from another survivor, Kellie, Cara and Gabriel founded Flying Free Inc. (formerly Freedom from Institutional Abuse) to expand our efforts.
While work to achieve justice for victims of the Esther Foundation continues—including meetings with politicians, the Department of Justice, and former sponsors of the Esther Foundation—we have broadened our focus to assist victims of abuse throughout WA.