Remembering Josh: How the NDIS ‘failed’ a Perth man who died in handcuffs at a train station

Debbie Fisher’s phone has gone silent. It used to buzz constantly with calls or text messages from her son, Josh, or one of therapists or support workers provided under the National Disability Insurance Scheme. It rang about 3pm on June 16 last year when Josh called excitedly wanting advice about what size doona to buy for his bed. Just hours later, the 24-year-old was dead after suffering a heart attack while handcuffed by transport officers following an altercation at Perth Underground train station. The calls and messages to Mrs Fisher’s phone abruptly stopped. “That would have to be the biggest void,” Mrs Fisher told The Sunday Times. “It was just full-on all the time. And then silence — literally silence.” More than 13 months on from Josh’s death, his grief-stricken family are still waiting for the Coroner’s findings on exactly what happened at Perth Underground that night. But Mrs Fisher is certain of one thing. She is adamant her son could still be alive if the NDIS had not rejected his application for round-the-clock care, despite expert evidence that showed he was at risk of harm to himself, and others, without it. “They failed him,” she said. Josh was born with Sotos syndrome, a rare genetic disorder characterised by distinct facial features, overgrowth in childhood and learning disabilities. At age 18 he chose to move out of his parents’ home and into Westcare in Shenton Park, a semi-assisted living environment for people with disability. He loved playing inclusive football, sold The Big Issue magazine on the streets of Perth and enjoyed chewing his mum’s ear off on their weekly Sunday-morning drives to Scarborough and up the coast. But as he grew into adulthood, Mrs Fisher said her son’s mental health deteriorated. “He had severe anxiety and behavioural issues and having so many people around him was getting too much,” she said. “We knew we had to get him out of there and get more funding.” Backed with letters and reports from Josh’s therapists, the family submitted an urgent application for Supported Independent Living, which provides 24/7 care and supervision to NDIS participants with high needs. The family feared without it their vulnerable son was at immediate risk of homelessness, or worse. As the weeks passed with no response, Josh was taken to hospital multiple times after mental health episodes. The National Disability Insurance Agency — which runs the $43 billion scheme — eventually contacted Mrs Fisher in early April last year to confirm her son’s application was rejected. In a letter detailing the reasons, the agency said Josh was not “suitable” for Supported Independent Living funding because he required less than eight hours of daily support and supervision. “There is no evidence to suggest you require more than (eight hours) . . . and require support, supervision and monitoring for 24 hours a day,” the letter, seen by The Sunday Times, read. The agency did approve funding for 36 hours of support a week, which was used to move Josh into temporary accommodation with another NDIS participant. Josh was left alone for hours at a time — including on the night of June 16. “Where were his parents? Why wasn’t he at home?” Why was he allowed out?” These were some of comments the family was confronted with on social media after news of their son’s death broke. “Just because Josh had a disability does not mean he’s not allowed to be out and about like everyone else,” Mrs Fisher said, rejecting the assumptions at the core each of those comments. “He wanted to live as independently as possible, because that’s what we do as adults. The NDIS was designed to make this process safer for people with a disability and, you know, they failed him.” After spending the morning of June 16 with his father, Josh returned home and then went out again to buy the new doona cover. He then ventured back into the city, alone, ending up in Perth Underground, which runs between Wellington Street and Murray Street Mall in the city centre. Exactly what happened next will be a focus of the Coroner’s investigation. Police initially told the family Josh was involved in an dispute with Public Transport Authority guards over a fare. A few days later detectives provided a different explanation. Mrs Fisher was told Josh, “riled up about something”, had been asked to leave the station earlier in the evening after yelling and pointing at transit officers or other patrons. After leaving and then returning to the station, the officers handcuffed him. “They’ve brought him to the ground gently, they haven’t pinned him at all — that’s what the detectives said,” Ms Fisher said. While restrained in the prone position, Josh — who was 195cm tall and overweight — suffered a cardiac arrest. He was rushed to Royal Perth Hospital about 8.20pm but could not be resuscitated. It was just before midnight when Ms Fisher’s eldest son woke her up after a knock on the door from two police officers. She was not alarmed at first. “It didn’t hit me that that’s why they were there. I just thought ‘what’s he (Josh) done now?’” “Then they said it and I just broke down in tears.” In the head-spinning days that followed, the family went to clear out Josh’s belongings from his room. The new doona cover was still sitting on the bed. “He never got to sleep in it,” Mrs Fisher said. As she reflects on that night, Mrs Fisher believes a support worker could have saved Josh’s life. “They could have encouraged him to go home earlier or distracted him, or diffused his anger at whatever led to the altercation. They could have explained his size and appearance to the guards,” she said. With the Federal Government planning to overhaul the NDIS in attempt to curb spiralling costs, she fears it will only become harder for participants to secure potentially life-saving support. She said the agency must start listening to the “real” experts — participants and their families. “This is how it was intended to be, and not a continual fight for what people need to be safe,” she said. The Sunday Times put a series of questions to the NDIA about Josh, including whether it stood by its decision to reject his Supported Independent Living application and whether it reviewed its handling of the case. In a statement, an agency spokesman said the NDIA expressed its sincere sympathy for Josh’s family during their time of grief. “The circumstances of Josh’s tragic death are still being ascertained by relevant authorities and we understand a coronial report will be prepared,” the spokesman said. “It would be inappropriate to comment further at this point.” PTA spokesman David Hynes said three investigations into the incident — including one conducted by senior authority management and its internal investigations team — found the transit officers “acted in accordance with their duties and training”. Mr Hynes said all transit officers must complete a training course before starting the job that included disability awareness, de-escalation, first aid and mental health awareness. “This was a tragic event and the PTA is co-operating fully with all relevant agencies,” Mr Hynes said. On the first anniversary of Josh’s death, Mrs Fisher did something she hadn’t done for a year: take a Sunday-morning drive up the coast. Morning rain and grey clouds gave way to beautiful winter sunshine. The family stopped for a pub lunch at Tavern at The Rocks in Two Rocks — an outing their late son and brother would have loved. For Mrs Fisher, it was another reminder of what’s no longer there. “Everywhere you’d go with him I now get reminded,” she said. “You’ll be driving down the road and think ‘there’s Josh!’. “And then you realise: oh, no it’s not.”