Following the publication of the Grace Report earlier this month, many questions have been raised about the level of care that people in our system have been receiving, and whether it is in fact fit for purpose.

The Grace Report, formally known as the Farrelly Commission report, is a recently published investigation into the case of ‘Grace’, a non-verbal woman with severe physical and intellectual disabilities who was placed in foster care in 1989.

The investigation was set up in 2017 to examine her case after her foster father faced allegations of sexual abuse.

Reaction to the Grace report: 'Have we actually heard from individuals who live with the cost of living in that foster home? I don't think we have.'

"Emma", whose sister "Sarah" was in the same foster home as Grace, about how she and her family feel about the findings. pic.twitter.com/gLanIHNkSe

— NewstalkFM (@NewstalkFM) April 16, 2025

The report found no findings that ‘Grace’ had been either sexually or emotionally abused, but did find that she was subject to neglect in relation to her personal and dental hygiene.

Tracy Carroll, whose daughter is non-verbal and suffers from a range of medical needs due to a traumatic brain injury at birth, said “the biggest voice missing in this report was Grace”.

“There was extensive submissions made on behalf of Grace and they were omitted from the report,” she told The Hard Shoulder.

“We have this embedded institutionalised mindset in our country, we may have removed the institutions that people with disabilities are placed in, but we haven’t removed that mindset.

“All this investigation did was leave us more questions than answers; and now we’re looking for an investigation into an investigation.

“Grace could be Willow, and until you add that human value to it, I don’t think people are really seeing the gravity of this situation and how we have a bias against people with disabilities.”

'No value for a person with a disability'

Ms Carroll said reports and investigations miss the core of the issue, which is a “complete disregard and no value for a person with a disability”.

“We continuously gaslight people with disabilities,” she said.

“We have never, and we are still continuously, not investing adequately in services.”

According to Ms Carroll, a lack of support for her daughter’s needs affects almost every aspect of her families' daily lives.

Main image: Sad woman in wheelchair looking out the window and thinking. Image: Igor Stevanovic / Alamy. 3 August 2019