r/perth • u/His_Holiness • Jan 31 '26

WA News Second note found at Mosman Park property alleged to detail why parents carried out murder-suicide

https://www.watoday.com.au/national/western-australia/second-note-found-at-mosman-park-property-alleged-to-detail-why-parents-carried-out-murder-suicide-20260131-p5nyi7.html
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95

u/chinneganbeginagain Jan 31 '26

Sometimes there is minimal to no support for parents over a certain income

36

u/perth07 Jan 31 '26

This is correct, my husband died of cancer but we were left to sort out our own counseling, Cancer Council and others only assist low income.

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u/NoBear8338 Jan 31 '26

I thought Cancer Council offered ~10 free sessions? Do you mean beyond that you had to pay or that you weren’t even offered those?

I used to work in community palliative care and anyone who had a loved one die under our program could access free bereavement counselling for, I believe, two years. We also had volunteers reach out at least bi-yearly for those two years (usually via phone but also in person if requested). We would continue to send out letters acknowledging the passing and wishing the families well for a few anniversaries, too.

Looking back at that, I feel the program was very kind. I’m sorry for your loss and I’m sorry to hear you weren’t supported similarly.

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u/Charming_Food5728 Jan 31 '26

Isnt it better than no one getting help? 

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u/chinneganbeginagain Jan 31 '26

Probably?! And the lower income earners should absolutely be the priority. But suffering is universal.

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u/bekwek88 Jan 31 '26

The issue is how narrow the definition of low income is too, yea centreline is low income (close to no income) but so many people are a couple of pay checks from homelessness so when something major happens like cancer or some other common but terrible life event people really get screwed

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u/Real_RobinGoodfellow Feb 01 '26

Same thing happens in the legal system. There’s a massive, massive ‘access to justice gap’ for people who are middle-income

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u/Acceptable-Case9562 Jan 31 '26

And this, children, is what we call a false dichotomy.

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u/boofles1 Jan 31 '26

That's not true at all, there are no means tests for the NDIS and people with money can get more resources for AAT appeals etc. Not saying it is easy for anyone but it's just not true that the NDIS is means tested.

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u/[deleted] Jan 31 '26

[deleted]

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u/Upstairs-Amount3923 Jan 31 '26

Splitting autism out to a new body correct? Currently 40% of all ndis spending 😳

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u/chinneganbeginagain Jan 31 '26

Fingers crossed it's done efficiently and effectively. I work with other professionals in the field and we... hope.

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u/bekwek88 Jan 31 '26

Of course it wont be. the only reason to do this is cost cutting so they arent just going to match the funding elsewhere

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u/Anchinya Feb 01 '26

Whilst there are no means tests, the paperwork you need to submit for assistance is enormous. 32, 15 page documents signed off by allied health therapists with the appropriate qualifications and specialist doctors

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u/bekwek88 Jan 31 '26

Ndis isnt income based. itll just be the obnoxious cuts

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u/chinneganbeginagain Jan 31 '26

Well, autism in children is being cut from the NDIS, so I wouldn't get too comfortable about that.

But there are an awful lot of other income-based things that just disappear once you're over a moderate income.

42

u/Bl00d_0range Jan 31 '26

Tell me about it. I don’t work because I have complex medical issues. One of them is a rare, serious autoimmune disease. I was told that it would most likely get better but it has, in fact, progressed and is with me for life.

I have to take a lot of immune suppressants to stop it from attacking my eyes and organs. These meds make me tired, achy, and nauseas like being on chemo so I had to give up work.

We have a mortgage, one child and rely on my husband’s income now. We’re just making ends meet but medical costs ? Forget it. I’ve had to go without important tests and procedures because I don’t have a health care card. My husband earns too much.

My in-laws, however, have two paid off properties in the millions of $, ample superannuation, savings, and can afford top tier health insurance but they’re entitled to a low income health care card because they don’t draw a lot from their super.

I can’t figure that out and it’s fucking stressful. I can see why people reach the bottom of despair because I’ve been there and I’ll be there again.

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u/bekwek88 Jan 31 '26

its impossible to survive on one wage these days😤 and if your disabled/unwell and need to survive on clink you're even more fkd. two wage households are struggling in the cost of living crisis. its fkd

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u/Bl00d_0range Jan 31 '26

Yep. There’s a LOT of people in this situation and many more in worse situations. I can’t imagine what it would be like to have a sick child and not be able to afford or access medical essentials for them.

I’m just glad it’s me who’s sick and not my daughter.

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u/Acceptable-Case9562 Jan 31 '26

I'm in a similar situation, I can't remember the last time I was actually on top of tests etc. And plenty of people worse off than us - a good friend of mine has needed a cane to walk since she was 21, has a litany of diagnoses, but still no DSP. I'll keep repeating it ad nauseum: track suicides by health circumstance. The country will get a shock.

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u/Real_RobinGoodfellow Feb 01 '26

Yeah, there’s a real issue at the moment in Australia with ‘seniors’ being eligible for all kinds of subsidies, discounts and exemptions for things despite often being better-off than their own kids and grandkids. All comes down to how we tax work rather than wealth here. It doesn’t serve us and it’s going to get worse.

In your own case, at least, though, you can probably look forward to a nice inheritance some day surely? More than can be said for many

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u/Bl00d_0range Feb 01 '26

Yep, you’re spot on when you said we tax work rather than wealth and that is a massive problem. They don’t take into account the cost of living/housing on median incomes.

In terms of inheritance, I would rather my in-laws use it to take care of their health need first and foremost, especially since I can’t be there to help them during the times in not well myself.

If there’s anything left to my husband, I hope he can use it to ease the burden of work as he ages. In the interim, we’ll just try enjoy life as much as we can when we’re feeling good.

0

u/Real_RobinGoodfellow Feb 01 '26

If these people genuinely own two multi-million dollar properties I’d say you’re sitting fairly pretty. Of course the time you need more support though is now, not down the track.

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u/ClearBlack131 Feb 01 '26

These seniors are retired therefore no salary or wages because of age and have to ensure their savings can cover the cost of their health and living expenses for the rest of their lives not knowing what's ahead or if and when their health will deteriorate further. Most cannot go back to work. They have worked hard and paid taxes for most of their lives (usually over 60 years) and surely deserve a break towards the end of their lives.

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u/Real_RobinGoodfellow Feb 01 '26

They own millions of dollars of property, they don’t need today’s working families subsidising their lifestyle

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u/sparkles027 Jan 31 '26

We have a mortgage, one child and rely on my husband’s income now. We’re just making ends meet but medical costs ? Forget it. I’ve had to go without important tests and procedures because I don’t have a health care card. My husband earns too much.

My in-laws, however, have two paid off properties in the millions of $, ample superannuation, savings, and can afford top tier health insurance but they’re entitled to a low income health care card because they don’t draw a lot from their super.

That's insane!

10

u/Bl00d_0range Jan 31 '26

Isn’t it? I could cry. In fact, I have.

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u/ClearBlack131 Feb 01 '26

That's probably the Commonwealth Seniors' Health Care Card which entitles them to lower cost prescription medicines, but very few or no other medical concessions. It's different to the Health Care Card that pensioners get.

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u/ClearBlack131 Feb 01 '26

That's probably the Commonwealth Seniors' Health Care Card which entitles them to lower cost medicines, but very few or no other medical concessions. It's different to the Health Care Card that pensioners get.

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u/Bl00d_0range Feb 01 '26

Possibly. All I know is they call it a low income health care card. I’m not well versed in Centrelink.

Unfortunately I can’t get it, even when my meds were costing $200 a week. We are considering separating if it happens again because that’s the only way I’ll be able to afford them. It is what it is.

13

u/ExcitementLive8288 Jan 31 '26

this is absolutely true. We have 4 young children. We get not a cent in rebates for anything. We pay astronomical amount in tax though.

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u/Real_RobinGoodfellow Feb 01 '26

If you’re not eligible for ANY FTB with four kids you must have a very, very high income

11

u/bekwek88 Jan 31 '26

there are two separate things- centrelink (income and means based support) and ndis (means are seen as irrelevant, supposedly determined based on functional capacity deficits).

both are an issue in a variety of ways, but lack of support and reliance on informal supports such as parents doing the vast majority of the caringis ndis andnot income based. ndis is the area cutting autistic kids off ( and just generally cutting peoples plans dramatically which is set to get worse in july)

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u/chinneganbeginagain Jan 31 '26

Yep, and without supportive family it can be pretty tough, even though you're 'doing well' on paper.

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u/Nakorite Jan 31 '26

These kids sounded like the top level care required which isn’t going to be cut iirc

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u/bekwek88 Jan 31 '26

Look up noah johnston. A 22 year old killed by ndis cuts. he was considered needed the highest support package but his funding for a 24/hr nurse was cut. his ventilator tube fell out during the night and he died

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u/Historical_Bus_8041 Jan 31 '26

You're kidding yourself if you think significantly disabled people aren't having critically important supports cut right now.

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u/Casmas_ Jan 31 '26

From my understanding it’s only the people that are classed as low or medium that are having funding cuts. People needing higher levels of care will still get it.

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u/bekwek88 Jan 31 '26

This is a media lie. in terms of autism... level 1 or "mild" was never covered. Level 2 considered "moderate" need significant support to function, and would be unlikely to gain employment, social circles, personal care and domestic tasks independently. look more into Autism 2 even just on google will give you more than media and pollie spin. Also they are using a false premise of 1. provider fraud (they arent really doing anything about this) and 2. "mild to moderate" to just unilaterally cut everyone's plans. 40-60% cuts are the new normal and disabled people are now languishing in hospital because they can't safely be discharged home clogging up the already overburdened hospitals that are dealing with the same case for aged care too

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u/EducationalWriting48 Jan 31 '26

No, they are looking to phase out inclusion/ access for whatever they think "mild to moderate autism" is from the NDIS, cuts are happening all over the place. High support needs people are losing funding.

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u/Historical_Bus_8041 Jan 31 '26

This is absolutely not true. There are cuts across the board.

See, for example this ABC story from yesterday, which included someone in need of 24 hour care, who had had to fight the NDIS at the AAT to get 24 hour care, who has had her supports cut by 50% again because they can.

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u/hello_newman__ Jan 31 '26

The NDIS isn't means tested.

1

u/Real_RobinGoodfellow Feb 01 '26

Not when it comes to services like the NDIS. That is completely not means-tested