Why Do I Believe People Will Do What They Say?

Why Do I Believe People In Authority Will Do What They Say?

Monday morning (gone midnight our time, 9.00 a.m. Brisbane time) 10 days ago, I rang QCAT and to my amazement managed to be put through to the Officer designated to Uncle John's case.

She had not been sent the Report from the Office of the Public Guardian (the one they had promised to send to QCAT!) so I said I would forward it to her myself. She then gave me a direct e-mail address, so that it would land straight in her in-box, and not have to progress through a tortuous route via the general "enquiries" address.

She sounded very sympathetic and understanding about Uncle John's age and frailty, and how concerned we are at the length of time it has taken the OPG to actually get the report sent to us, that I actually began to hope that at last she was taking it seriously and would do everything to expedite the presentation to the Tribunal.

I made sure the files were not too big, and divided them up attached to 3 or 4 separate e-mails; the Officer said they would be with the Tribunal that afternoon.

So that was Monday. On the Tuesday morning, I rang her again, to check everything had arrived safely, but was told she was day off on Tuesdays, and that I should ring again on Wednesday,

Wednesday, 1.00 a.m. As instructed, I called again; but this time she had gone into a meeting. that "...would last for hours."  I said I'd call again tomorrow.

Thursday, 1.00 a.m. - Again, no luck in speaking with anyone in charge; I was just told the officer wasn't available.

No-one can accuse me of not being persistent. Friday, 1.00 a.m. - I spoke to the same woman who had answered my call yesterday. This time, she was quite - what I call - "rudely polite." Clearly I was a great nuisance; she said she "...had to remind me that I must be patient!"

I pointed out I had been patient for a long time: since 20 January, in fact, when I first forwarded the forms to them, and had been told an Interim Order would take 3 - 5 weeks; as it all related to my Uncle, aged 97, with terminal cancer, how much more patience did they think he (or I) should have? For good measure, I added that the Officer dealing with the case had told me on Monday that the matter would be before the Tribunal that afternoon.

I could tell that did not go down well. I was curtly reminded again I must be patient. Clearly I was not going to get anywhere with anyone in QCAT this week.

It is a disgraceful situation, especially as I also contacted the Office of the Public Guardian here in England again, and they were shocked at the attitude of the OPG in Brisbane. If the same concerns had been raised here, it would have been dealt with much more swiftly, and they would be able to make sure their recommendations were carried out. They have teeth!

But we are not in England. We are dealing with the authorities in Brisbane, and that is that.

So then I decided it was time to try and find a Solicitor who would be willing to help.

I rang the Law Society in Australia and whilst they are not allowed to recommend any particular firm, they were able to give me some guidelines as to what to look for. It's still rather like taking a pin and aiming for some location on a map, but I picked a firm that had a normal landline telephone number that I can dial from England, and tried that.

I am hoping I struck lucky. I explained the problem to the lady who answered the phone, and after a short wait, she put me through to one of the solicitors. She had obviously been told the basic details of what help we need, and seemed to have got quite a full grasp of it.

She took my e-mail address and said she would forward details of her firm and that I should confirm our instructions.

I had already prepared the e-mail with the attachments to go with it - photos of Uncle John, the original complaint I made to the Office of the Public Guardian, and their report, so it was all ready to go; I pressed "send" and then there was a hitch! It did not want to go and kept bouncing back to me, and eventually I had to use another e-mail address; happily that worked.

She told me because Johnny still has Power of Attorney she is not allowed to write to him (I'd been hoping a Solicitor's letter might have given Johnny pause for thought!) but she can help us with QCAT and try to expedite things for us.

If we can get a State Attorney appointed to handle Uncle John's affairs, that would be the best outcome, as  I think they would have to uphold the OPG's recommendations that Uncle John's existing relationships should be maintained.

Well, that is as far as I have got. I guess I still have to keep faith and believe someone will now act on our behalf, and quickly enough for a positive result (if there is one) to be helpful for Uncle John before it is too late.