Michelle Foster's family feels let down by mental health and justice systems

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The family of Michelle Foster who was killed in a random attack at Collonades Shopping Centre seven years ago, say the mental health and justice systems remain deeply flawed. They're speaking out in the hope that change can still happen to stop more people suffering the same pain they've felt. It comes six months after Coroner found Michelle's death was "not preventable", a finding that's left them feeling let down and frustrated.

Transcript

00:00Andrea Foster holds tight to memories of her daughter Michelle.

00:06I've lost my daughter. I've lost my soul.

00:11For Michelle's younger brother, musician Peter Spiniello,

00:14the songs he writes often reflect on the sister he lost.

00:20Michelle, like my sister, always gave the space for people to be themselves.

00:2636-year-old Michelle Foster was killed seven years ago

00:30in a random attack outside Colonnade's shopping centre in Norlunga Centre.

00:35The man who killed her was 20-year-old Jaden Lower,

00:38who was experiencing delusions caused by his schizophrenia.

00:42The system failed my sister in this particular case.

00:47The deputy coroner found a litany of missed opportunities

00:50in the lead-up to Michelle's death,

00:52including that Lower had been released from prison into homelessness

00:56after assaulting two people in a separate random attack,

00:59and that shortly after his release he told a clinician

01:02he wanted to kill someone, but was released from hospital the next day.

01:0641 days later he killed Michelle Foster

01:09and was found not guilty of murder due to mental incompetence.

01:13Andrea Foster says she can't understand

01:15how the coroner then found the mother of two's death was not preventable.

01:20It makes me angry, it makes me sad, because it was preventable.

01:26The family says the mental health system still needs fixing.

01:29The system is broken, and it doesn't matter how you're trying to fix it,

01:34it's not fixed fast enough, because people are still dying.

01:38This week legislation will be introduced into SA Parliament

01:41that if passed will allow the courts to better monitor violent,

01:45mentally ill offenders under the High Risk Offenders Act.

01:49It's a simple measure which would ensure that any other case like this

01:55does not have to bank on or rely on the fact that they may fall in or outside

02:01of a category of high risk offending.

02:03The government says the standard of continuity of care for offenders leaving prison

02:07has been improved since Michelle Foster's death.

02:10It says while it's not intending to make changes to the High Risk Offenders Act,

02:14it's developing reforms to the Mental Health Act to prevent similar incidents.

02:19I keep going because my daughter deserves better than that, you know what I mean?

02:25She should have been safe, you know, and she shouldn't have had to die

02:31because somebody else didn't do their job.

02:34A push for change to honour a life.

02:38It says the standard of property.

02:42For example, I'm facing the high risk.

02:46It says that it's a low risk.

02:48It affects the law.

02:50It's a low risk.

02:52It's a low risk.

02:54It's a low risk.

02:56It's a low risk.

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