LiveBetter: NDIS provider pleads guilty over client’s bathtub burns death in Orange, NSW

A regional disability provider has admitted to serious safety breaches after the death of a young Aboriginal woman who was badly burned in a bathtub.

Kyah Lucas suffered burns to almost half her body when she was bathed at a home in Orange, in central western NSW, by two workers from NDIS provider LiveBetter in February 2022.

Ms Lucas was removed from the bath with her skin peeling, and a temperature control panel showed the water was 60C rather than the usual maximum setting of 42C.

The 28-year-old, who had conditions that left her non-verbal and with thin skin, died in a Sydney hospital five days later.

LiveBetter was fined a record $1.8 million in the Federal Court in April 2024 after the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission took action against it over multiple failures to comply with its standards of care.

On Monday, the care provider pleaded guilty in the NSW District Court to a criminal charge in a separate case brought by SafeWork NSW.

It has admitted one count of breaching its primary duty of health and safety regarding Ms Lucas.

A charge of failing to immediately notify the workplace regulator of Ms Lucas’s injuries was dismissed.

The risk to Ms Lucas, whose conditions left her vulnerable to burns, was being bathed in water that was an unsafe temperature, the regulator alleged in documents before the court.

The organisation was accused of negligent or reckless conduct through failing to implement safety procedures, like audits of the hot water system or double-checking the temperature with a thermometer.

LiveBetter was also accused of failing to develop adequate training for its workers on bathing NDIS clients in line with their needs or how to respond after a burns incident.

In February, LiveBetter said in a statement that while it could not comment on the case, it was working with the regulator and other agencies to ensure a safe work environment for staff and clients.

“LiveBetter continues to mourn the tragic death of Kyah Lucas ... and our thoughts remain with her grieving family,” it said.

During the Federal Court case, Justice Elizabeth Raper heard LiveBetter staff looking after Ms Lucas learned “on the job” and that atheir training assessments were limited to an online quiz.

“The specific harm suffered by Ms Lucas was of the most acute kind, so too can it be said of the harm to Ms Lucas’ family,” Justice Raper said in her judgment.

“There are no words to properly express the degree of the harm suffered.”

A sentence hearing in the SafeWork NSW case will be held at a later date before Judge Wendy Strathdee.