Esther House

Multiple women have told ABC about their experiences living at the Perth facility where they said treatment involved exorcism, and one woman said she was ...

It said it parted company with the founder and former managing director and implemented stricter safety procedures. When Ms Phillips questioned what she saw at the facility, she said she was ordered to live under a series of restrictions. She said her phone and wallet were taken away when she arrived. I was very mentally unwell." Ms Findling said she could not confirm the allegations, but that "there was substance to concerns" and that they were addressed to make sure they were not continuing. Former residents who spoke out this week claim The Esther Foundation took their phones and wallets when they arrived, and that they were prohibited from watching or reading certain material. Alice was at the facility at the same time as Ms Phillips and Ms Taylor, and said she was aware of efforts to remove "Aboriginal spirits" from Ms Taylor. "We had a couple of vans that we used to get around so they drove down the hill and put me in the van and drove me back to the place and had one of the bigger workers sit on me so I couldn't get away," she said. Ms Phillips said her phone was taken away from her and she was not allowed to speak to anyone who was deemed "ungodly" or inappropriate. She graduated from the program, but said she left the facility when she met a Canadian man online and left to live overseas. "And then the theory was that he — God — would show her and then she would say, 'Would you like a cup of tea?'" Former residents of the centre this week told the ABC that the program treated their mental health and addictions by attempting to "exorcise demons". One woman said she was not allowed to speak for two months.