Few changes, many concerns as Daily Planet brothel gets green light to reopen as rehab clinic

Updated

When Kim (not her real name) walked into the Wellbeing Planet to see a client in April, she was shocked at what she saw.

It still looked — and felt — exactly like the brothel it used to be.

"Nothing had changed," the experienced drug and alcohol counsellor said.

"It was the same king-size bed.

"If you were a substance abuser, or a sex worker, there would be triggers everywhere."

The building that is now a private drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre was, until March, the Daily Planet — a brothel so well-known it was even listed on the stock exchange.

And when it reopened in May as the Wellbeing Planet, the public was invited to look around the premises at Elsternwick in Melbourne's south-east.

"I remember thinking, 'This is not a rehabilitation centre'," one neighbour who walked through on the day said.

"It was still decked out as a brothel. It had a large entertaining room with a bar, billiard tables, gaming machines and paintings of naked women on the walls.

"Every room we went into had multiple beds, group showers, mirrors on the walls and on the ceilings above the beds.

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"There is no access to daylight, no windows, no general amenity that you might want in a facility like that. The exact opposite, in fact."

The Wellbeing Planet is managed by Denise Abadee, who, like business partner Craig McDonald, is an addict-turned-counsellor.

While planning the clinic, Ms Abadee consulted Melbourne forensic psychologist Michael Crewdson, who said he had no problem with the group showers, spa baths and mirrored ceilings.

"I don't see how the internal decor would impact on the community," Dr Crewdson said.

"We're not dealing with sex offenders, for starters.

"If I were designing it I probably wouldn't design it like that, but I don't think the fact that it is on the site of an old brothel will affect it. It will be judged on the basis of its results."

Ms Abadee has a long history of working in the Victorian court system, and it's from the courts that the majority of her clients have come.

Victorian magistrate Charlie Rozencwajg says he's concerned that more and more defendants are asking to be bailed to a private drug rehab clinic as an alternative to jail, when little is known about the clinics they are being bailed to.

"Residential rehab is the easiest way to get bail," he told the ABC.

"Or at least, it's the hardest to refuse. It's a problem for magistrates, because drug counsellors come along on a regular basis, and they're often aligned with a particular firm of solicitors.

"Virtually anyone can hang out their shingle. And it's very difficult for magistrates to discern the quality of the facility that's being proposed."

Being bailed to a rehab clinic also gives the operators enormous power over their clients, who know they'll be going to jail if they are evicted.

In 2016, Victorian Supreme Court Justice Paul Coghlan described the industry as "parasitical" after a rehab operator — who charged clients $15,000 per month — could not provide figures on its success rate.

"I'm not that keen on this industry that has developed on the edge of drug addiction," Justice Coghlan said.

"It's about rigour. You're taking money off people."

The Wellbeing Planet charges between $8,000 and $14,000 per month for residential clients, in exchange for an advertised range of services from yoga to art classes.

However, the clinic says "there are some items which have not been offered to every individual".

Ms Abadee declined an interview with the ABC, but did indicate there are no immediate plans to renovate the building and make it look less like a brothel.

However they have strong support from the Glen Eira Council, which last night voted unanimously to grant Ms Abadee a permit to operate, with some minor restrictions on noise, parking, and limiting the number of clients to 12.

Councillor Mary Delahunty spoke warmly of Denise Abadee, and said the clinic was "… incredibly important to our community and broader communities".

Cr Delahunty did express concerns over the lack of regulation over private rehab clinics.

"It's beholden on us to assess what the private sector is doing, and decide if there's a role for us to advocate for changes," she said.

"Can we put into place permits for use, for standards? Could not the state?"

Victoria effectively has no regulations governing what a rehab clinic should be, or who can operate one, other than a broad code of conduct covering all general health providers.

A 2016 exposé by the ABC's Four Corners program, and this year's launch of a Health Complaints Commission investigation, have done little to change the industry, said Toby Laurence, who operates the private Arrow Health clinic.

"Any person can set up a rehab without any qualifications, with just a 'lived experience'," he said.

"I don't think it's good enough.

"I think you have to have an understanding of the psychology and physiology of addiction in order to provide an ethical and effective service.

"The industry needs some sort of government regulation."

Magistrate Rozencwajg agreed.

"There is a need for accreditation so a court can have some confidence in the quality of the program being provided to an accused person," he said.

"There should be regular audits. We get very little of this sort of information provided to us.

"I can't for the life of me see why regulation can't be introduced speedily.

"And when it does, people are going to have to toe the line and come up to the mark."

Topics: drugs-and-substance-abuse, community-and-society, drug-education, drug-use, health, drug-offences, crime, state-elections, law-crime-and-justice, elsternwick-3185, vic, melbourne-3000

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