The NSW families minister has ordered an urgent review after a convicted triple killer was found to be living with two foster children, despite the department being made aware of the arrangement in December.
Reginald Arthurell, who now goes by Regina, was convicted of stabbing her stepfather to death in 1974, bashing a man to death in a robbery in 1981, and beating her former partner to death while on parole in 1991. She was released on parole in 2020.
Late last year Arthurell moved into accommodation with a Sydney grandmother and two foster children – a fact that only came to light when the woman’s daughter called into 2GB radio to raise the alarm. She said her mother met Arthurell while working at Westmead Hospital, and the former inmate was a patient.
Families Minister Kate Washington told the station she was only made aware this week that Arthurell was living with foster children while on parole, despite the Department of Communities and Justice being informed in December.
“Something has gone terribly wrong here, and I want to be as open and transparent and accountable as possible,” Washington said.
“The department was made aware of the situation in late December, and some very poor decisions were made at that time … I wish I could turn back the clock, but I can’t.”
Arthurell was separated from the foster children, aged 12 and 14, earlier this week – only after the arrangement was revealed on 2GB.
Washington has now ordered an urgent review into the decision-making process that allowed Arthurell to live with the children, and committed to making any changes to ensure such an incident never happens again. The minister said there had been multiple system failures, given the woman’s daughter had raised the alarm with police and the Department of Corrective Services.
When Arthurell was subjected to an extended supervision order in 2021, NSW Supreme Court Justice Richard Button said despite the killer making an effort at rehabilitation and living an isolated and difficult life in the community, that Arthurell has a “proclivity to violently terminate the lives of fellow human beings”.
“For her to be completely at liberty in the community would simply be far too dangerous,” Button said.
That supervision order expired in 2024. NSW Attorney-General Michael Daley told a budget estimates hearing on Wednesday that the committee that assesses high-risk offenders did not refer Arthurell to the attorney-general for a further supervision order.
Arthurell spent almost 39 years in custody for the three deaths, which occurred while presenting as a man; she now identifies as a transgender woman. Arthurell was living in an aged care facility for a short period after her release from prison, but was forced to leave when her criminal past came to light.
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Jessica McSweeney is a reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald covering urban affairs and state politics.Connect via email.