Disabled children are being left at Victorian hospitals and placed in beds for the mentally ill.
The Health and Community Services Union has blamed the situation on a lack of state government services for disabled children.
Staff at the Royal Children’s Hospital notified the union late last month of an autistic child who was aggressive and transferred to the hospital’s inpatient unit for mentally unwell adolescents, despite having no mental illness.
They said his parents arrived at the hospital wanting respite accommodation from the Department of Human Services and spent 30 hours in the emergency department, refusing to leave until they received help.