Dan and Annika
Content Warning: These stories are about violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation and may include references to suicide or self-harming behaviours. They may contain graphic descriptions and strong language and may be distressing. Some narratives may be about First Nations people who have passed away. If you need support, please see Contact & support.
Dan is a First Nations boy in his early teens. He has Tourette syndrome and obsessive-compulsive disorder and is currently being assessed for schizophrenia.
His mum, Annika, told the Royal Commission that he was ‘carted away in the divvy van’ to youth detention several times last year due to a lack of mental health supports.
‘He's not a normal naughty boy … He is naughty because he's mentally sick. He sees things and he hears things that aren't there … So my son's mental health has actually caused him to go through the justice system.’
Dan ‘dreaded’ the children’s psychiatric unit, ‘where you have restraints … all these interventions … substandard to other cultures’.
Annika said Dan was abused in this unit about a year ago.
‘An incident occurred where four security guards ended up on top of him to restrain him. When he came home I took photographs of all the bruises. The security guard had kicked him in the balls and made him sick.’
The hospital discharged Dan after this incident. Annika said it has since refused him treatment several times.
‘This to me is plain racism. I don’t know how many times he's been taken up to the emergency department to be told to go home and stop being naughty. One mental health nurse told me we’d be best to put him through a therapeutic treatment going through the justice system. I was disgusted. He's not being treated because he's Aboriginal.’
After this, ‘things got worse’ for Dan.
‘My poor son was in [a] boys detention centre here, I think five times after that,’ Annika said.
‘He's genuinely sick and he shouldn't even be in those detention centres. I blame the [hospital] for not treating him properly, and he's deteriorated over time.’
Annika feels the health system has neglected Dan, like other ‘young Aboriginal men ending up in custody’.
Annika said that after Dan’s last release from prison, the NDIS started removing supports.
‘When child protection services got on board, they were there to help us with horrible mental health issues he's had … It really put a lot of resources in him for us to utilise. But now there’s an ongoing issue with the NDIS.’
Annika was trying to self-manage Dan’s complex needs package. The local area coordinator didn’t top it up, so she ‘had no money to pay his support workers’.
Dan’s behaviour and occupational therapists say he needs two full-time support workers, but the NDIS disagrees. But Annika says that’s been the only thing keeping him out of detention centres over the past few months.
‘This is the longest he's been out. And that's because we've got the two care workers throughout the day to help us with his behaviours. This is the reason why NDIS are not happy with us … It's straining their budget. But what can we do? I don't want him being a statistic. That's why I'm working so hard. I won't rest until he's actually at peace with his mental health.’
Disclaimer: This is the story of a person who shared their personal experience with the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability through a submission or private session. The names in this story are pseudonyms. The person who shared this experience was not a witness and their account is not evidence. They did not take an oath or affirmation before providing the story. Nothing in this story constitutes a finding of the Royal Commission. Any views expressed are those of the person who shared their experience, not of the Royal Commission.