Joni, Kale and Lizzie
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.
Joni is in her 30s and has a cognitive learning disability.
‘People take her the wrong way sometimes because she talks loud,’ her mum Lizzie told the Royal Commission.
Joni’s partner also has a learning disability. Several years ago, Joni fell pregnant.
‘We were really, really excited.’
Joni had a son, Kale, but after the birth Joni needed an operation. She’d never had anaesthetic before and it made her violently sick.
‘The nurse was really rude and she documented on the piece of paper that [Joni] wasn't bonding with [Kale]. But she just come out of anaesthetic and she wasn't, you know, with it,’ Lizzie said.
Several weeks later Joni was home and ‘looking after [Kale] perfectly fine’ when she became ill again. She told a hospital social worker at the time that the pain was so severe she felt ‘like burning the house down’. Doctors diagnosed postpartum sepsis, gave her antibiotics and ‘put her in the mental health ward instead of being in a normal ward’.
‘There are all these mental doctors around her trying to prescribe her all these tablets. And she, you know, was just about to die from this. She had the strongest antibiotic going through her.’
While Joni was in hospital, child protection officers took Kale away.
‘I said, “Well I'm [Kale's] grandmother and [Joni's] mum and I work with children. I'm from a big family. I've brought my two children up on my own.” And they said, “No, it's in our hands now.”’
Later when Joni asked for Kale, a child protection officer told her she couldn’t see him.
‘[Joni] ran outside the building and down the street and I ran out after her to see if she was okay, because it's a hell of a shock.’
Child protection insisted Joni have a psychological assessment, which Lizzie said showed she’s ‘only got a cognitive learning disability’.
However, a judge ordered Kale remain in foster care for two years. Joni did a parenting course to try to get her baby back. When Lizzie said she’d care for Kale, child protection officers described her as ‘toxic, malicious, vexatious’.
‘They even wrote it down … I just thought, “Oh God I can't believe it.” And [Joni] said, “No, mum's not toxic, she helps everybody” … I just think it's unbelievable.’
Lizzie said during another court hearing, a judge ordered that Kale be kept in care until he’s 18.
‘It just went over the phone because the pandemic was on. They said we couldn't come to court and it was a 10-minute phone call to say, well, the judge said, “I don't think either parent is capable.”’
Kale’s still in foster care and Lizzie’s worried about his mental health.
‘It's [an] error of law what they've said about [Joni]. She hasn't got a severe impairment, … She's got a cognitive learning disability and not severe impairment,’ Lizzie told the Royal Commission.
‘Even her partner, he's done nothing wrong either. Like they've taken this child for 18 years to these people and we're really worried. And no matter what we say to child safety they just disregard it.’
Joni is allowed to visit Kale, but a child protection officer told her not to call her son ‘darling’.
‘She can't mention the word “home” … [Joni] doesn't know where to turn and she's just been so quiet and she just takes everything in and just keeps copping it and copping it.’
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.