Reg and Xiaoli
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.
‘I have worked in the disability industry for around 20 years, mainly in group homes … I have seen lots of abuses … where I worked. I tried my best to protect the clients, but I felt I was so weak, and so helpless.’
Xiaoli used to work at a group home in regional town for an NDIS service provider. Xiaoli says there was a lot of abuse in the house, but her submission focused on the death of one of the residents, Reg, a couple of years ago.
Xiaoli believes Reg’s death was the result of neglect, and describes his death as ‘foreseeable, predictable and avoidable’.
Reg had an intellectual disability, was vision and hearing impaired, could not walk steadily, and his condition was declining. When a report came in that Reg’s bone density was low, staff raised concerns about his safety in day program activities. The supervisor would not provide the additional services the staff requested. Xiaoli suggested that a risk assessment be done for Reg. The supervisor told Xiaoli ‘then you can do it’, and Xiaoli said she would.
Over the next couple of weeks Xiaoli contacted the supervisor several times seeking advice on how to do the risk assessment. She was ignored and given no assistance.
Not long after this, Reg was on a day program activity. He had a fall and was hospitalised.
Within a week, Xiaoli was suspended. She says management ‘hurriedly fabricated two allegations’ against her. The supervisor phoned Xiaoli to tell her she was suspended and within an hour the CEO emailed her saying it would be best if she stayed away from the workplace.
At a staff meeting the next day, management announced that Reg was dead. It was clear, Xiaoli says, they did not want her around for the meeting.
Xiaoli was not there when Reg fell and she doesn’t know what happened. But she has spoken with other staff members who were there and has read the incident progress notes, and she has serious concerns.
First, the staff member working with Reg the day of the incident was brand-new to the house. She strongly doubts that he had enough training or information about Reg’s particular condition to be able to give him appropriate care.
Xiaoli also doubts there was an adequate level of staffing at the time of the incident. She says, ‘I heard that when [Reg] was taken to hospital in ambulance, there was only 1 staff member left in the centre with 8 clients’.
She also thinks the description of the incident in the progress notes sounds dubious, and she questions if the staff member really took the actions he described, or ‘he was told he had to say it this way’.
Xiaoli reported all this, but her complaint was directed and redirected from one regulator to another. Ultimately she heard ‘nothing but some yesses and nos’.
‘Nothing happened,’ she said. ‘What I had done ended up with the result that I was dismissed. Those who torture clients are still working there.’
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.