Jolene
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.
Jolene has paraplegia from an injury 30 years ago. As a person with a disability over the age of 65, she says she is one of a group of people ‘neglected in a way that amounts to abuse by the decision of the Government to have a cut-off age for the NDIS’.
To date Jolene has largely managed without support workers. Her partner, who also has a disability, gives her some support around the house. She uses a manual and electric wheelchair, a hospital bed to help her sit up, and a pressure cushion to prevent sores.
‘Once you get to the highest level,’ says Jolene, ‘your state funded equipment cuts out except for an electric wheelchair. Thus no pressure cushions, no hoists, no bathroom commodes, no manual wheelchairs, no pressure mattresses, no continence aids.’
As she continues to age, Jolene anticipates she will need help for personal care, mobility and other functions. Jolene has heard that she can only apply for personal care once she needs it, and then it will take two years to get funding. ‘The inevitable consequence of this,’ she says, ‘is I would be forced into a nursing home, when I don't want to be in one.’
‘Yet people under 65 can have funding for care, equipment, therapy, transport etc till they die. They can stay in their home with the help they need … '
‘This is, to say the least, unfair. It is discriminatory on the grounds of age … we do contribute to society. We are professionals, parents, siblings and friends. We are elders in the disability world and in general society.’
Jolene has approached government organisations, disability organisations and politicians but says nobody wants to hear about it.
‘We have been banished to invisibility.’
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.