Emmy and Fern
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.
Fern told the Royal Commission about the ‘unfair and discriminatory’ practices imposed on her daughter, Emmy, at their local gym.
Emmy, who has a disability, likes to swim. She is a long-term member of a local gym that has two swimming pools. Her support worker accompanies her when she goes there. The support worker is not a member and uses a companion card.
Following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions, the gym reopened and Emmy immediately booked a session.
But when she arrived she was told her support worker could not accompany her unless she became a member.
Surprised, Emmy rang her mum. Fern called the gym to get a better understanding of what the issue was. She was told ‘their head office wanted to offer paid members the most opportunity to utilise the gym’.
Fern argued that this wasn’t fair. Essentially all support workers who support clients at different gyms would need to become members of several gyms. ‘This appears to be extorting memberships from support workers,’ she said.
Staff at the gym told Fern the decision was not theirs but ‘came from their head office’.
According to those in the head office, she said, ‘my daughter is two people not one’.
Fern and Emmy are disappointed. Fern said the organisation is ‘normally quite supportive’ and this ‘arbitrary decision from a faceless "head office" is yet another example of the devalued status that people with disability experience daily’.
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.