Winnie and Adelaide
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.
Winnie was a victim of domestic violence and lived with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Adelaide, who works as a support coordinator, told the Royal Commission about the difficulties Winnie faced when a new disability service provider took over her care a few years ago.
When Adelaide became Winnie’s support coordinator through an NDIA referral, she phoned her at her residence – a house operated by her new service provider. Winnie was ‘anxious’, as her new service provider had told her to ‘hang up on anyone who calls from the NDIA’. She feared she could be ‘in trouble’ with the service provider just for speaking to Adelaide.
When Adelaide visited her, Winnie told her the service provider had forced her to dump her previous support coordinator. The provider had made Winnie choose between her support coordinator – who she ‘liked and trusted’ – and her dog. She chose her dog.
The new provider also advised that no external organisations could come to support Winnie.
Winnie described being happier with her previous care provider, who had supported her with fitness and craft classes.
‘[They] helped me a lot with being with other people and laughing and talking,’ Winnie told Adelaide, ‘and since I’ve been with [the new provider]] I’ve felt so very alone.’
Adelaide said the new staff did not really support Winnie ‘in any way’.
Winnie told her the staff would ‘generally sit at the dining room table studying and/or with headphones on’ while Winnie stayed in her room. They turned up in the early evening but did not cook. They ordered takeaway meals for themselves and Winnie did the same. They would sleep in the spare room and be gone by the time Winnie woke up in the morning.
Support staff sometimes took Winnie’s debit card for household items such as toilet paper and dishwashing liquid even though these things were shared by staff and Winnie.
When the washing machine broke, Winnie was without clean clothes for several months.
Winnie told Adelaide that before Christmas, the provider brought a small Christmas tree and said, ‘This is because if anyone from the NDIA comes here, it looks like you have a good life with us.’
One day the manager told someone from the NDIA over the phone that they should send all correspondence to the provider, because Winnie was unable to read, write or make her own decisions. Winnie was sitting right there and even though it was not true, she ‘felt threatened … and felt she had to agree’.
Adelaide said that because Winnie was a victim of domestic violence, she was ‘scared of not having anywhere to live’ and reluctant to complain. Winnie didn’t want Adelaide to contact the provider at that time. She agreed, however, to stay in contact with Adelaide by text message.
Winnie has since died.
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.