Rory and Esme
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.
‘There isn’t a day goes by when I am not worried about what will happen to my brother.’
Esme’s brother, Rory, is in his 50s and has an intellectual disability.
Rory was made a ward of the state when he was a child, and placed in residential care in a regional town a long way from where his parents lived.
‘[He] was cut off from his family as our parents couldn't drive. I still remember my mother … crying, I never thought she would stop. I live with that memory.’
Esme said Rory once had a seizure in care and ‘almost died’. His care provider didn’t tell Rory’s parents until ‘months later’.
About a decade ago, Rory transferred to a group home closer to where Esme lives. One of the other residents, who was ‘known to eye gouge’, attacked Rory.
‘The other client went for his eyes and the gel in my brother’s eye was hanging down his face when another worker came in next morning and found out that my brother was left that way overnight.’
Rory’s doctor asked the public guardian to investigate the incident, as it ‘had happened so many times in the past’. Esme said it showed the home was short-staffed.
‘There was only one staff to manage the three clients and my brothers' room and bathroom was upstairs.’
Another time, Esme thought her brother had a seizure. She learnt later that it was a heart attack.
‘It took them a couple of years to tell me … and I have been fighting [the care provider] since. It is like hitting my head on a brick wall.’
Esme said she saw a senior staff member verbally abuse Rory.
‘I am sure abuse goes on, but I am never told unless my brother tells me. Most of the time he is too scared to tell.’
Rory developed skin cancers and needed regular check-ups, but staff missed an appointment.
‘After that I took over booking his appointments for his skin cancer. I am happy to say that I have kept on top of his cancer every three months. He now has had cancer spots frozen off. I feel that if I had Ieft this up to [his care provider] I would hate to think what would have happened to my brother.’
Esme said she applied several times to be Rory’s guardian, but ‘every time [she] gets knocked back’.
‘I am sure it is because [the provider] has blocked me,’ she said.
‘I feel my hands are now tied, I am not his carer; I am his next of kin and I don't have much rights to protect my brother … Everything I do for my brother is not easy, it is a battle every time.’
Esme fears for people with disability in group homes who can’t speak and have no family to advocate for them.
‘I have seen things get worse in disability since the NDIS has rolled out, now I can say this is not about duty of care it is about money and I am sure this isn’t only [Rory’s provider], it is right across the disability sector.’
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.