Elodie

‘In Australia we are meant to be in one of the luckiest countries in the world, unless you have a disability.’

Elodie is in her early 30s and lives with complex post-traumatic stress disorder.

‘I’ve been on a disability pension for probably over 10 years,’ Elodie told the Royal Commission, ‘because of childhood trauma that was over a very long period of time, and also institutional child abuse, sexual abuse.’

Elodie takes antidepressants. One day, when her doctor was away, a new doctor refused to renew her prescription.

‘He looked at my file and said, “Why are you still on antidepressants? You shouldn’t be depressed anymore.” … He wouldn’t actually give it to me. He kept lecturing me and yelling at me, and I actually broke down in tears.’

Elodie went to another doctor, who renewed the prescription.

‘It’s just shocking that a psychiatrist can diagnose me, other mental health professionals can diagnose me, but then … I go and see one doctor, and … they feel that they have the right to undermine a whole bunch of other people who specialise in mental health.’

Elodie’s disorder prevents her from working. She receives a Disability Support Pension.

‘But after a few years and working with my therapist, I thought I might like to go off and try and study, get a job … because it would make me feel good, and I wanted to integrate into society.’

She asked Centrelink to reassess her, and was told she could work 15 hours a week.

‘I went out and I tried, and I couldn’t do it. It didn’t work.’

Elodie told Centrelink, which insisted she keep looking for work.

‘They sit there, and even though you have an exemption, they sit there and lecture you and tell you, “You could sell books on eBay. You could do this. You could study,” and you’ve stood there, you’ve handed them the letter from the psychologist saying I cannot work, and they still sit there, and they make you feel like shit.’

Elodie told the Royal Commission that she’d prefer to be ‘working, making a hundred thousand dollars a year’.

‘I would feel so much better about myself if I could be that person.’

She and her husband, who has a physical disability, have been saving to buy a house. However, Elodie says, ‘banks don’t like to loan to people who are on pensions, a disability pension’.

‘The problem with rentals is that they’re not stable. You can be here for a year and then they kick you out.’

When Elodie asked her member of parliament if there was a scheme to help people with disability buy their own home, they suggested she move to the country and get a job on a farm.

‘I brought up that there was an issue with the housing, and their only solution was to move me out into the middle of nowhere. To me, that just goes to show that people with a disability are just seen as a massive burden on society. They want us out. They want us gone. They don’t want to deal with us. We’re too much of a problem.’

Elodie said many people don’t understand the difficulties people with disability face trying to access services and stable housing.

‘People with disability don’t want to be disabled. We want to go out and do these things, but there is something stopping us from performing in society in the same way that other people can perform, and it’s not a choice.’