Alanna
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.
‘If we don’t speak up nothing’s going to get done … I just want to make it right for these children of ours.’
Alanna, a First Nations woman, has a psychosocial disability. She also has a daughter with disability.
For almost 20 years she worked across two disability support units at a secondary college.
In the mid-2010s, at a staff party, a teacher’s aide shared explicit photos of students with disability.
One photo showed a First Nation’s boy with his shirt off in the toilet. Another showed a student running away with his nappy falling off. He also showed photos of students banging their faces against things.
Staff thought it was funny and laughed. Alanna was horrified – the students were all non-verbal and couldn’t tell anyone what was happening. She told him to ‘put the phone away’ and ‘shove it where it fits’.
The next morning Alanna spoke to the teachers who were at the party and asked if they were going to report the incident. Not only is it mandatory, she told them, but it was ‘the right thing’ to do. ‘They just looked at me and shrugged.’
Alanna reported the incident to the principal.
From that moment on, Alanna said, they ‘really bullied’ her.
Staff turned against her, ‘sticking up’ for the teacher’s aide. The principal moved her to another disability unit, banned her from talking to the parents of the children she taught, and walked her out of the gate each afternoon. She told her to remove the ‘Aboriginal people’ from her phone so she couldn’t tell the children’s parents. When Alanna applied for another job the principal told her, ‘Don’t think you’re going because you’re not leaving here.’
During this time Alanna saw the teacher’s aide watching children with disability using the toilet, through a partially open curtain. She believes he may have sexually abused a student, but she was prevented from talking to the student.
‘They stopped me being with him and he’s an Aboriginal boy. I wasn’t allowed to talk to him at school. I wasn’t allowed to help in class anymore.’
One day Alanna walked past several of the staff who had been bullying her and they started laughing at her. She snapped. ‘I’ve had enough of you now … You’re not hurting me, you’re hurting the kids … You watch me. I’ll push this till the day I die.’
Alanna reported the incident to the department of education. The teacher’s aide resigned from the college before disciplinary action could be taken.
Alanna contacted the children’s guardian and was led to understand they were investigating the matter.
Later, she attempted to report the incident to police, but there was nothing they could do because children were over 18 by that stage and had to report the matter themselves.
Alanna believes the teacher’s aide still works with children with profound support needs.
‘I tried my hardest to stop him working with kids. I don’t think people should work with kids when they’re doing that.’
Alanna has left the college.
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.