Maleah
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.
When Maleah came to Australia in the late 1990s, she got a job as a support worker in the disability sector.
‘Ninety-nine per cent of us were from a migrant background,’ she told the Royal Commission. ‘We needed a job and not knowing Australian laws, not knowing about human rights at this time, we had to follow procedures.’
Maleah discovered some of the procedures violated her clients’ human rights.
One client, Georgie, liked to get up at 2 am, have a shower and wake everyone else so they could have a shower.
Support workers were expected to implement a behaviour management strategy that had been in place for many years.
If Georgie wouldn’t go back to bed, support workers had to carry her outside and leave her there.
‘It didn’t matter whether it was four degrees outside or one degree or whether it was a warm summer’s evening … We physically carried her and took her outside.’
Sometimes, even though it was freezing, Georgia would strip off all her clothes and run around.
Maleah, increasingly concerned about Georgie’s safety, spoke to the other support workers and they decided to allow her to have a shower when she woke up. The supervisor on duty helped them make sure she didn’t wake up the other residents.
‘That strategy actually worked very well. And then she came to the understanding that, “Yes, if I want a shower at 2 am in the morning, that’s my right but I don’t have to get anyone else up.”’
When the provider found out what was happening they disciplined Maleah for changing the behaviour management plan.
Maleah became the occupational safety representative for the provider and studied the relevant laws to better understand its obligations to both staff and clients. She told them, ‘While you have to provide a safe working environment for the staff, you have to provide a safe living environment for our clients and a safe system to manage their behaviour.’
More recently, Maleah supported another client. Alwyn was blind, had intellectual disability and pica behaviours. He would pick up anything on the ground, usually grass and dirt, and eat it.
Alwyn was ‘an absolute beautiful, beautiful man’ and staff didn’t let him out of their sight.
‘Sometimes if we had a casual staff that was unfamiliar with him, some of us regular staff, we won’t even take our lunchbreak. We were so scared.’
Maleah repeatedly asked the provider to fence off part of the backyard and install a gate so Alwyn could go outside safely.
‘I think we fought over a 12-month period, and we did not get the gate,’ Maleah said.
One day, a casual staff member who’d never worked with Alwyn before lost sight of him.
They found him outside, unconscious. Alwyn’s mouth and throat were stuffed with so much grass and dirt that neither staff or paramedics were able to perform CPR. They were unable to revive Alwyn, and he died.
A short time later a young woman, also with pica behaviours, moved into the home.
Maleah demanded the provider put in a fence telling them ‘We are not allowing another young person to come in this house and lose their life.’
The provider agreed and finally installed a fence and gate.
Alwyn’s death still ‘weighs heavily’ on Maleah.
‘[It was] a blatant breach of his rights … He needed to be safe in the house. He needed a gate. He needed the fence. That’s all.’
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.