Hailey and Gabriela
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.
‘I was told … that just because they have a disability – intellectual disability – they couldn’t understand what it meant to be an Aboriginal person and they couldn’t understand what it meant to understand culture and connection and spirituality.’
Hailey is a young First Nations woman with an intellectual disability. Gabriela, a First Nations social worker, has known Hailey for nearly a decade.
‘I wanted to provide voice for some of the many people that I had the privilege of working with,’ Gabriela told the Royal Commission. ‘[Hailey is] a beautiful young person I started working with probably around the age of 13 … She was taken from Country. She never returned.’
Gabriela said that after years in foster care, Hailey ended up in out-of-home residential care in the city. While living in care, Hailey used illegal drugs.
‘The staff that were put on to care for her were completely inadequate … I’m aware that at times they even transported her to pick up drugs from local dealers.’
Gabriela said the service provider gave Hailey a support plan identical to other residents in the home.
‘It … said the exact same thing. They just changed her name out of it … Sometimes they had actually left the name of another child. So, nothing in her behaviour support plan was actually true to her behaviours and to her experience.’
Gabriela said the poorly-trained staff didn’t know how to support Hailey’s complex needs.
‘She had the highest tier of money for residential care … Just doesn’t make sense to me. You would have a quite unqualified youth worker supporting her that at times became “her friend” and was taking her out to use drugs, hiding drugs in her room.’
Several years ago, Gabriela tried to help Hailey visit her dad in jail.
‘I was told she can’t see her dad because he’s in jail … They’d be like, “She won’t be able to handle that environment because she has a disability,” or “She won’t understand.”’
Hailey’s dad died in jail soon after.
‘She was devastated that she didn’t get to have a relationship and see her dad. And the only time she was allowed to go and have a connection with her dad was when they allowed her to go to his funeral and speak.’
Gabriela said that one day, another resident of the home recruited Hailey to take part in an armed robbery. Hailey was arrested.
‘I had to fight for her to be recognised as a person with a disability and also an Aboriginal person.’
After Hailey was released from jail, Gabriela organised support services for her back on Country.
‘On paper she looked like a troubled kid that needed, you know, two-on-one support, and she was high risk and all of those types of things. But really, she needed connection. She needed somebody who would listen to her.’
Hailey now lives near her grandmother.
‘She was hanging out with her friends and her cousins. She was reconnecting with her family basically. She was spending time with [her] nan. Her little brother was up there as well …. And she wasn’t using ice anymore, so she was doing really well.’
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.