Babette and Rona
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.
Babette, mid-30s, has Down syndrome and is hard of hearing and non-verbal.
She used to be ‘quite outgoing’, her mum Rona told the Royal Commission. She volunteered, loved playing sport, swimming and sailing.
Babette lives in a group home.
A few years ago, around the time of the NDIS rollout, casual and agency staff began replacing permanent staff.
Rona asked new support workers to introduce themselves and their role to Babette at the start of each shift, until she got to know them.
‘If she doesn't know them, she is going to freak out. She is scared,’ Rona said. ‘But it didn’t work.’
Babette’s behaviour started to change. Staff began complaining she ‘wasn’t obeying the rules’. One time she broke a chair and another time she threw a cup.
Management suggested Babette see a psychiatrist. Rona agreed Babette wasn’t ‘coping too well’.
At the first appointment, the house coordinator pushed the doctor to prescribe antipsychotic medication.
Rona was shocked and refused. She agreed to giving Babette a course of antidepressants.
The coordinator scheduled a follow-up appointment without telling Rona.
‘And the next thing, [Babette] is on antipsychotic medication.’
In 12 months, Babette was taking nine different antipsychotic drugs.
‘The antipsychotic medication, as I saw it, was abused. It was used as a chemical restraint. They were high doses. [Babette] was walking around like a zombie, she wasn't able to function. You couldn't get a smile out of her. She just wasn't there. No personality.’
One morning, the home was short-staffed and the coordinator stepped in to shower Babette.
When Babette refused, the coordinator decided it was a behavioural issue.
‘She tried to use the Mental Health Act to get [Babette] to the hospital, but that didn't work. [Babette] refused to get in an ambulance.’
Paramedics told the coordinator only a doctor or psychiatrist could force Babette to go to hospital.
A few days later, Babette again refused to have a shower. The coordinator tried to force her and Babette grabbed her clothing.
This time the coordinator rang the local GP, ambulance and police.
Officers handcuffed Babette, and paramedics took her to hospital heavily sedated.
‘[Babette] has got a fear of ambulances, she has got a fear of police now.’
Doctors assessed her and sent her home.
‘It was brought to my attention about hospital dumping. Well that scared me even worse. That they dump people at hospitals and get rid of them that way.’
One month later, the coordinator again attempted to send Babette to hospital.
‘When [paramedics] arrived, [Babette] was fast asleep in bed,’ Rona said. ‘There were no behaviour issues … They did her obs, they were happy with everything.’
A few weeks later, staff called the ambulance because they didn’t think Babette had had enough fluid during the night.
‘I got in the car and went to the house to try and beat the ambulance, because [Babette] had already been traumatised.’
Paramedics and police assessed Babette and felt there was no need to take her to hospital despite management’s insistence.
‘What they did is unforgivable. It is unforgivable. You don't treat an animal like that.’
Babette became so traumatised she won’t leave her room. She won’t let Rona put the television on or play a DVD. She has stopped eating, showering or going to the toilet.
‘She has just totally shut down … Everything was taken away from her. She has nothing. She spends 23 and a half hours in her room. Nothing. It has all gone.’
Rona made a complaint to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. They told her the provider has a number of ‘red flags’ but she doesn’t know what that means.
The coordinator has since left and a behaviour support specialist is helping Babette.
Rona wants to move Babette to a new group home but ‘it’s quite difficult’ because she is so unwell.
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.