Gav and Reace
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.
Gav is in his 20s and has cerebral palsy and spastic quadriplegia. He lives with his dad, Reace, in a country town.
‘The thing he loves about the country the most is that he can talk to anyone in the street and they stop and they talk,’ Reace told the Royal Commission.
Gav also loves football and flying.
‘He’ll happily get on a plane and fly interstate to go watch a game of footy because … he can chew the ear off any of the flight attendants in relation to football, which most of them were happy to talk to him about, and he loves aeroplane food.’
Reace is separated from Gav’s biological mother and when Gav turned 18, both his parents applied for guardianship. The office of the public advocate (OPA) instead appointed a public guardian.
Gav wants to buy a suitable house with the compensation he received from the ‘botched delivery’ at birth that caused his disability. However, Gav’s guardian is ‘intent’ on moving him into a group home paid for by the NDIS.
Reace said the guardian also won’t approve Gav’s therapies ‘until she had every report under the sun’.
‘And then when she got those reports she’d say she needed additional reporting to say that it was beneficial for him even though he’s been going through these therapies for [more than a decade].’
Reace said the guardian had only ever met Gav once and had never asked him what he wanted. One day the guardian phoned Reace to say she was applying for extended powers, and he asked her if she’d like to speak to Gav.
‘I said … “He’s right here. I’ll put him on the phone.” Then she said, “No, that would be incredibly inappropriate.” And I would’ve thought that would be the most appropriate time to speak to him and find out.’
Reace said the guardian’s attempt to have the NDIS pay for a group home have caused his family stress.
‘The place that we’re [renting] was put on the market so we’ve had to move … We were hopeful that OPA would’ve thought that a year was enough time to make up their mind as to whether or not [the regional area] was an appropriate place for [Gav] to live, that we could provide him with the services that he required.’
Reace said when he complained to the OPA about the guardian, the OPA forwarded his complaint directly to Gav’s guardian. When Reace called, the guardian’s manager threatened to remove him as Gav’s NDIS nominee if he didn’t ‘toe the line’.
Reace complained to state administrative tribunal about the powers of the OPA. The tribunal gave Reace the power to decide where Gav lives. Gav also has a new public guardian.
‘If they were going to change one thing about the way that OPA works is that they would have a panel of people looking after individuals, rather than individuals looking after individuals.’
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.