Autumn
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.
Autumn is a First Nations woman in her 30s who lives with workplace-acquired brain and spinal injury. She has mobility issues and experiences sensory overload and seizures.
Autumn told the Royal Commission that in seeking disability supports she’s ‘faced nothing but systematic racism and neglect’.
Her former government employer denied her a pension, so she turned to an Aboriginal community health provider in her regional town.
‘At first I felt safe under their care. I very quickly realised that that care management is not actually run by Indigenous personnel … and they have no Indigenous carers.’
The organisation provided in-home care.
‘I started facing care abuse to the point where it ticks everything but sexual abuse,’ Autumn said.
Support workers weren’t ‘letting her rest’, causing her to have seizures from ‘neuro-overstimulation’. She said there was a lot of ‘medical harm and abuse’.
‘I was left in bed with shingles for two days untreated. I’m immunosuppressed. I had a cyst form on my face, and I never received treatment and it burst … These carers were incapable of even calling my doctors. I was missing medical appointments.’
Autumn said staff neglected hygiene and safety standards.
‘They were leaving trip hazards everywhere. They were letting loads of washing build up in the house … They were supposed to do food checks and I was left eating mouldy food out of my fridge.’
Autumn said the government eventually offered her more hours of care than the community organisation, so she switched providers.
Autumn was living with her father, who is Deaf, when the new support worker first visited.
‘That carer then made a false report that my dad and I were arguing and she felt unsafe.’
Based on that report, the provider insisted Autumn be ‘supervised’ during subsequent support sessions.
‘Having to be forced to be baby-sat like a criminal was the most degrading thing I’ve ever faced. They did not let me have any independence.’
Autumn reported the ‘racism’ to the government department managing her support, but they ‘ignored it’.
‘When you are Indigenous [they] do not want anything to do with you.’
Autumn is still struggling to get adequate supports and is spending ‘several thousands’ a year on health care. ‘I’ve had no assistance off anybody.’
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.