Blythe
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 have a lot of friends on the [Disability Support Pension] DSP as well who are looking at properties and all of us face the same issues. We're all just trying to get by and we shouldn't have to only live in share houses.’
Blythe is in her 20s. She has rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome and anxiety. She has trouble walking, but lives in a flat on an upper floor.
‘Currently my mum pays half my rent,’ Blythe told the Royal Commission. ‘I have a two-bedroom place and I have support workers and it means I can have, like, my art space on the floor, and I can have a friend stay over, so I can be my own person.’
Blythe is searching for a new flat that’s affordable and has fewer stairs.
‘Trying to find like an accessible property, there were I think two places I found that I thought were ground floor. And so I'm lucky, in a way, that I don't like have a wheelchair, I don't have to have room for that. But going upstairs is tricky.’
When Blythe applied to rent the flats, she revealed her disability.
‘I did say, “This would be so good for me.” And while I recognise they can't necessarily prioritise they, yeah, I was rejected for both of them even though I've got a [good] rental history.’
Blythe said to rent a flat she has to reveal her Centrelink income which shows that she has a disability.
‘Because they can't ask “What disability?” they might automatically think that, maybe [I’d cause] property damage. Or, you know, they could assume anything. And I had no way of kind of proving to them that I'm disabled but well enough, or whatever.’
The NDIS supports Blythe and she has a support worker several hours a week.
‘Pretty much anyone can kind of become a support worker. I know there are NDIS little [training] modules and things [and] I literally signed up this afternoon and did two modules in like half an hour and I was like, “This is the training they get?”’
Blythe said some support workers sent to help her were unable to do much.
‘I've had one worker who … was terrified of cats, she was terrified of main roads, she didn't like elevators. And all individually are kind of fine, but I'm like, “Why are you a support worker?”’
Many of the support workers sent to her were university students who wanted temporary or part-time jobs.
‘It's almost like a hospitality job kind of thing that they're just getting into it for a couple of months and then leaving … and for people with disabilities, like, I've been on NDIS for nearly a year and a half and I've had maybe eight workers so far, support workers.’
Blythe said she’s been ‘really lucky’ with her workers, but worries about other people with disability.
‘It feels like there should almost be a minimum qualification for workers, for example like mental health first aid.’
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.