Bramley and Augusta

‘It's honestly been a nightmare and disgrace.’

Bramley, early 30s, has intellectual disability and a rare form of epilepsy.

Growing up, his stepfather was very cruel to him and his mum, Augusta. He would put an electric collar on Bramley and zap him, laughing as Bramley ran around the yard screaming.

‘You don't know what it was like to be treated that way, treated like a pet guinea pig,’ Bramley told the Royal Commission. ‘It was painful. The power was a nine-volt car battery, a wire and dog collar on my neck.’

At the special school Bramley attended, an older boy sexually assaulted him.

The school knew the boy was a sexual predator and promised it wouldn’t happen again. But a short time later, the boy locked Bramley in the toilets and the assault was much worse.

‘Why do you put someone who is predatory in school? People have to be put in with people who don't do that and do such things,’ Bramley said. ‘It has to change.’

In his early 20s, Bramley went to live in a group home with four other residents.

‘I was hoping for happy freedom until I was literally being destroyed.’

One of the residents repeatedly assaulted Bramley.

‘I had to lock myself in the room because he'd come back and back.’

One time Bramley locked himself in the toilet for four hours.

Staff did nothing.

‘Sitting there on their phone, ticking around not doing the job properly. And then at the same time I had to learn to defend myself.’

Augusta made a complaint.

‘We saw nothing change,’ she said. ‘And it got so bad that [Bramley] developed ideations as well, suicidal ideations. His psychologist was very, very scared.’

Eventually the provider moved Bramley to another home with two other residents.

‘One was good and one was more like an animal where he would just come back for more,’ Bramley said. ‘[He] was older and deaf and totally aggressive. Not a safe house.’

The resident would hit Bramley in the stomach and genitals.

‘He'd hit my door and then punch walls, throw furniture at people, like knives and everything.’

When the NDIS started up, Bramley was able to change providers and move to another home.

‘And then it happened again,’ he said.

‘A lot of same thing – abuse, and a client jumping on to you and then swearing at you.’

Bramley feels living with four other people is too many.

‘They put you in with that many people, and then not dealing with problems like that. Not very clean and safe, kept cutting corners, endangering my life again.’

Bramley loves gardening, but one of the residents would rip up his plants and destroy his property.

Bramley is now living in a new home.

‘Since he has gotten away from all the past horrible stuff, he has just pretty much been one-on-one in this house,’ Augusta said. ‘He’s starting to calm down. His PTSD is nowhere near as bad as it was, and he is actually starting to learn some things.’

Bramley loves living by himself and wishes the provider didn’t want other tenants to move in.

‘I can cook meals and I really want to do the old classics. I want to live free. I said to my mum and my new house company I'm with that I want to grow fruit to give them for free.’

Bramley now has a part-time job at the local markets but would love to work on a farm.

‘Helps me with my anxiety levels, it calms me and I love the smell and all the tools and stuff.’

Bramley wants to get a full-time job so he can take his mum on a holiday.

‘It's been that sort of nightmare,’ Bramley said. ‘And for a parent to have a son or daughter to go through all of that crisis, we need to shape for the future, and put an end to it.’