Dagmar
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.
‘Interacting with the NDIS became really mentally draining. Your funding gets used actually trying to find out what services you can have.’
Dagmar is in her 60s and lives with post-traumatic stress disorder, hypomania and fibromyalgia. She’s had an NDIS plan for a couple of years.
‘When it first came in, it’s actually like a shiny new toy that makes a lot of promises,’ Dagmar told the Royal Commission. ‘But not so much now. I mean it’s quite difficult to manoeuvre, understand and manage.’
Because of ‘unclear criteria on what's funded and what's not’, providers often give her conflicting information – or none at all.
‘You’ll talk to three different people, you'll get three different answers. It’s very inconsistent … The staff don’t understand what criteria and you tend to sort of get pushed a bit from pillar to post. I'm paying them for their time, just to sort out something that should be actually really easy … For example, when I first came into the scheme, I had $5,000 for therapeutic services. Now, I was not told at all by anyone that I could actually use that for physiotherapy, and also for exercise physiology. I eventually found that out … but they just say, “Here you go, you sort it out.”’
In one year Dagmar ‘went through six different local area coordinators’ before she found ‘someone who’s consistent’.
‘I sort of persisted and probably spat the dummy a few times … I think it took me 20 phone calls to even say, “Look, I need someone I can talk to. Who do I talk to?” … It’s sort of taken almost a year and a half out of my life. And really, the organisation should be providing the training, not using my funding.’
Dagmar is also concerned about the ‘really poor skill level’ among support staff.
‘There’s lots of small private organisations often who employ people … who don’t understand the sector. They don’t even understand the difference between psychosocial and physical disability. I just think it’s really important for carers to actually have qualifications or at least be moving towards them.’
This has impacted the ‘quality of care’ Dagmar receives.
‘I had a mental health care worker who gets paid, or I get charged, a high rate … For most of the medical appointments, she actually stayed on the phone and wouldn’t interact with me … I was a bit astounded. And I just felt like she seemed totally unprofessional … She was just using me to get paid for the shift.’
Dagmar said the problem is ‘worse’ with mental health care providers.
‘They just are just a little bit slacker about who they employ.’
This has led to providers ‘being a little bit exploitative’ with her.
‘At the moment, anomalies in the system means it’s quite open to providers to take advantage of people’s disabilities and not be very accountable for what they do.’
Despite ‘really poor standards’, she often feels she’s being overcharged.
‘Your budget gets chewed up really, really quickly. I'm sort of actually now financially reasonably vulnerable … I really was considering dropping out of the scheme.’
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.