Damir and Estrella
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.
‘The tape is … distressing … because you can hear him crying and pleading for help.’
Damir is in his late 20s. He has cerebral palsy, intellectual disability and is blind. He uses a wheelchair and has a feeding tube.
Estrella adopted Damir when he was a toddler. She told the Royal Commission Damir is very social and loves going to the shopping centre because ‘everyone knows him’. She describes him as a ‘good kid’.
A few years ago, Damir’s behaviour changed and he started ‘playing up’. He didn’t want to go to his day program. Estrella would dress him and he’d undress himself. He was making himself sick every morning.
Estrella wondered if something was happening at the day program. A staff member told her some days Damir seemed ‘so scared he wouldn’t get out of the bus’.
Estrella decided to put an audio recorder in Damir’s bag. ‘It all came out what they’d been doing to him,’ she said. ‘I was shocked to hear what I heard. It was absolutely disgusting.’
On the recording, Damir is on a bus with three support workers. He repeatedly tells them he feels sick and wants to go home. The support workers tell him they’re going on an outing. Damir says he doesn’t want to go. They discuss their options and decide to trick Damir. They tell him they will take him home but instead drive to the outing.
On the way, Damir is distressed and crying, telling them he is sick and wants to go to the toilet. They swear at him and call him a baby. They tell him bad things will happen to him and his mother won’t want him unless he’s good.
At one point, Damir tells them he wants to go to the toilet ‘now’. He yells, asking them to stop the bus. Damir has a bowel motion and vomits. They berate him, calling him ‘disgusting’ and ‘lazy’. The tell him they’re not cleaning him up, he has to do it himself.
One worker says she hopes someone ‘bite you and shit on you and rip your head off and shit down your neck’. Damir hits out at her and tells her to shut up. She taunts him telling him she’ll keep talking just to annoy him. He cries and gets more upset repeating he wants to go home. One worker says, ‘Stop fucking crying. You have no right to cry. Are we beating you up? Are we hitting you? No.’ Another worker tells him if he doesn’t stop crying they’ll take him to her house and lock him in the back with the possums and the cats and they can ‘scratch his face off’.
When they arrive at the destination Damir won’t get off the bus. They leave him there without checking on him for at least 50 minutes. Damir can be heard yelling and crying and talking to himself. He becomes so distressed he pulls out his feeding tube and stomach contents spill over his clothes and seat. When the support workers return they’re furious and swear at him, telling him to close the tube. He asks for water but they ignore him.
Estrella reported the abuse to the state government disability commissioner who directed the day program provider to report it to the police. The commissioner investigated and found the three support workers violated Damir’s ‘worth and dignity’. Estrella said one worker was sacked, one left, one is still working for the organisation.
It took Damir about a year to trust support workers and to be able to travel on a bus again.
Damir is now at a smaller day program and is much happier. Estrella said, ‘He’s got a really happy life … so, it’s just a shame what happened to him.’
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.