Denton
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.
When Denton’s employer discovered he had multiple sclerosis, they fired him.
‘I was still capable of doing [the job] back then,’ Denton told the Royal Commission. ‘But now I can't. So, you know, that's what makes it hard.’
Denton, now in his 70s, was only in his 50s when his employer sacked him. The state government funded his therapy for several years, but one day the government axed the funding program without warning.
‘The actual program that detailed all the things that I could do that were available to me as I progressed with my disability was gone. And no-one told me … That left me in a black hole. I didn't know what to do.’
When the NDIS was rolled out, Denton wasn’t eligible because he was just over the age limit. He was initially given access to the federal government’s Continuity of Support program, but his access was withdrawn because of an administrative error.
‘They just cut it. They just took it straight off.’
With fewer supports, Denton became weaker. To give his wife respite he agreed to enter a nearby aged care home for a couple of weeks.
‘That was the worst two weeks of being in a home because they're not set up at all for disability.’
Denton said staff gave him a bell to ring if he needed help, but he often waited naked for more than an hour for someone to come.
‘During the day I’d go home … I actually used my wheelchair to go to my house to be there so I didn't have to be [in aged care].’
Denton said there were several young people with disability ‘just sitting in their chair’.
‘That's what I found was very disturbing … It shouldn't be like that’.
When he left aged care Denton was so weak, a neurologist put him in hospital.
‘I'd deteriorated so much from not having the hydrotherapy. That's the main thing I need is the hydrotherapy for stretching, which I can't do any other way.’
Denton now has access to hydrotherapy once a week, but relies on his wife to shower, dress and feed him.
‘We get a cleaner in once a week to assist [my wife]. But that's all I get. I don't get anything else.’
Denton said his family bought him a wheelchair and modified his house.
‘We've done it all ourselves. We haven't had any assistance.’
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.