Finley
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Finley is in their 60s and lives with bipolar disorder.
‘Apart from having gone into hospitals at various times … I always worked and just led what would be deemed as a normal life.’
Finley told the Royal Commission that a decade ago they were in a hospital mental health unit.
Shortly after the hospital discharged Finley, they discovered that someone had withdrawn nearly $2000 from their bank account.
‘The … bank did reimburse me and all the rest of it, but I thought, look, really people need to know about this because I am just a conscientious person who found out about it by reading my statement … But there are many people in those places who I know, and I've seen before who are very, very vulnerable.’
Finley complained to a state government commission. A month later the commission told Finley the hospital believed it was [a relative] who had taken the money and they ‘wouldn’t take this any further’. Finlay said it wasn’t possible for a relative to have taken the money.
A couple of years later, Finley was admitted to the unit again. This time, patients’ belongings were stored more securely in a safe.
Finley said thefts in mental health units appeared to be common.
‘They think, oh, the person's very heavily medicated, they won't know the difference. We can just sort of bamboozle the whole, you know, situation to make it look as though they don't know what they are talking about or doing.’
Finley also said they knew of staff who punished patients by overmedicating them.
‘They really can make life hard for you because they have power over you, you know? They can play, and they do play, all sorts of mind games, you know, with you. And, "Oh, okay, so you won't do that. All right, well we are going to give you another injection … This sort of thing does go on, or it did when I was there.’
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.