Holland and Knox
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.
Holland has a moderate intellectual disability and is autistic. When he left school a few years ago, his main focus was finding work.
Holland’s dad, Knox, told the Royal Commission his son has tried to find work through non-government disability support services and NDIS programs, but so far everything has been unsuccessful. This has affected Holland terribly. ‘He has no self-worth,’ Knox said.
One employer paid Holland ‘what they deemed his “work capacity” which amounted to $15 – $20 dollars a day (minus his bus fare)’. After a while he felt undervalued. He went to Centrelink for a work capacity review but it soon deteriorated, due to a combination of staff turnover, staff forgetting meetings and staff having ‘nothing really to offer’.
At one point Holland took the initiative and handed out resumes in the local industrial area, but this came to nothing and he feels he has failed.
As a result, Holland’s behaviours have started to spiral out of control. He is ‘self-harming and self-medicating with alcohol’ and engaging in ‘risk taking behaviours’. At times he has become violent and aggressive ‘to the extent emergency services have been called’.
When Holland was at school he used to regularly touch base with his psychiatrist, who would review his medication and help Knox with strategies to assist Holland. Knox found this ‘highly beneficial and successful.’
Currently Holland is not seeing a psychiatrist. Knox’s wife has contacted more than six in the area and has been told their books are full or, in one case, that Holland’s needs are ‘too high’ to deal with.
Professionals have told Holland’s parents that their son is suicidal, but they can’t find any professional support for him. He needs to have someone with him at all times. An NDIS support worker is with him two days a week, his grandparents support him for two days and Knox’s wife stays with him the remaining weekday.
‘Caring for someone with a disability is hard work. Having a child with a disability is a challenge not just emotionally but financially and at times physically.’
Knox says he would like funding to be based on ‘the real needs of the individual’.
‘It is a struggle to have the NDIS acknowledge how desperate we are for support in this area and they can only work to a formula based on their framework and funding parameters.’
Holland needs help urgently.
‘As parents, we are desperate.’
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.