Jacqui
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Jacqui, early 60s, has an autoimmune condition, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid and osteoarthritis arthritis and health issues. She is unable to walk long distances or use most public transport.
Jacqui told the Royal Commission she has to work ‘because the disability pension is not sufficient to meet [her] medication and disability needs’.
Jacqui is registered with a disability employment service (DES) provider and receives a mobility allowance which covers work-related transport costs. ‘It's worth about $140 a fortnight, so it's not an amount I can afford to throw away.’
Over the past 10 years Jacqui has used three DES providers.
‘We are not wanted by the job providers. They want to deal with people who work full time and people who can go outside to work. They find us too much of a challenge.’
Jacqui would like to work two days a week.
But DES providers ‘absolutely flat out refuse to help [her] find anything more than the eight hours’.
Jacqui suspects the DES is paid a fee for each person they place in a job. Recently, the DES provider asked her to ‘split a job’ with two other people with disability.
Over the years, DES staff have routinely failed to lodge her job plan every three months with Centrelink.
On the rare occasions that they have, Jacqui says they’ve failed to provide the correct information.
Each time, her mobility allowance is reduced or cancelled and she has to battle for months to have it reinstated.
Recently, a DES staff member questioned Jacqui’s disability.
‘She wanted my medical records to try and prove that I could catch a bus.’
Jacqui told her she didn’t have to provide her medical records to DES staff.
The woman became ‘nasty’. She threatened to not only ‘kick [Jacqui] off’ her mobility allowance but also ‘kick [her] off of [her] disability pension’.
‘For some reason, she had got it into her head that I wasn't disabled.’
Jacqui complained to the manager and the Centrelink office, who confirmed she didn’t need to provide her medical records.
Next time Jacqui saw the DES staff member, the woman conceded she wasn’t allowed to ask her for her medical records. Instead, she asked Jacqui to sign a form allowing her to contact Jacqui’s doctor directly.
Jacqui was incredulous the woman was trying ‘a sneaky back way’ to get her records.
Jacqui made a complaint to her member of parliament, and the next time she went to the office the staff member had left.
A new staff member suggested Jacqui apply to the NDIS, assuring her NDIS would fund work-related transport costs.
Jacqui was shocked to discover the application required not only doctors’ reports but also a $3,000 occupational therapist assessment.
The NDIA rejected her application because she was ‘in remission’.
‘I don't think [the NDIA] understands what remission means for rheumatoid arthritis people. It's not the same as cancer ... It just means a temporary lessening of symptoms.’
Jacqui feels she has no choice but to continue to engage with the DES.
‘I have dealt with them now for 10 years, and I will continue dealing with them, but I'm doing this so other people don't have to go through this. Because most people just could not tolerate the amount of abuse I put up with.’
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.