Jarrah
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.
Jarrah, late 30s, has a psychosocial disability and receives the Disability Support Pension.
He told the Royal Commission that when he was younger he felt like he was ‘second class … wasn’t equal to the rest of the community or workforce’.
‘Because of my disability people felt that I was a burden and they were obliged to help me.’
In his early 20s he took an overdose of sleeping tablets. Police found him unconscious and took him to a mental health facility. The facility liaised with his parents and, without consulting him, admitted him under an involuntary treatment order.
Three years later, after the order was lifted, Jarrah moved to a townhouse. His neighbour didn’t like him and ‘wanted [him] gone’. The neighbour punched him with a set of keys leaving ‘a scar on the side of [his] head’ and made a complaint to police. Jarrah’s lawyer told him to plead guilty even though he was the person assaulted. Jarrah was convicted and spent a few months in jail.
Following his release, Jarrah volunteered as a support worker at a drug council. He said it felt good ‘giving back to the community’. However he got into the ‘biggest strife’ when a police officer harassed and intimidated him because of his assault conviction. The officer ‘took it upon himself to totally degrade’ Jarrah by covertly recording him and sharing the recording with other people. Jarrah said the police officer made him ‘look foolish’.
Jarrah lost his job because of his conviction which was another ‘blotch on his record’.
Jarrah tried to find work through a disability employment service. ‘They were very unhelpful – that was the biggest insult I’ve ever had in my life, sitting in front of one of them fools’. He said they shared information about his disability and criminal history with employers, which hindered him finding work and made him feel as if his privacy had been violated.
‘They get referred a file and it’s got all this horrible, horrendous stuff about your nationality or your criminality or your disability.’
The only job they found for Jarrah was trolley-collecting at a supermarket. It was an informal arrangement and was two days a week. He would have preferred a full-time retail job, but said the trolley job provided ‘a bit of pocket money’ and it allowed him to buy ‘a bit of food, some steaks … and stuff’.
Around this time he was able to secure public housing. But two years later the agency ‘tricked’ him into giving up his place in exchange for another one. However there was no other place – they just wanted him out. For the next five years the agency ‘blacklisted’ him and didn’t provide him any accommodation.
Jarrah would like to apply for the NDIS but believes he wouldn’t be successful. ‘Statistically there’s not that many disability pensioners with a mental health issue receive NDIS.’
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.