Keith, Jacob and Cody
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.
‘Verbal and physical abuse was a daily occurrence … These men were hostages in their own homes.’
Keith used to work in a group home as a support worker. He told the Royal Commission of the ‘boys culture’ he experienced in this home and of the routine acts of violence and degradation perpetrated on its residents.
Keith told us there were two residents who seemed to receive the worst of this abuse, Jacob and Cody.
Jacob had sensory overloads which would sometimes cause him to lash out at staff. Instead of moving back, staff would ‘relish in the opportunity to physically engage’ with him. Keith witnessed a staff member pinning Jacob on his back to the bed, swearing and abusing him. When another member of staff came in and confronted him, he claimed Jacob had backed him into a corner and he ‘had no choice’.
Staff who ‘just didn’t want to deal’ with Jacob regularly used chemical restraints on him with no restrictive practice authority, and often locked him in his room. ‘These types of strong‐arm techniques were regularly employed in the house and were way over the top,’ Keith said.
‘The residents were regularly verbally and physically intimidated by staff, who enjoyed the physicality of it all and often described their time in the house as "working in the trenches". Their egos were completely out of control.’
Cody is autistic. Keith described him as ‘very literal’. Staff would ‘toy with him' about changing his daily routine, saying he couldn’t go out to get his paper, for example. Not understanding ‘the joke’, Cody would, predictably, have a meltdown. If this caused him to display severe behaviours, they really would deprive him of his daily routine and schedule, ‘using his poor behaviour as a justification’.
Staff regularly degraded Cody verbally and physically. For example, Keith said, ‘staff would draw genitals on his hats or face and laugh at him, and Cody would just be happy to be a part of a joke’.
If Cody asked for the remote to change the TV station, one staff member would say, ‘Bring it back, not broken, or I'll smash your f***ing face c***’. He’d then laugh, said Keith, because ‘that was his idea of joking’.
‘There are dozens of these stories, over the course of 18 months’, Keith said. ‘Incident reports were doctored daily so as to not reflect staff in a poor light, or reveal any illegal practices.’
Keith informed management about the abuse that some staff were engaging in, but they never escalated it to the area manager.
‘Because my claims couldn't be corroborated and [Cody and Jacob] are either non‐verbal or barely verbal, I was told the claims couldn't be substantiated,’ Keith said. ‘"Dobbing" on another staff member was seen as a totally hostile and disloyal action. I was essentially enemy number 1 for reporting on them.’
One of the abusive staff members was given a promotion and Keith had to work under him. Keith’s life ‘was made absolute hell.’
‘I was moved to a respite house, by myself, to work 16 hour shifts with a very violent client … I asked to be moved, relieved, have SOME of my shifts somewhere else, but they refused to move me, citing that they had "no-one else to work with him".’
‘It was there I developed Post‐Traumatic Stress Disorder and I've not worked in 3 years, I lost my career, my house and my partner. I barely leave the house anymore, I've tried to take my own life several times. This has taken me a very, very long time to get around to writing.’
Keith said he hopes the Royal Commission can ‘open up the curtains’ to see what’s happening in these houses.
‘There are now more shadows in the disability sector, not less.’
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.