Korbyn
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.
‘I have a number of scars on my body, some on my hand, that remind me of suicide attempts for the way that I was treated both for disabilities and for other reasons.’
Korbyn, mid-50s, is a First Nations man. He has Parkinson’s disease, fibromyalgia, physical disability and breathing difficulties.
The government took Korbyn away from his mother as a baby and placed him in a home run by a religious organisation.
Over the next few years, he was physically and sexually abused, resulting in lifelong trauma and physical disability.
As a pre-teen he tried to suicide.
Throughout his life Korbyn has attempted to investigate his history in the hope of finding ‘some sense of identity’. But every time he’s asked for information about his mother, grandparents and great-grandparents, people have dismissed him.
‘I was always told that I did not have an Aboriginal history. I was not Aboriginal, that my skin was too pale, that my face didn't look as it should have.’
Recently lawyers helped him with a freedom of information request. He discovered the government had classified him as an ‘Aboriginal youth’, but the specific details concerning his family connections were redacted.
Korbyn said governments pick and choose when they will acknowledge his Aboriginality.
Not long after he accessed the NDIS, a health worker told him to apply to the My Aged Care program instead because, as a First Nations man, he was ‘better suited’ to this system.
He soon realised the NDIA took the same view.
Puzzled, Korbyn sought clarification. He discovered that as a First Nations person living with a degenerative disease, he is expected to deteriorate faster than a non-Indigenous person, making My Aged Care more appropriate.
Korbyn felt forced into the aged care system ‘12 years too early’. He now finds himself stuck in a grey area between the NDIS and My Aged Care.
My Aged Care doesn’t fund many of the supports Korbyn needs.
He applied for the NDIS and was ‘put through the ringer’, treated like a ‘troublemaker’ and made to feel bad about asking for help.
The NDIA refused to fund a walking frame, telling Korbyn to apply to My Aged Care. But My Aged Care couldn’t fund the one he needed. The NDIA then questioned whether this support was necessary for his disability.
Even though Korbyn’s disability is degenerative, he has to constantly supply occupational therapy (OT) reports to justify his requests.
Korbyn has to sleep at a 40-degree incline to prevent him choking. It took two years of arguing with the NDIA to get a suitable bed.
‘I had to have an OT film me – I'm 6 foot 5, I'm 160 kilos – rolling in a single bed, to prove that I need a bigger bed, to prove that I need a bariatric bed at all.’
Korbyn said it’s ‘ridiculous’ it takes so long to get the supports he needs.
‘As a result of some of those inactions, I can't use the toilet unaided, I can't use the shower unaided, I can't walk unaided, I can't sleep unaided.’
He has applied for a power-assisted wheelchair and is still waiting.
Not long ago, Korbyn was having trouble finding suitable housing and was offered a place in an aged care facility.
He refused and successfully advocated for supported disability accommodation.
Korbyn believes the NDIA sees him as a ‘burden’ costing too much money, so pushes him into the aged care system.
Korbyn wants to get out of My Aged Care and have the NDIS support him ‘as it should’.
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.