Ledger, Augustine and Leanna

Ledger, 13, is autistic and has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). Augustine, his older brother, is autistic and has ADHD.

Their aunt Leanna, a First Nations woman, recently became their full-time carer. Leanna’s mother and the department of child protection are their guardians.

Leanna told the Royal Commission that she and her mum had to ‘push and push’ for Ledger to receive a FASD diagnosis.

‘I think there’s a bit of a stigma … but I feel like some doctors are a little reluctant to diagnose FASD, because it’s a sensitive topic and it has all kind of variables in it.’

Ledger ‘struggled’ at school, and Leanna and her mum ‘fought endlessly and fiercely’ for Ledger’s right to have an education.

Teachers labelled him the ‘naughty Aboriginal child’. They excluded him from class and forced him to sit alone ‘in his own classroom’. The school refused to allow him to attend class excursions without family support.

‘He would sit in his classroom … all day. It was just like a babysitting service … The school didn’t have the skillset to support [Ledger] in his learning.’

One day there was an incident at school. The principal called police hoping they might be able to help.

‘They actually started handcuffing, putting his hands behind his back. They were pushing him down onto the ground, grabbing his legs.’

The school principal intervened, telling police, ‘Stop, this is not what I called you to do.’ She told them to leave. Police said she was making a mistake because ‘he’s just going to get worse as he gets older’. The principal never called them again.

Ledger has recently transitioned from primary school to high school.

The school did not arrange any transition supports and the high school was not prepared or resourced to accommodate Ledger.

Leanna refused to allow him to sit ‘by himself every day of high school doing nothing’. She told the high school ‘he deserves an education’ and demanded appropriate emotional and educational supports.

‘That was a little bit of a nightmare. But at the end of the day … everything has gone really good. And we’ve all put in the hard work, like all – even [Ledger] has put in the hard work.’

Until Leanna’s mum became a guardian, the department of child protection had been Ledger’s sole guardian. They never applied to the NDIS on behalf of Ledger or his brother.

Recently, a new child protection support worker made an application. The NDIA approved $12,000 plans for both boys but this was substantially less than requested and did not meet the boys’ needs.

Leanna said it seemed the NDIA expected them to go through a review process to get more funding, rather than proactively seek the information they would need to approve the initial application.

‘It broke me. I actually broke down and cried. That whole process was horrible.’

The NDIA reviewed the plans. Although they have similar needs, Ledger’s plan is three times as much as Augustine’s. Leanna believes this is because two different decision-makers reviewed the plans.

Leanna believes all government departments ‘need to lift their game’.

‘Don’t be lazy, don’t make it a cop-out that they don’t have the skills or they don’t have the funding. Because we’re just setting up our kids to go through that whole continuum of not participating in the world. Not becoming independent so they can go for a job and be employed. [Stop] looking at them like they’re just an Aboriginal kid that is just naughty.’