Liana
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.
‘We ALL have something to offer – and sometimes our real strength lies in our perceived weakness … and NONE of us is immune to the challenge of disability at some stage in our lives.’
Liana is blind. She lives independently with her guide dog, Yuki.
Liana told the Royal Commission she experienced significant workplace discrimination and abuse in her last job, in the public sector. She has not been able to work for three years and it has taken her this long ‘to feel safe enough to speak out’.
It began when she was moved to a new section and a new manager, with no consultation. Liana said the move was ‘entirely unrelated to [her] professional skills, involved no such consideration’.
The new section was ‘on the top level, accessible only by steep stairs’ which Liana and Yuki found difficult to navigate.
The new manager was unable to provide Liana with meaningful work. For example, she instructed Liana to copy the organisation’s draft strategic plan from yellow post-it notes stuck on the walls of the manager’s office. Having only ‘2 per cent sight’, this took her several weeks. ‘Senior staff were aware of this and commented on its inappropriateness but did nothing,’ Liana said.
The manager repeatedly mistreated Yuki, adding to Liana’s distress. The new office building was infested with possums and on one occasion the manager encouraged Yuki to eat possum poo. When Yuki vomited, the manager made Liana clean it up. The manager would complain when Liana took Yuki to the park for a toilet break twice a day.
One day, Liana and Yuki were almost hit by a car on the way to work. Traumatised, Liana rang the only staff member whose number she could remember to tell her she would not be in. Liana said that the next day ‘instead of empathy, I was rebuked … for not contacting my manager directly’. Once the manager finished berating her, she added ‘she hadn’t even noticed [Liana] had been absent from work’.
Liana complained to HR and suggested options within the department that would be a better skill and safety fit, but was told it was ‘too difficult’ to move her.
Eventually ‘with failing sight and associated health conditions’ exacerbated by the ‘callous and negligent treatment,’ Liana took leave. She said her confidence and reputation were ‘destroyed by one manager’.
Liana would like the department and the manager to be exposed and held accountable for ‘unsafe, cruel workplaces’.
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.