Lyall, Helga and Milly
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.
‘[Lyall’s] been ripped apart from his family and all his rights have been taken away.’
Helga’s brother, Lyall, has Down syndrome and uses Auslan to communicate.
‘They say he’s non-verbal, but he can talk and he can express exactly what he wants and how he feels,’ Helga told the Royal Commission.
Helga and her mother, Milly, are trying to re-establish contact with Lyall after the department of child protection placed Lyall and his younger siblings with different foster parents several years ago.
‘Every time we’d visit him on access he’d be so happy to see everyone and he’d cry and throw himself on the ground when it’s time for everyone to leave,’ said Helga.
A couple of years ago, before he’d turned 18, Milly was visiting Lyall and he ‘asked to come home’.
‘I said to him I wasn’t allowed to take him,’ said Milly. ‘And he immediately went and got my bag, shoved it on my shoulder and told me to get out. And it broke my heart. And I said to him, “Do you want to come home?” And he said, “Yes.” So I actually took him.’
Child protection wouldn’t let Milly visit Lyall after that. She discovered later that her other children were also denied contact with Lyall.
‘When I found out that they hadn’t had no contact with [Lyall], I rang the [department] and I said, “What is going on? Why are [his] younger siblings not having contact with their brother?” And she said something along the lines of, because there was some fear of me taking [Lyall, again].’
‘Because [Lyall] wanted to run away that day, they’ve blocked [Lyall] from the rest of his family,’ said Helga.
When Lyall turned 18, his family applied for guardianship.
‘We all went to the guardianship board and we agreed for [another sibling] to get guardianship of [Lyall], because we know this is what [Lyall] wants, you know. And it got denied.’
Milly said Lyall was at the hearing, but the board never asked him what he wanted.
‘[Lyall] had no-one representing him or interpreting for him.’
Instead, the board appointed a public guardian.
‘I contacted [a child protection officer] to see what will happen now with access, because I had access through Zoom contact right up until he turned 18,’ said Milly. ‘He said, “Do not contact me at this department anymore.”’
They told Milly that Lyall’s foster parents would contact her.
‘I'm still waiting to hear contact from them … I have not seen [Lyall] since my last Zoom contact which was … a bit over a year now.’
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.