Mabel and Paisleigh
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.
Mabel is a First Nations woman in her 30s who has a genetic disorder that causes ‘difficulty walking, talking and swallowing’. She is non-verbal and has multiple secondary illnesses. Her Aboriginal disability support worker, Paisleigh, helps her with most daily tasks.
Paisleigh told the Royal Commission that when Mabel’s condition started to deteriorate a few years ago, living independently ‘was no longer a safe or possible option’ for her.
Mabel moved into a supported independent living residence where she was supposed to get eight to 10 hours of support a day. Instead, Paisleigh said, support workers were turning up only briefly three times a day to administer medication.
‘The support worker would also assist her with showering every second day … And then someone would come every now and again to do a bit of cleaning and cooking.’
For more than six years, the disability service provider charged for the hours set out in the service agreement. On top of client neglect was ‘financial abuse’, Paisleigh said.
‘What they were claiming and what they were providing were two different things.’
Mabel’s funding included passive overnight care.
‘This meant that at the very least a support worker would be sleeping over at her accommodation at her request.’
That never happened.
‘Support workers would begin a shift at her house, but then sleep next door at the home of another client.’
During this time, Mabel became depressed and ‘experienced thoughts of self-harm’.
‘This led to her attempting to slash her wrists. When she requested medical treatment for the cuts on her wrists, the service provider refused to arrange this for her. One support worker told her, “You did this to yourself.”’
Paisleigh said the lack of support made Mabel ‘feel helpless’.
When Mabel vented her frustration to staff, two support workers called her 'a fucking selfish bitch and a slut' and threatened her with assault.
‘They were constantly speaking to her in unpleasant manner. In another instance, she was called “a dumb selfish bitch” … When [Mabel] reported this verbal abuse to her support coordinator, the response she received was, “They are trying to do their jobs.”’
Paisleigh said the exploitation continued when Mabel moved interstate, and she ended up homeless and self-harming.
‘So as a provider, a non-verbal disabled Aboriginal woman was left alone without support in a town where she knew almost no-one. They had a duty of care.’
The provider also ‘quarantined her funding’, so it was ‘inaccessible to any other support provider’. Paisleigh said they were claiming ‘hundreds of thousands of dollars’.
‘And this was after they ceased providing the services. They were billing for services she was no longer receiving.’
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.