Micah and Halima
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.
‘The staff should have a level of education that is specific to their care role ... they're dealing with people with complex problems that they're not trained for.’
Micah is in his 70s and has cerebral palsy and developmental delay.
He went into disability care when he was a young boy. He stayed at his last residence – a large state-run disability facility – for nearly 50 years.
The institution closed down a few years ago, as part of a government initiative to integrate people with disability into community care.
Micah went to live in a group home, which was eventually taken over by a private service provider.
Not long after the new managers took over, his sister Halima told the Royal Commission, Micah began to experience ‘violence ... elder abuse ... neglect ... [and] malnutrition’.
She said the group home had a toxic culture and ‘substandard’ living conditions. ‘It was the scariest time of [Micah’s] life,’ she said.
At times, residents bit him on the head and ‘shoved their fists down his mouth’. One time he was assaulted and ended up with a black eye. Halima said it was his ‘first of several’.
In one incident, a staff member ‘punched [Micah] in the mouth’, leaving her brother ‘very badly bashed’.
In another, Micah had to be hospitalised after being assaulted. Doctors discovered he had sustained ‘severe carpet burns’ to his hips and buttocks. ‘It was just a horrific situation,’ said Halima.
‘We could never prove if it was the other residents or if it was staff belting him up. I do have my suspicions on that, but I don't have any evidence.’
She also discovered the state of Micah’s living conditions. His mattress ‘was worn down, the cover was worn, and there was faecal matter ... filthy ... it was unhygienic’.
It was difficult for Halima to have daily communication with her brother, due to the home’s outdated telephone and visitation protocols.
Micah became so scared that he refused to sleep without lights on. Halima asked that a baby monitor be put in his room to provide him with a sense of safety and comfort. The service provider denied the request, considering it a form of ‘restraint’.
‘It was climbing a mountain all the time,’ said Halima. The staff lacked ‘gentleness ... understanding and ... training.’
One of the ‘saddest’ moments she recalls, was hearing that Micah was often so hungry, that ‘if anybody spilt anything on the floor he would pick it up ... and eat it’.
Halima reported these and a dozen more incidents of neglect and violence against her brother, to the home’s managers. When her complaints were not listened to, she went to the state safeguard commission, which found that the service provider ’had nothing to answer for’.
Halima eventually withdrew Micah from the centre. He now lives in a small group home with just three other residents, who also previously lived at the institution. She is confident he’ll ‘live a lot longer ... a lot safer and a lot healthier’.
Halima said Micah’s ‘sense of humour has come back’.
‘[His] latest trick [is to] hokey pokey down the hallway when he goes to bed ... an amazing turnaround.’
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.