Mikaela

Mikaela, in her 20s, is autistic and lives with depression, anxiety and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Mikaela wanted to tell the Royal Commission about her supported employment with an Australian Disability Enterprise. The employer went into liquidation around five years ago.

Mikaela began as a linen hand, earning $5 an hour. She said that some workers with disability were only on $1 or $2 an hour ‘even though [the employer] get 15 grand off the government’.

Mikaela often worked in hot and dirty spaces and recalled having ‘ice block’ breaks when the temperature reached 35 degrees. The employer didn’t provide workers in the laundry with masks or other personal protection equipment other than mechanics’ gloves for sorting linen, which were hot to use. The lint was never properly removed from machines, and Mikaela said she still has a bad cough and nosebleeds as a result. Linen was covered in faeces, urine, vomit and blood. Workers had to stand near old, dusty and noisy dryers with no hearing protection.

‘The place was very unhygienic. The air quality was never tested.’

Mikaela’s grandfather had warned her against working for the employer. His sister had worked for them some years before and had badly burned her hand in an old-fashioned manual press.

Mikaela believes that around half the workers were injured in some way due to the low safety standards. The linen bags weighed around 20 kilograms each. ‘We had unsafe loading skills.’

Mikaela said workers sometimes came to work under the influence of alcohol and drugs. Some workers called Mikaela a ‘retard’ and made threats.

A while after commencing her employment, Mikaela became romantically involved with another staff member of similar age. The employer disapproved of the relationship and separated the couple. ‘They kept saying that he forced himself onto [me],’ Mikaela said. ‘I lost my rights to my body.’ The employer threatened to take their phones and close out their social media accounts, and made Mikaela do a ‘sexual knowledge’ test.

The couple spent around six months working in close proximity but not allowed to talk to each other. Mikaela recalls coming to work crying and, one lunchtime, she self-harmed. ‘They could see the marks on my arm,’ Mikaela said. ‘They never called an ambulance, they never cared … they never gave a shit … They could see – clearly see I was suicidal.’

Mikaela’s partner finally had enough and left the employer, moving interstate. Mikaela experienced suicidal thoughts. She believes her support worker was aware that she was self-harming, yet still no-one provided any support.

Mikaela wanted training in the ‘pack out’ area doing computer systems work. ‘Being ADHD I could memorise stuff … like a little computer system,’ she explained. Some senior staff backed her request saying, ‘She’s got a brain, she’s smart and she should be paid like a normal worker.’ However, the move never eventuated.

Mikaela feels the employer financially exploited her. She is uncertain as to whether she was paid the correct amount of superannuation and believes the amount paid to supported workers was ‘wage theft’.