Ngarra
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’re struggling hard. Please listen … We need help.’
Ngarra is a First Nations man living in regional Australia.
He has a physical disability and uses a wheelchair.
Prior to being discharged from hospital, a disability service provider gave Ngarra a wheelchair to use in his home and a scooter to use outside.
‘They give a second-hand scooter, second-hand wheelchair, not even a brand-new,’ he told the Royal Commission. ‘We need brand-new. Stop treating us this way.’
Ngarra’s house is ‘very, very old’, with steps leading onto a veranda.
The wheelchair didn’t fit through most of the doors in the house.
‘I have to go really slowly … Otherwise, stuck.’
Ngarra couldn’t access the kitchen, laundry or his bedroom.
Ngarra applied to the NDIS for a new wheelchair, a new shower chair and home modifications.
‘You know, they promised me and promised me they’re going to make it wider. That was last year. But nothing was done.’
Someone did come and install a ramp but they didn’t consult Ngarra.
The ramp is too steep, in the wrong place and poorly designed.
Dogs drag things up the ramp and into the house and snakes can get in the house.
‘Grandchildren play around there, but we can be bitten by snake or dog.’
There is no concrete path from the ramp to the road. When it rains the ground at the bottom of the ramp turns to mud and becomes slippery.
Ngarra often can’t leave the house because he can’t get his wheelchair from the ramp to the road.
Trapped at home, his power bills are much higher than before. Some weeks he has to choose between paying for food or power.
If Ngarra doesn’t pay the power bill, the food in the fridge spoils.
‘All getting rotten because no power … All the meat, we’ll have to throw it away for dog.’
The house has become infested with cockroaches. Ngarra wants help to clean it and fix up some of the holes.
‘Why don’t they fix all these things for us?’
‘We’re living in old houses. We’re living with the cockroach and mouse and everything. When are you going to start thinking about and giving us a good thing, cleaning houses? Who’s going to fix our house? Who’s going to paint our houses?’
Ngarra recently had a fall because his shower chair is broken.
‘I can’t have shower now. I have to go with the wheelchair and slowly sit on the floor, clean on floor of shower.’
Ngarra believes he is being treated unfairly.
‘Just because I’m an Aboriginal bloke. If I was a white man here sitting, they will do it quickly. I’m another colour.’
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.