Omar
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.
Omar is in his early 50s. He has cancer and is paraplegic. Omar wrote to the Royal Commission to share his ‘horrendous experiences’ at the hands of the ‘care industry’.
Omar believes the biggest issue is that companies employ people ‘who are unemployable elsewhere with little or no skill sets at all’.
‘They get NO training at all and are sent out to people like me to administer medical … they can’t look after themselves let alone look after a patient with serious medical issues.’
Omar told us about one of his recent support workers.
‘She knew absolutely nothing [not] even the basics: couldn’t use washing machine, didn’t know any medical procedures … in short I had to teach her absolutely everything about everything.’
After working with Omar for about a year, the support worker quit.
‘The company only ever gave her a total of only six hours work per week – the poor girl eventually waking up to being used – she left [and] found a full-time job in aged care.’
Omar believes disability support organisations should be closely monitored to make sure they fulfil their contractual obligations. He says that because of the way they hire staff, they have no ‘regular manpower’. The casual staff regularly either don’t turn up or are late, and there is no-one to cover the shift when this happens.
Omar moved to a new disability support organisation and the situation was the same. They sent a man who had ‘no skill sets’. ‘He didn’t do personal care, didn’t do domestics, didn’t cook. He said he could drive. We went out [on] a 10km drive – his driving left me traumatised.’
‘These are not carers – this company has diminished any chance of me having any type of quality of life – nothing but continual drama.’
‘But I fear for the care of others more disabled than me … how can these untrained people be allowed to continue carrying out medical procedures?’
Omar tells us he has made ‘dozens’ of complaints, but they have ‘fallen on deaf ears’.
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.