Pablo
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.
Pablo is in his 60s. He was ‘a normal person, an able-bodied person’ until a couple of years ago when he acquired a brain injury. He told the Royal Commission his ‘whole life changed from that point on’.
‘What it’s meant for me is a huge life-changing situation where I have to depend on unscrupulous people that are coming at me for my NDIS funding. So, like, I’ve hired providers to provide me with services and they plundered my funding and have given me no services.’
Pablo described his first provider as a ‘toxic organisation’ that ‘targeted’ him while he was still in hospital after acquiring the brain injury. A social worker offered to help Pablo apply for NDIS funding. Much to his surprise, it ‘was approved in three days’. ‘[Then the provider] came and told me a great story about how they were going to help me when I left hospital.’
Prior to the incident, Pablo had been living in his own home, but it was no longer accessible or safe for him. Pablo ‘signed over everything’ to the provider so they could set up a place for him to stay.
The organisation rented a large house for Pablo with ‘a huge garden’. They put in ‘brand-new leather lounges’, a ‘huge widescreen TV’ and brand-new whitegoods.
Pablo kept asking them, ‘Why did you rent this house? It’s too big for me.’
‘I was only new on the NDIS. I didn’t understand. But since then, I’ve learnt … and I can tell you that they were playing a confidence game with me.’
‘They took one-third of my funding to set the house up,’ Pablo said. ‘Then after three weeks they gave me a weeks’ notice to find somewhere else to live … The intention was to set up the house and get rid of me.’
Pablo has experienced exploitation and poor service from ‘a number’ of disability service providers. For example he told us about one female support worker who insisted on sitting in the bathroom and watching him shower. Another support worker called the police on Pablo when he wanted to hang on to the group home phone for a bit longer because he was waiting for a specific call.
Pablo said he made ‘a lot’ of complaints directly to the organisations. ‘I was asking to be treated like a human being.’ But he believes most providers have the same attitude: ‘You’re disabled. You’ve got a mental disability. We will call the shots. You have no choice and control.’
He said he also made a range of complaints to the Quality and Safeguards Commission but believes it to be ‘totally useless’. He says that for some within the Commission, the ‘agenda’ is ‘to protect service providers from participants’ complaints’.
Right now Pablo is doing well. He has found a provider who is ‘like-minded and understands’ and is ‘doing the right thing’. ‘They’re following the guidelines.’
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.