Pauline and Olive
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.
Pauline lives in a residential group home. She has cerebral palsy and is non-verbal.
Olive worked with Pauline as her community access support worker for 20 hours a week over a number of years. Olive told the Royal Commission that during that time there were aspects of Pauline’s medical and personal care that worried her. Olive no longer works with Pauline, but her concerns about her care remain.
Often when Olive arrived at the home she would find Pauline soiled and not properly cleaned. Her ‘personal care and continence hygiene … [were] sub-standard’. Other workers found excuses not to clean Pauline correctly. ‘It is funny how I can work with her and get her clean, but no-one else can.’
After working with her for almost a year Olive discovered Pauline could use sign language. No-one had ever bothered to investigate ways to communicate with Pauline.
‘For years … [Pauline] was given no control over where she went and what she did as support staff believed she wasn’t capable of making those decisions which resulted in massive behaviours.’
Olive worked hard with Pauline and was able to ask her yes and no questions and get a definitive response, which gave Pauline choices. ‘This made a massive change to her as it now gave her the power to tell me what she wanted to do.’ Olive tried to teach other staff ‘about her communication style [but] they weren’t interested’.
Olive complained to management a number of times about Pauline’s care and her communication needs, but nothing changed.
She escalated her complaints to the area manager, the line manager, the positive behaviour team and the quality control executive manager. Small changes were made but she says more needs to be done.
Advocating for Pauline has come at considerable personal cost to Olive. Management didn’t like her interference and retaliated.
Olive left her job because ‘in the end the stress [was] just too much’. It was hard for her to leave. ‘It concerns me greatly,’ she said, ‘… that she will regress and the behaviours of old will return’.
She believes organisations feel they are ‘untouchable and justified in how they behave’.
‘If you do report to your employer, then you are putting a target on your back … they make your life hell’.
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.