Petronille
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.
Petronille lives with mental illness and is an NDIS participant. Problems with her plan management provider have put her in an ‘unstable situation’, she told the Royal Commission, and a few months ago she ‘was not in a very good place’.
‘I was in a point of crisis in my mental health … They actually put me into hospital to – I actually got evaluated and assessed.’
Petronille was ‘a victim of family violence’, but had a residential address.
‘I asked for short-time respite stay … and it got approved by my plan manager. Then the next day, it got disapproved by his manager because she read it as if I was needing crisis accommodation. They were trying to make out like I was homeless, which was absolutely not correct.’
Because of this Petronille’s respite accommodation was not funded – ‘It was approved to then not be approved.’
Instead of rectifying the problem, Petronille said the provider ignored her.
‘I wasn’t getting heard or listened to, and I then got verbal and got aggressive because it was just like I was talking to a brick wall.’
Petronille’s support worker was on the phone advocating for her.
‘She saw how I was treated … If it wasn’t for her and my dog, I would have committed suicide. Like, they’re the only two things that stopped me.’
But the support worker’s advocacy ‘really didn’t help’.
Furthermore, the provider ‘disclosed personal information’ without Petronille’s consent.
For more than six months she’s been trying unsuccessfully ‘to get this resolved’.
‘I’ve been lied to … I’m trying to cope as well as I can without going to – do any harm to myself … I’ve escalated that many complaints, that may inquiries for my planner to get in touch with me and it’s like she doesn’t exist,’ Petronille said.
‘It’s so upsetting because I’ve been left feeling helpless, worthless, unwanted, unsupported. Like I have no-one to turn to.’
She’s tried everywhere to get help including the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission.
‘I have emailed every single one and I’m waiting for … a response back. And I believe that … my plan management company who is looking after my funding, or paying the invoices, needs to be held accountable for what they did to me. Like, they can’t get away with this shit. This is not what the NDIS is there for. It’s there for support and to serve people with mental and physical disabilities and they’re not doing it. This is a real failure in the system.’
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.