Raylene
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.
‘There's a lot of people that are qualified and well-skilled in other trades that are wanting to bring those skills into disability, but are discouraged by the current culture.’
Raylene is autistic. After losing a job during the COVID-19 pandemic, she became a disability support worker.
‘It's been the worst experience I've had in an industry, and I've been in hospitality, I used to work in factories, a lot of different jobs,’ Raylene told the Royal Commission. ‘And I've never come across just the disrespect from other workers in ways of racism, sexism and just ignorance.’
Raylene said although she has several degrees, an agency pays her ‘at the absolute base level’.
‘There's a lot of people that have intrinsic interest in being in the industry and [have an appropriate] skill set. They're the type of people that could be working in this industry full time and they're interested in being properly qualified, but unfortunately those people are being deterred.’
She says some service providers favour unqualified staff, using unskilled casual labour ‘to avoid accountability’ for some of the things that happen in group homes.
Raylene said that in her first job a colleague screamed at her when she tried to communicate with an autistic resident. Another time, a colleague treated a resident ‘like she was an inmate … He’d yell at her like she was a dog’.
‘She wanted a shower at the time. It was in the corner of the loungeroom where there was no air-conditioning on a hot, very hot, day … but he was refusing her that and I just don't think that a worker really has the right to do that.’
Raylene said the disability sector needs qualified and neurodiverse staff who have a lived experience of disability and who can better communicate with residents.
‘It's quite easy and natural for me [as a person with disability], but that made a lot of the workers really uncomfortable and yeah, it was like I was supposed to not be myself, you know what I mean? Like act like [other staff] and try to hide a part of myself, and that's not why I came to disability.’
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.