Reagan and Adriel
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.
‘My sister’s safety and welfare is being put at risk due to lack of management, lack of incident reporting and lack of accountability. To me, it is just a very, very poor situation.’
Adriel’s sister Reagan is in her 60s and has an intellectual disability. Reagan lives in a supported independent living home in a regional town, and Adriel manages her NDIS plan.
‘I’m watching my sister very, very closely, looking [out] for her personal safety and welfare,’ Adriel told the Royal Commission.
Recently, the supervisor of Reagan’s house told Adriel that his sister and another resident had an argument.
‘She was blamed for the incident and she felt very distraught when I spoke to her on Skype. I did ask the house supervisor for a copy of the incident report and I still haven’t got that.’
A few months later Adriel was told a member of the public saw Reagan being forced to ‘walk or exercise in the rain’ and looking ‘distraught’. In another incident, a support worker verbally abused Reagan, who was ‘very visibly upset’.
‘That’s a third incident in this situation that is going undocumented.’
Adriel contacted the service provider, who promised to investigate the verbal abuse. When he followed up two months later, a manager told him it was ‘not company policy to divulge that information’ for privacy reasons. The manager also said Reagan had agreed with the conclusions of the confidential report.
‘I find that very strange from the point of view that we’re now talking about my sister whose capacity would rate between a five and seven-year-old, and this … manager is signing off an incident report on my sister’s say so. That is just outrageous to me.’
Adriel said he never discovered what happened, but learnt the service provider transferred the support worker who verbally abused Reagan to another house.
‘Whatever happened was significant enough for the company to transfer the person away from the house, but [they moved them] into another employment situation. They are just transferring the problem from one house to another.’
Adriel complained to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission.
‘I’ve got the form here. It says that Quality and Safeguards Commission will contact you within five working days. No contact at all.’
Weeks later he was told his complaint would be investigated, but ‘nothing came back’. When Adriel made a freedom of information request for documents relating to the verbal abuse incident, he was told he was ‘on a fishing expedition’.
‘Unless I had a specific document, they would not disclose anything to me. Well, I sort of understand what they’re saying. I get that, but I’m hamstrung because I don’t have any documentation to ask them about.’
Adriel asked the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission to investigate the incident, but hasn’t heard back.
‘So, I’m a little bit perplexed as to what to do.’
Adriel said there’s a ‘lack of transparency, a lack of accountability from pretty much everyone’.
‘Is it a more systemic problem? Am I looking at a regional issue because of the management structure and traceability? … The overriding problem, though, is the safety and welfare of my sister, and … the information I’m getting is very scant at best.’
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.