Shelby

Shelby is a support worker for a government-run disability agency.

She told the Royal Commission the mistreatment of clients is ‘systemic’, especially in group homes where ‘they don’t have family, they’re from the institutions’ and there’s no-one to advocate on their behalf.

At one of her placements, Shelby noticed one of the residents was ‘not allowed off the lounge, virtually for the entire day’.

The man was also ‘continually hit over the head’, and told to ‘get back to the lounge’ by a support worker. ‘I was absolutely horrified,’ she said.

Shelby reported what she had seen to her supervisor. ‘To this day, the same staff [member is] still working with that man. Nothing that I know of was ever done about it.’

Support workers use derogatory language towards residents. ‘Dirty old man, retard ... really disgraceful,’ says Shelby, ‘just horrendous.’

One incident that stands out for Shelby was the day she was called in to work at short notice because a co-worker had to leave early.

When she arrived the group home was in disarray, ‘dishes in the sink, untidy, just dirty, really dirty’. She went into the staff office and saw money and knives out on the desk, not locked away securely as they should have been.

Among the items was her co-worker’s lunchbox. When she opened the lid, she made a shocking discovery.

Inside was an ice-pipe. ‘There was foil that had what looked like little bits of ice still left in it,’ Shelby said. ‘I sat down for about 10 to 15 minutes because I was so shocked.’

Once she had collected herself, Shelby rang her supervisor who escalated the matter to the regional manager.

Many hours later, a manager came to the house to remove the material. Shelby was given strict instructions: ‘[Do not] disclose this to anybody, do not disclose it to the next staff that come on.’

Shelby says the person continues to work for the organisation.

‘It just blows my mind that that was allowed, when obviously that ice-pipe had been used that day at work. To me that’s instant dismissal. I can’t, I still can’t understand it.’

She says even now, the co-worker continues to chastise the home’s residents ‘about how they make him sick, he can’t stand them, can’t stand people dribbling over him all the time’.

At another group home, Shelby has reported staff who continue to allow a resident to live in ‘filth’. ‘There’s urine everywhere, he’s standing in urine ... it looks like a room that just should be condemned. To me it’s uninhabitable, no human should be living in it.’

Her growing frustration at the conduct of co-workers has led her to contemplate resigning.

‘We’re called carers, and it’s just not caring, just not caring ... things that are reported, there’s just no action. And there just seems to be this mentality ... [where management] just keep ignoring it.’

She says the neglect is systemic. ‘There’s a lot of people who’ve been with the department 25-30 years ... They’re fully taking advantage of the clients.’

She believes the department needs a total overhaul. ‘If I had a child or a family member with a disability, there’s no way I would send them into a government organisation, or a respite, to be cared for.’