Sigrid and Benicio

Sigrid is in her 40s and has an acquired brain injury. She is ‘partially paralysed’, mostly non-verbal and has ‘high, complex disability needs’, her brother Benicio told the Royal Commission.

‘She hasn’t lost her intelligence, fortunately, although she does have very short-term memory of three to five minutes still. When she gets good care, that improves. We went to a lot of rehab. Placed her into aged care near where family was … That was the only option at the time. And then the nightmare begins.’

Sigrid experienced ‘15 years of severe, deliberate, orchestrated, physical, emotional, and psychological abuse’ at the home, Benicio said. The director of nursing was a ‘sociopath’ who told staff to ‘starve’ Sigrid, ‘treat her like an animal’, ‘leave her in her own faeces’ and ‘chemically restrain her’. She also sought to ‘isolate her from friends and family’ and to ‘foster bad behaviours’ by excluding her from day programs.

‘How she’s still intact, I have no idea, other than her short-term memory probably saved her.’

The family ‘pursued the complaints process to its fullest extent possible’ for several years, but got nowhere.

Meanwhile, Benicio said, Sigrid’s recovery regressed because of the ‘torture and abuse’. She is no longer walking, her memory and speech deteriorated, she started engaging in aggressive behaviours and now has post-traumatic stress disorder.

Benicio spent a few years battling to get Sigrid enough supports.

‘Acquired brain injury is still very poorly supported or recognised in Australia, including the medical system. We’ve advocated, gone to the AAT. We now have the full funding we need.’

Since Sigrid joined the NDIS, Benicio says ‘systemic large provider fraud’ and poorly trained staff have been the biggest problems.

‘We’ve been through five different providers and the quality is probably similar … NDIS is working brilliantly … It’s the providers and the other people abusing the system.’

For a couple of years recently, Sigrid was in a supported independent living facility.

‘They weren’t doing any behaviour management, even though they were being paid by the state government.’

Benicio said staff were ‘inappropriately’ restraining Sigrid instead of implementing the behaviour support plan funded by the NDIS.

‘Completely contrary to our intention to rehabilitate her … they basically wanted to keep her fully restrained 24/7. We were being obstructed, deliberately prevented from progressing her.’

When Benicio complained, the service provider ‘evicted her from the premises during the COVID-19 pandemic’. It then moved her back into an aged care home without his consent.

He complained to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, which refused to intervene. Benicio suspects the commission is either ‘in cahoots’ with big providers, or the providers feel ‘no need to comply’ because they know the commission is powerless.

The provider tried twice to remove him and his mother as guardians.

‘It was absolutely malicious behaviour. They presented that we weren’t her guardians … Secondly, that we were unfit and the cause of [Sigrid’s] problems.’

Today Sigrid is in assisted disability accommodation run by a new provider. She’s finally on the right path with support. The family hopes to use technology to assist her communication.

‘We’ve got a very clear idea of how to rehabilitate her. We also expect her to be capable to walk. Although time has passed, we still want to give her that best chance. We think she’s capable of, you know, what I call a semi-independent quality of life.’