Tane and Robby
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.
Tane is in his 50s and has schizophrenia.
‘He's highly intelligent and he knows how to play chess,’ his brother Robby told the Royal Commission. ‘He loves to go to the beach and he’s getting a bit tired of this concrete courtyard.’
Several years ago Tane lived independently, but struggled to get reliable support workers.
One day there was a fire in Tane’s flat. Police allege he lit it intentionally, even though ‘he has no previous criminal history and according to his long-term neighbours he was not responsible for the fire’.
A court ordered that Tane be admitted to a hospital mental health unit.
A couple of years later doctors transferred him to a mental health facility in another city. Robby said this was against Tane’s wishes.
‘He’s got stable housing [where he lived]. The reforms of the mental health [Acts] across Australia are saying that he’s got a human right to be in [his] community.’
Robbie said a psychiatrist told him there is ‘no recovery’ for Tane. He fears the facility will never release his bother.
‘This is a subjective space … There’s no biological marker and, you know, are they really the sole people that should be deciding on what risk?’
Robby said psychiatrists are relying on ‘subjective criteria’ rather than objective evidence to keep Tane locked up.
‘We’re not talking about bloods, scans or x-rays like other doctors. We’re only just talking about using psychotic medications [with] adverse side effects.’
Robby said Tane is eligible for the NDIS and should be living in his community in supported independent living accommodation with 24-hour care.
‘I've never seen a medical opinion or anyone say that these closed wards are a great therapeutic setting for people like my brother who have experiences of paranoia. Furthermore, you're going to put … people with the same symptoms all together in a concrete box and incarcerate them indefinitely? What? That’s the medical model?’
After Tane was involuntarily admitted to hospital, Robby became his guardian. Despite his and Tane’s objections, doctors ordered Tane to undergo electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).
‘[Tane] doesn’t like it.’
One day a psychiatrist rang Robby to tell him that Tane ‘lost cognitive function’ after a treatment, but that the ECT course would continue.
‘I'm just gobsmacked. I just can't, like, he’s just lifted himself off the canvas you know. So that’s what I'm dealing with. So that’s the space I'm in.’
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.