Therese
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.
Therese lives with complex post-traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety and bulimia.
Therese told the Royal Commission about her physical, financial and emotional abuse by a support worker, her problems with supported independent living arrangements and securing funding under the NDIS.
Therese became friends with her support worker shortly before her disability services provider assigned him to work for her. Therese said that his attitude towards her soon changed from friend to abuser. He hit her with his belt, punched and kicked her and called her a ‘fat pig’. Therese was so scared of him that she agreed to make him a signatory to her bank account from which he took large sums of money.
Therese wanted to have a baby. Her support worker manipulated her to use him as sperm donor. Therese fell pregnant but miscarried.
‘The beating that I got the day that happened … I kept asking him to take me to hospital but he wouldn’t.’
Therese could not understand why her disability services provider did not know what was happening, but when they found out about the miscarriage, they cut the support worker’s shifts. ‘[They] finally decided to ring [the Commission] and … the Commission did nothing.’
With the help of an advocate, Therese made her own complaint to the Commission. It told her that the matter was closed because there was insufficient evidence to progress the complaint. The Commission said the provider had taken all reasonable steps when informed about the support worker’s conduct. ‘Making complaints to [the Commission] is a waste of time … you either don’t get a real response or it sits … for months,’ Therese said.
Therese had no replacement worker for around three months. During that time, she could not leave the house or attend appointments.
Therese now has funding for support but she finds the arrangements unstable. ‘I had 24/7 one-on-one support … I still have it, but I’ve run out of money.’ The NDIS plan changes every quarter. Therese has asked for a 12-month plan rather than the stress of facing the same hurdles every three months. She is being helped by a support coordinator and is awaiting an outcome.
When Therese seeks internal review of a care plan, the process takes so long that she has the new plan before the current plan is considered. She complained to the Commission about the plan structure but they told her nothing can be done while her plan is under review.
‘I know it's a lot of money … and I've got to prove why I have to have it, but ... it's really, really, really hard.’
Therese currently has a service provider but says ‘they’re terrible’. She is often left to coordinate workers’ shifts.
The support worker who had abused Theresa killed himself. Following his death, Therese had a breakdown and underwent hospital psychiatric care for around three months. Her supported independent living (SIL) provider evicted her, with four days notice, because it didn’t get any NDIS funding while she was in hospital.
Therese found another SIL provider. After requiring further hospitalisation, the new SIL provider also evicted her, offering no help to find alternative accommodation.
The NDIS removed Therese’s SIL funding because she was spending too much time in hospital.
Therese has unsuccessfully attempted to secure SIL with the help of a support coordinator. She now rents a unit. Therese is desperate to ‘get back into SIL’ as she cannot manage even with support workers.
Therese said that service providers should not be able to ‘pull their services’ because ‘they’re not getting enough money out of [her]’.
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.