Tony and Tracy
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.
Tony is in his 60s and has an intellectual disability.
His sister, Tracy, told the Royal Commission that in the 1960s their parents placed Tony in an institution for children with disability, where he was beaten.
‘He screamed as he was driven back and when the door closed behind him we heard the beatings. He was also burned with cigarette butts.’
Tracy said the staff gave him drugs ‘to calm him down’.
Tony moved to an institution for adults with disability when he was a teenager.
‘I never visited him there,’ said Tracy. ‘It was too painful.’
She first visited Tony at the adult institution decades later.
‘He lived in appalling conditions at first; no personal belongings or clothes, no photos, etc. in his room which was totally bare. [Tony] spent many hours with no activities, just wandering around in a large hall. It was very Dickensian.’
One day, Tracy asked Tony’s main support worker why Tony had lost some of his hair. The support worker told Tracy she didn’t know.
‘When I asked her if she understood [Tony’s] issues, she told me that “she did not have time to find out what was wrong with each person that she was responsible for”.’
A few days later staff moved Tony to another part of the institution, where he was sexually abused.
‘It was never explained properly to us by whom or where. He was tested for STDs. My father was reluctant to complain.’
Another day, Tracy witnessed staff threaten Tony with the ‘needle’ to try to change his behaviour.
‘He was highly drugged on a daily basis.’
Tracy said the cause of Tony’s intellectual disability, a genetic disorder, wasn’t diagnosed until he was in his 50s.
‘I am concerned that other people who remain at [the institution] are experiencing treatment similar to Tony; no accurate diagnosis, no behaviour management strategies, over prescription of drugs, [and] verbal and physical abuse.’
Tony’s family moved him into a group home run by a support service where ‘his rights are protected and he is treated well, on the whole’.
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.