Vivienne
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.
Vivienne has an intellectual disability and spent much of her childhood in foster homes. Now her three children are in foster homes. Vivienne told the Royal Commission about her experience in the child protection system.
After Vivienne’s stepfather abused her as a child she was placed in foster care, where she was abused again – sexually, physically and emotionally.
She lost track of the number of foster families she lived with. In her mid-teens she decided to live independently, with the help of a disability service.
Vivienne has trouble speaking and the police sometimes assumed she was using illegal drugs. She was falsely arrested several times.
Vivienne has never been charged with an offence and feels she’s a good mother. Nonetheless child protection removed her three children because of the actions of their fathers. Vivienne no longer has contact with the fathers, yet her children remain in foster care.
Vivienne sees her two youngest children two days a week, but hasn’t had face-to-face contact with her eldest son for two years. She sees him only once a month by video link. Child protection officers recently applied for a custody order that would restrict her access to him until he turns 18.
Vivienne describes the child protection officers as being ‘extremely unhelpful and dismissive’, and she has lost trust in child protection system.
Child protection staff once gave her ex-partner, a known criminal, her address. When he found her, he held her against her will. He was charged with deprivation of liberty and sent to prison, but has recently been released.
Vivienne fears he will find her again and wants to move, but she needs a suitable home if she’s to win custody of her son. She’s been waiting six months for government housing and can’t afford to rent privately because she’s on the Disability Support Pension.
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.