Waneeta
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.
Waneeta is in her 70s and lives in a group home. She is non-verbal, epileptic and uses a wheelchair.
Her sister-in-law, Joan, describes Waneeta as having a happy disposition. She expresses herself with sounds and gestures and laughs and claps all the time. She loves people, likes to be the centre of attention and can be noisy when she communicates.
Joan told the Royal Commission she recently found out that Waneeta was being abused by a support worker because of the way she expresses herself.
Bev, one of the workers in Waneeta’s group home, didn’t like Waneeta moving about and being social. When Bev couldn’t ‘deal with her’ she would put Waneeta in a room and close the door, or put her in front of the TV and lock her wheelchair so she couldn’t move.
Joan discovered this was happening because another support worker at the home reported Bev to the manager. The manager was obliged to report the abuse to police.
When Joan read the police report she was ‘completely shocked’. Not only had Bev been restraining Waneeta, she had been verbally and physically abusing her.
The support worker told police about a number of incidents that occurred one weekend when he worked with Bev.
He had just started his shift and staff were feeding the residents. Waneeta was moving around, so Bev locked the wheels, slammed the food in front of her and said, ‘shut up and eat it’. The support worker challenged Bev and told her what she was doing was wrong, but Bev told him no-one needed to know.
Not long after this Bev locked Waneeta’s wheels, shut the blinds and took the other residents outside. Bev said she didn’t want to have to see Waneeta and didn’t want Waneeta to see them.
Later when they were preparing Waneeta for the shower, Bev told the support worker to undress Waneeta then leave her on the chair with the shower hose by herself. He refused because Waneeta was epileptic and shouldn’t be left alone. He was concerned Waneeta might fall. Bev laughed and said that wouldn’t be a bad thing.
At bedtime Waneeta wouldn’t hop on the bed by herself so they needed to use the hoist. When Waneeta wouldn’t sit still for them to attach the hoist, Bev punched her in the stomach.
The support worker confronted Bev and told her she should not be working in the home. Bev disagreed – she liked working with the other residents but, she said, ‘that witch is disrupting everyone here, she is better off somewhere else’.
When the manager told Joan there had been an issue, they told her a support worker had locked Waneeta’s wheelchair but little else. ‘I would like to have been told the whole truth by [the group home] when they were aware of the substance of the accusations.’ She is worried about what else may have happened – Bev had been working in the home for almost a year.
The police dropped the investigation because there was no CCTV footage and Waneeta is non-verbal. Joan is disappointed and can’t understand why they need CCTV footage when there is a witness.
An internal investigation is ongoing. Bev has been stood down on full pay.
Joan is very concerned Waneeta is not safe in the house. She has made a formal complaint to the NDIS Quality and Safeguard Commission but is not sure what else she can do.
‘I hope that [Waneeta] will be able to live in peace and love in a house with supportive workers who care for her even if I am not around to check on them.’
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.