Zya
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.
Zya, a registered nurse, worked as a support worker in group homes for nearly three decades.
‘When I came to Australia I couldn’t get a job, so then I did some volunteer job,’ Zya told the Royal Commission. ‘I feel like it was so rewarding when I worked with disability … so I really want to share.’
Zya kept a diary, documenting cases of abuse and neglect at group homes.
She said sometimes her service provider didn’t give sick or injured residents timely medical attention. For example, one day she arrived at work to find a man in pain with his leg ‘swelling and blue’.
‘I ask one of the staff, I said, “What’s happening?” He said, “He had a fall this morning,” and I said, “But nothing been done about it?” I read quickly the report [and] there was nothing being done.’
When she contacted a manager, they told her it wasn’t an emergency. When she returned to work three days later the man was still in pain, so she took him to a doctor.
‘He had to have all these medical procedures and everything.’
The service provider moved Zya to another group home.
‘I work for [years] in this house, it was awful. English my second language, I don’t know what word I can use. I never see residents treated that bad when I was in that hell.’
Zya was often rostered alone on shifts and had to shower and lift residents without help.
‘One day, one of the residents … actually fall on me. I hurt my back. Then I have to go and WorkCover … And then when I came back they say, “We don’t want you here.”’
Zya documented staff overmedicating one resident, who later vomited blood. When she made a complaint she was ‘suspended for a couple of weeks for writing all this’.
The service provider regularly gave residents food that was past its use-by date.
‘They make food for months, they keep it in the fridge … salami and all this thing. And they put it in the freezer and then they take it out and they use it for a week. And I told the supervisor, “I know that it’s expired. You can’t give that to residents.” She said, “You’re here to make the sandwich.”’
Zya said one of the residents developed food poisoning.
Another time, staff took a wheelchair away from a resident for several months because she was annoying them.
The service provider sacked Zya for documenting the abuse she witnessed.
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.