‘Pushed aside’: People with disability facing dire homelessness

A Lismore man, whose sister relies on a machine to breathe, has detailed the almost unimaginable scene when the flood hit – and his struggles since. Read his incredible account.

A brother and sister – who both have muscular dystrophy – were in the most desperate of situations when a wall of water hit Lismore.

Perched atop a kitchen cupboard, water up to their necks – an electronic machine which the woman relies upon to breathe, placed precariously on a microwave in a bid to keep it dry and working.

Frantic phone calls and text messages from the woman’s daughters in the dead of night had alerted them to the rapidly developing flood which smashed Lismore.

The brother and sister called emergency services, and when they told them they could not get on the roof of their home because his sister was in a wheelchair, the operator said they would keep them company to the end.

Colin (a pseudonym) recounted the harrowing night in February to a panel at the Disability Royal Commission in Parramatta on Monday.

The 26th public hearing into Homelessness, including experience in boarding houses, hostels and other arrangements, conducted by Ronald Sackville AO QC (chair), Dr Rhonda Galbally AC and the John Ryan AM at the Park Royal Hotel, Parramatta.

He had made the journey to Sydney in a bid to highlight his situation, which includes a frustrated attempt to secure appropriate accommodation, to the commission.

After running a radiator business in Lismore for many years, Colin moved into the house where his sister was staying, so her daughters could have an opportunity to get on with their lives.

Colin told the panel he had realised his medical condition almost by chance.

Colin was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, an inherited condition.

“My elder brother and sister passed away,” he said, “I have one sister, two nieces and now a daughter.”

Lismore flood victim Colin has been placed in several motels, recreation centres and caravan parks over the past six months.

“My younger sister has had it now for about 15 years,” he told the panel. “She can’t get out of bed, can’t go to the bathroom.”

When water rose deep into their home, Colin carried her to the kitchen along with her breathing machine.

“A bloke in a tinny, a little boat with about an eight-horsepower motor on it, came around looking for us,” the commission heard.

“He’s come around the back in the boat, put my sister in it and got her to the school.

The hearing heard that Colin has been trying to find secure housing since the flood.

“He just went from one house to the next, just picking people up.”

It was the only boat in the area that night performing rescues.

Colin’s sister was saved and taken to hospital.

She is now back in her house that has been fixed enough to be liveable, along with family members whose homes are uninhabitable.

But there is no room for Colin.

COLIN’S BATTLE TO FIND HOUSING SINCE FLOOD

He has been trying to find secure, accessible housing since the flood.

Each turn he takes feels like a labyrinth to nowhere in a system designed to help people in real need.

He has been placed in several motels, recreation centres and caravan parks over the past six months.

He is currently staying in a nearby town but it is a short-term arrangement.

He is on the waiting list for an emergency housing pod, yet concern remains over accessibility, showers, and cooking.

Colin has applied for the National Disability Insurance Scheme which has taken months to process – and he told the panel he is still waiting for the appropriate service plan to be put in place.

His support co-ordinator doesn’t work Mondays and Fridays, and Colin said when he tries to contact a team leader he is fobbed off.

“Next day I’ll ring up my support co-ordinator. It’s five or six phone calls just to talk to somebody and I can say that my support co-ordinator has rung me no more than four times since the flood,” he told the commission.

“I’ve been on the phone begging in tears for help.

“She’s even written a letter back to me concerned I might self-harm. The very next thing the phone is down, and I never hear from her again.

“I am just pushed aside.”

After selling his business, Colin said if he could secure a loan of even just $50,000, he would buy his own home.

“I can’t get a loan because I’m on the pension,” he told the panel.

“I’ve got enough money almost to buy a unit. If I can borrow $50,000, I can set myself up, I’m off the system, I’m on NDIS, I can hopefully get some support.”

Colin said he’d already spent so much renting privately, and trying to secure a property in Lismore was next to impossible.

“It’s just a massive big shortage up there,” he told the panel.

Colin said he didn’t know if his expectations of support were justified.

“I don’t know,” Colin said, “but I get no help. I think just a phone call would be nice.”

The hearing to inquire into experiences of poverty and homelessness runs until September 2.