Inquiry into the provision and regulation of supported accommodation in Queensland
Submission No: 14
Submitted by: Ps (submitted by Queensland Advocacy for Inclusion) Publication:
Attachments:
Submitter Comments:
From:
Sent: Thursday, January 11, 2024 5:20 PM
To: Community Support and Services Committee
Subject: Supported Accommodation Inquiry - Submission
Name:
Phone number:
Email address: nil
Submission
I’m a veteran and have lived here for several years.
Food
Residents almost never receive hot meals, and when they do it is only ever chicken (no variety in proteins provided). The vast majority of meals provided are very simple: ie Vegemite sandwiches or lettuce and cheese sandwiches. Occasionally I have to go and buy my own food just to get a break from the same food provided here — there is no variety at all. On these occasions staff tell me I can’t bring it back into the Lodge with me.
We only get porridge and toast with strawberry jam or Vegemite for breakfast. Sometimes the bread is
stale. They provide morning teas but sometimes the fruit is rotten. The biggest problem with the food is the complete lack of variety. At other boarding houses people get way better food, like spaghetti Bolognese and rissoles and that sort of stuff. One day I was at a local shopping centre and saw that the butcher was selling premium beef mince for $5/kg. When I got back to the lodge, I told the management about it and asked if we could use such opportunities for cheap ingredients to get some variety and have different meals like spaghetti Bolognese, but they threatened to kick me out rather than accept this suggestion and feedback. They say they can’t afford better food for us, but the way we eat is like we are on some kind of extreme weight loss diet. They don’t know how to cook and don’t have any idea about cooking. It is the cleaners to do the cooking. My son is a professional chef and the stuff they serve up here is not up to the standard that would be expected in a professional kitchen.
Rooms
My room has mould everywhere, and the paint is peeling from the ceiling. I know there is a lot of asbestos in there as well and this worries me.
Facilities
Some of the residents here use drugs, and from time to time I find used needles left in common areas.
There are also fire hazards that aren’t addressed when we raise them to management. Some of the residents don’t have keys to their rooms, so they can’t lock them. This is a problem because there are thieves here.
Once I arrived home to find one of the senior workers, , leaving my room. He had taken some of my belongings out of my room and placed them under lock in a shed on the property. He said he had done this because the belongings that I was keeping in my room were a fire hazard. He refused to provide them back to me and they are still locked in the shed, and they continue to refuse to return them. They say they can do whatever they like here because they own the place.
Staff and Management
They don’t receive complaints or accept feedback. Are very confrontational.
Services
I don’t feel as though the Lodge meets the standards required in terms of medical services that they provide. The medicine is provided to residents by people with no medical training — they are just cleaners who dole out medication at night.
General closing points
Having to live around drug use is not nice. The police don’t even come here much anymore, even when they are needed. Some of the other residents are very disruptive and make a lot of drama and noise day and night, and I’m not satisfied with how that is managed.
I think that it is just a matter of time before this place is closed for good. It is inevitable because things can’t go on like this forever without people noticing, and when they do it will get shut down.
Do you want this submission to be confidential? If so, do you want all of it to be confidential? No - is happy to have his submission published along with his name and the name of the facility.
Do you want to be contacted by the Committee about your submission? = is happy to be contacted by the Committee
Supported Accommodation Advocate
Queensland
Advocacy
for Inclusion Advocacy for people with disability
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