Please Help Support Worker Assaulted on the Job — Denied Care for the most part of Injuries and left Financially Devastated due to Systemic Failures

If you are reading this, please know that it took a lot for me to get here and I appreciate you reading my Appeal...

I am living proof of how quickly a life can be turned upside down, even when you are just trying to do your job and help others. I've always believed in standing on my own two feet and giving my best to others, especially in Caring Roles but after being assaulted at work and left to suffer multiple injuries that are being denied treatment, an overwhelming Financial Crisis and lack of stability, I am desperately reaching out because I truly need help.

In my first week as a Support Worker, I was violently assaulted by a Participant — an attack so severe that I had to do all I could to save my neck from being broken. The violent force left me with serious injuries to my shoulder and neurological damage to my neck, left upper back, lower back, arm and leg and severe PTSD Work Related due to the horrible situation that the Assaults and Injuries have left me in.

You may have heard about the recent, heartbreaking deaths of Support Workers, where Staff were not fully informed about the Participant’s true Medical Histories. I came frighteningly close to having my neck broken and thought I was an isolated case but it seems like it's a serious problem in the Industry. Now, I have been left in an overwhelming situation...fell through every crack imaginable and forced to navigate an unknown and hostile system of Bureaucratic and Medical and Legal gatekeepers, who don't care- I've been left without any means of sustainable support nor resources and left simply to survive day to day...

What Happened

In December 2024, I returned to the Workforce after a couple of years of study and retraining, following a long and devastating marriage that I walked away from, carrying away, only his debt and the emotional toll of years of hardship. I had been receiving Austudy while updating my skills and had worked two very short shifts in Support Work in the previous 12 months to the Assaults.

When I started a new Support Worker role, I worked three shifts in my first week. During the first week, I was violently assaulted 4 times by a Participant experiencing severe Manic Episodes — a critical risk that had not been disclosed by my Employer.

During the Physical Assaults, I was grabbed by the scalp and violently pulled and wrenched in multiple directions. The final Assault lasted 4–5 minutes and I had to do everything I could to keep my neck as stiff as I could, to protect it from being broken. I braced my whole body to avoid falling because the Participant was biting, punching and kicking the other three Support Workers trying to restrain her. I could hear their strained voices calling out to her to stop... I truly don't believe I would have survived if I fell and it took straining every muscle in my body to stay standing and fight for my life. My head had been shaken so violently, I was left unable to think clearly or make any other decisions.

As a result of the Assaults, I sustained:

The Neurological injuries cause pain, stiffness, pins and needles, burning/stabbing/electric sensations, weakness, instability and the sensation of feeling torn and bruised, as well as impaired mobility. I have fallen three times due to this Nerve damage that the Insurance denies liability for.

Denied Treatment

The issue began with an experienced GP who refused to include my neck, back and leg injuries on the initial Certificate of Capacity, despite my explicitly asking her why she was excluding them. Although she recorded these injuries in her Clinical Notes, they were omitted from the Certificate. I had no prior experience with WorkCover and relied entirely on the GP’s authority. As a result, the Insurer acted on the incomplete Certificate and denied liability for my Claims.

Two months after the Assaults, the Insurer sent me to their Independent Medical Examiner (IME) who reported that:

This Report became the basis for denying me Treatment for all my Neurological Injuries.

The shoulder that the Insurer’s IME claimed showed “no tenderness” actually required Shoulder Reconstruction Surgery in August 2025 — the only Injury the Insurer has acknowledged. This directly contradicts the IME’s conclusions. My neurological injuries remain untreated, despite worsening symptoms and repeated falls. Although two other Insurer IME's clearly recognized correlations for my mandibular and psychological injuries, this IME denied me treatment under the conceitedness of “professional expertise.”

Trapping me in being denied Treatment and Rehabilitation.

Why “Being on WorkCover” Has Not Protected Me

WorkCover calculated my entitlement based on the 21 hours work from my first week in the new Role, plus a few short Casual Shifts I had worked the year prior to the Workplace Injury- dividing the total amount over a 52-week period to get their final amount. Because WorkCover defines “Income” strictly as earnings from Employment, all Centrelink payments I received during the previous year were excluded from the calculation. That left me with an entitlement to 90% of the the total, which was 9.5 hours pay a week! That is my rate of pay!

I was entitled to 90% of my WorkCover Income for the first 12 weeks, but after my surgery it dropped to 80%, which I have been forced to survive on from August 2025 to now and will face further reductions in future- this is Workcover! So realistically, the Insurer has left me untreated and un-rehabilitated for the the greater part of my Injuries- which does not work towards my being able to expect to resume my normal life nor normal Workload capacity any time soon and I have been left to rely on this tiny Income with no way out.

This has been a major crack I have fallen through, as unlike the average WorkCover Recipient, who has a consistent Income history and initially receives 90% of a regular Wage, my entitlement is just 9.5 hours per week because Centrelink payments are excluded — leaving me abandoned and struggling to survive.

This has been my only income for most of Dec 2024 to now.

It barely covers my share of Rent and I live under pure angst trying to put together what I need for Utilities- Entertainment is not even a thing to be considered.

Because I am technically on WorkCover, I am ineligible for Welfare Assistance, leaving me without any Safety Net.

The Financial Impact

This situation has caused extreme hardship:

I am carrying debt with no realistic way to reduce it and there is no Financial relief in sight

Promised Work — Then Withdrawn

Three months prior to my Shoulder Reconstruction, I was given Suitable Light Duties by the Employer and was encouraged to believe that following the Surgery, once stabilized, I would continue to be offered work and Work-from-Home could be arranged while I recovered. I held onto this hope while surviving on only 9.5 hours of Income from August 2025 to January 2026, while I followed the Recovery Protocol from an excellent Surgeon.

Just when I thought I could get some relief, I was told last week, that the offer was withdrawn. I was told that the five hours of Daily Travel required for me to go to the Office was now considered too risky — specifically because of my untreated neurological injuries and the three falls I have already suffered. Had I not been denied treatment to date, perhaps these injuries would not be an obstacle!

Despite this, no alternative arrangements have been offered- they informed my Return to Work Officer that there was no Work-from-Home available...

This has left me devastated and overwhelmed...I was holding onto the promise of at least those extra 10 hours a week they had offered me a couple of weeks ago...only to be sent back to being trapped and dismissed!

Now Expected to Job Search

Instead, I have been placed on an Active Job Search Plan, requiring me to apply for 5 jobs a week to seek alternative Employment

This expectation ignores reality:

The assaults, combined with the Insurer’s denial of Treatment based on a flawed IME Report, have left me physically limited, financially trapped and emotionally overwhelmed. Each System, points elsewhere for responsibility and I keep falling through the cracks.

Why I Am Asking for Help

I am asking for help to:

I have never asked for help like this before. I am doing so now because I no longer have another way forward.

If you are able to donate, your support will make a real and immediate difference. If you cannot, please share this page- it will help more than you may realize!

Thank you for reading my story, for your compassion and for helping me through this incredibly difficult time.

Heartfelt thanks and blessings,

Jules