Wellbeingsupportspace

05/09/2025

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05/09/2025

Well done Australian Association of Social Workers this is a wonderful first step, we are at the table!

All Social Workers should be proud, this is one of many conversations that our association is having to promote and profile the value of social work in the NDIS!

04/09/2025

Anyone watching the AFL??

Ollie did ❤️🫶🏻

(I am still a Victorian at heart, sorry Adelaide, always next week❤️🙌)

04/09/2025

Preparing for a School Meeting as a Parent or Carer

I know, both as a professional and now as a mother preparing for one myself, that school meetings can feel daunting — especially when they’re about your child’s wellbeing or learning. Over the years I’ve sat on both sides of the table, and these are the key things I’ve learned make a real difference:

🔹 Understand the system – Familiarise yourself with the school’s policies and, where possible, the wider education department’s procedures. This helps you know what support is available and what the school is required to provide.

🔹 Come prepared with questions – Write them down beforehand so you don’t forget in the moment.

🔹 Be clear on your goals – Think about what you’d like to achieve from the meeting (e.g. more support, a plan for wellbeing, or clarity about progress).

🔹 Ask for notes – Request a written summary after the meeting so everyone is on the same page.

🔹 Ask about wellbeing plans – These are called different things in each state/territory. In SA government schools, it’s a One Plan. Ask if your child has one, or if one can be developed.

🔹 Know you can bring an advocate – This might be a trusted friend, family member, or another health professional who knows your child. Having support in the room can help you feel more confident and ensure your child’s needs are clearly heard.

🔹 Follow up if needed – If issues aren’t resolved or you need more discussion, don’t hesitate to ask for a follow-up meeting.

💡 Remember: you know your child best. Your voice is important. By coming prepared and working collaboratively, you give your child the best chance to thrive.

03/09/2025

This is an actual joke; it’s appalling that this govt thought that this should even be a consideration

Labor has abandoned plans to send MPs on a European trip to study disability services after fierce criticism over priorities during an NDIS cost crisis. 📌 FULL STORY: https://bit.ly/4mCCXJI

03/09/2025

Our Petition Has Been Accepted – We Need Your Support Again!

In July, I lodged this petition formally to ensure all of our voices are heard.
It has now been formally accepted by Parliament — but there’s a catch: we only have one month to gather signatures again.

This is our chance to make a real impact. Please consider adding your name ✍️ and sharing with your networks. Every signature strengthens the call for change.

Why the House of Representatives?

✔️ Government response required – the government must provide a written reply within 90 days.
✔️ Petitions Committee review – all petitions are considered and can be referred to ministers.
✔️ Public visibility – e-petitions are hosted on the Parliament website for people across the country to sign.
➡️ Best for: building a strong case that ministers cannot ignore.

What about the Senate?

⚠️ No government response required – petitions are tabled and recorded, but often no further action follows.
✔️ Advocacy value – Senators can still use petitions to raise awareness or push for inquiries.
➡️ Best for: campaigns where Senators are already on your side.

👉 That’s why we’ve gone with the House of Representatives petition — it guarantees a government response and ensures our voices are on record.

📅 Time is short. Please take a moment to sign and share so our concerns are heard loud and clear!

This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

01/09/2025

In my work as a social worker within the NDIS, I often draw on Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory.

This framework reminds us that a person’s development and wellbeing are influenced by multiple layers of environment — not just the individual factors we can see. For participants, that means their goals and challenges don’t exist in isolation. They’re shaped by family, community, culture, systems, and policies.

Here’s how I apply this lens in practice:

🔹 Microsystem (immediate environment): Supporting participants in their daily routines, relationships, and direct care needs.
🔹 Mesosystem (connections): Helping families, carers, and providers communicate better, building strong support networks around the participant.
🔹 Exosystem (indirect influences): Navigating services, housing, employment, and education systems that impact the participant’s life.
🔹 Macrosystem (broader context): Advocating within the NDIS, health systems, and policy settings to make supports fair and accessible.
🔹 Chronosystem (across time): Recognising how life transitions, critical events, or systemic changes (like NDIS reforms) impact participants over time.

By using Bronfenbrenner’s theory, I’m able to take a whole-of-life approach — one that honours the person, their environment, and the bigger systems that shape their capacity to thrive.

This is why social work is such a natural fit under Capacity Building Supports: we don’t just look at what’s in front of us, we see the whole picture.

01/09/2025

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30/08/2025

Calling all Social Workers – AASW members and non-members alike!

The AASW NDIS Advisory Group is hosting a FREE National Webinar on
📅 Tuesday 2 September 2025
🕕 6:00pm – 7:00pm AEST

🎥 The session will be recorded, but we’d love for you to join us live.

You’ll hear from three AASW members (including me!) sharing what we’ve been doing to support social workers and participants working in the NDIS space. This is your chance to learn more about advocacy, policy, and what’s ahead for our profession in the Scheme.

💬 Got a question you want answered? Pop it in the comments below.
With nearly 1,000 people registered, we may not get to everything live, but we’re committed to following up after the session.

Let’s make sure the voice of social work is strong, visible, and valued in the NDIS. Hope to see you there!

28/08/2025

Today felt heavy.

I spent so much of the day on the phone — with the school, with providers, trying to piece together how to best support my child and understand her needs. I do this work every single day in my professional life. I know the system, I know the language, I know the pathways. And yet, when it’s my own child, it feels like a completely different mountain to climb.

Advocating is hard. Even when you “know” what to do. Even when you work in the system. Because when it’s your child, the stakes feel higher, the emotions run deeper, and the fatigue hits harder. Every conversation feels charged with love, fear, and the constant drive to make sure your child doesn’t just get by, but actually thrives.

Parenting a child with additional support needs in a neurotypical world is tough. The world isn’t designed with them in mind — and that makes everyday tasks, from school drop-offs to navigating services, feel like battles you shouldn’t have to fight. It’s not the child that’s the challenge. It’s the systems, the red tape, the lack of flexibility, and the reminders that inclusion is still something we have to push so hard for.

By the end of today, I was exhausted. Not because I don’t love my child fiercely — I do, more than anything. But because the weight of constantly being the advocate, the translator, the problem-solver, the one holding it all together, takes its toll. And if I’m feeling this way as someone who understands the system, I can only imagine how overwhelming it must feel for parents who are trying to navigate it for the first time.

To those parents: I see you. To the ones making calls on their lunch breaks, writing emails late at night, showing up to meetings with tears held back, fighting battles that others don’t see — you are not alone.

Some days will feel like a win, others will feel like this — draining and relentless. And that’s okay. It doesn’t mean we’re not strong, it just means we’re human.

28/08/2025

Nearly 1000 people have registered to attend the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) NDIS webinar on Tuesday night!

Don’t miss out, and for those who can’t attend on the night it will be recorded!