Stronger Connections Keyworkers

20/10/2025

Starting this Wednesday!

📣 Starts next week!
Our FREE 123 Magic & Emotion Coaching program is back — a practical and supportive space for parents of 2–12 year olds.

This free 3-week program helps you understand and manage tricky behaviours using proven strategies that actually work (no judgment, just real-life tools).

🧡 Perfect for parents feeling a little stuck, or just wanting more calm at home.

📅 Wednesdays, 22 Oct – 5 Nov
🕤 9:30am – 11:30am
📍 Oxenford/Coomera Community & Youth Centre

Spots are limited — message us to book or learn more! REGISTER HERE: https://programs.youthcentre.org.au/123magic-1387

20/10/2025

All sessions free & Online 😊

To all the parents and carers doing the invisible work, the emotional work, the never-quite-done work — this week is about recognising you.⁠
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Find out more about our Carers Week events and what’s coming up this term to support you, connect you, and walk alongside you.⁠
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🔶 Connect & Chat – Daytime Virtual MyTime⁠
📅 Tue, 14 Oct | 12:00 pm⁠
Are you looking to connect with other parents and carers who really understand what it’s like? This group is a space to share experiences, ask questions, and find support with others who know the unique joys and challenges of raising a child with disability.
https://events.humanitix.com/mytimeonline1410
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🔶 Healthy Mothers Healthy Families – Interactive Workshop⁠
📅 Wed, 15 Oct | 7:30 pm⁠
Do you wish you had more balance in your life, and time for your own well-being? The Healthy Mothers Healthy Families program supports mothers of children with disability to create a healthy lifestyle that fosters their own well-being, alongside a healthy, happy family life.
https://events.humanitix.com/hmhfgroup825
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🔶 8yrs+: Inclusive Communities – Virtual Autism MyTime⁠
📅 Thu, 16 Oct | 8:00 pm⁠
Every Autistic child deserves spaces where they feel welcome and valued. This session explores how to find genuinely inclusive groups and activities, and how families can connect with communities where children build friendships, confidence, and a true sense of belonging.
https://events.humanitix.com/virtualmytime1610
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🔶 Carers Week – Andie’s Trivia⁠ at MyTime
📅 Fri, 17 Oct | 7:30 pm⁠
This Carers Week, we’re celebrating with a trivia night designed just for you. Hosted by our Events Manager and resident trivia legend, Andie, it’s an evening packed with clever questions, cheeky twists, and plenty of laughs. Take a break from the daily juggle, enjoy a light-hearted and entertaining night and connect with other parents and carers along the way.
https://events.humanitix.com/mytimeonline1710

🔜 Save the Date: Upcoming Workshops & Webinars⁠
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Family Conference 2025⁠
Connect. Thrive. Belong – In Person Event
📅 Sat, 8 Nov | 1:00 pm⁠
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Workshops⁠
🔶 Healthy Mothers Healthy Families
📅 Mon, 20 Oct | 7:30 pm⁠
https://events.humanitix.com/hmhfgroup925

🔶 Advocacy at School ⁠
📅Tue, 4 Nov | 8:00 pm⁠
https://events.humanitix.com/asworkshop0411
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🔶 Supporting Your Child in Early Learning ⁠
📅 Wed, 12 Nov | 8:00 pm⁠
https://events.humanitix.com/ecworkshop1211

Autism Webinars
⁠🔶 Gestalt Language Processing
📅 Mon, 20 Oct | 8:00 pm⁠
https://events.humanitix.com/aswebinar2010
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👩🏻‍💻All sessions are FREE and online. Times are based on NSW / AEST. 🧡

20/10/2025

Thriving Kids
The Australian Government is restoring the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) to its original purpose—supporting people with permanent and significant disability —and ensuring the Scheme remains sustainable.
Reforms announced by Minister Butler on 20 August 2025 will secure the future of the Scheme and put people with disability and their families back at the centre of the NDIS.
Establishing an effective national system of support for parents and children outside the NDIS is an important part of these reforms.
The Australian Government has announced its commitment to contribute $2 billion towards Thriving Kids, commencing from 1 July 2026.
The final program design will be settled between the Australian Government and state and territory governments, informed by experts and the significant community input received through the Independent Review of the NDIS, and the Thriving Kids Advisory Group co-chaired by Professor Frank Oberklaid.
Overview
Thriving Kids will focus on identifying developmental concerns earlier and establishing a national system of supports for children aged 8 and under with mild to moderate developmental delay and autism, and their families. Children with permanent and significant disability will continue to be supported through the NDIS.
The program will be delivered by scaling and building on existing mainstream and community services that can better support families and children in settings they already are connected to. This includes child and maternal health, GPs, playgroups, early childhood education and care and schools, as well as digital and phone-based supports.
There are already many examples of evidence-based services that guide parents and help their kids thrive. The Government will work to leverage those existing systems, such as the infant and maternal health systems that states run, the primary care systems that the Commonwealth funds through Medicare and supports in community health centres. These supports will help children to thrive, right through the life course, from the time they're born, into the time they get into formal schooling This would include supporting the parent or carers with routines and advice on things they can do at home and what their child may need in other everyday environments where they learn and play.
Shaping these supports
The Government will work with state and territory governments and experts to finalise the design and implementation arrangements for Thriving Kids.
Design is being informed by the findings of the Independent Review into the NDIS, national consultation on Foundational Supports held at the end of 2024 and continuing community consultation across multiple jurisdictions.
Minister Butler will establish the Thriving Kids Advisory Group, co-chaired by Professor Frank Oberklaid. This will provide expert advice to the Minister around the program design and implementation arrangements over the coming months. It will help to ensure the design looks at how to best support child development from a national system perspective. It will consider findings from the NDIS Review, as well as the broader evidence base.
Timeline
The Government will continue to prioritise work with state and territory governments to finalise the design of Thriving Kids program this year.
It is expected the Thriving Kids program would rollout in phases. The first services are expected to be available from 1 July 2026 and would continue to ramp up over 12 months.
This will ensure national services are in place ahead of broader changes to NDIS access arrangements from mid-2027.
Relationship to NDIS Reform
The Australian Government is focused on ensuring children with developmental delay or disability, who can be better supported outside of the NDIS, have access to services and supports that help them to thrive. This will help to ensure that the NDIS remains sustainable and can support people with permanent and significant disability for generations to come.
Children who are already on the Scheme will continue to receive supports, subject to usual arrangements, including reassessments.
Reforms to NDIS access, and establishment of additional supports outside the NDIS, will be carefully designed with early childhood experts and families. Reforms will carefully consider impacts on existing participants including timing and transition arrangements for children.
We will continue to put people with disability at the heart of NDIS reforms and ensure that children with significant and permanent care and support needs who require the NDIS continue to be supported.

Department of Health, Disability and Ageing – Thriving Kids program

19/10/2025

More than half of all Queensland students suspended or expelled have a disability — up from 49% to 64% in just a year. Advocates say this exposes a systemic failure in inclusive education and are calling for urgent reform so suspensions are used only as a last resort. Every child deserves to feel they belong in their classroom — not be excluded by the system meant to support them.

ID: pictured Queensland Advocacy for Inclusion (QAI) Chief Executive Matilda Alexander said the proportion of students with a disability facing suspensions had risen from 49 per cent in 2023 to 64 per cent now.

14/10/2025

Exciting Update – Minecraft Social Groups Now Split by Age

Due to popular demand, our Minecraft Social Program is now running in two age groups so everyone can get the best experience possible:

* Ages 10–14 years → Wednesdays 4pm–6pm
* Ages 15–25 years → Wednesdays 6pm–8pm

At GC Therapy Hub, Minecraft is more than just a game — it’s a powerful platform for social skills development. Guided by our therapists, participants will:

* Make new friends in a supportive environment
* Practice communication and collaboration
* Strengthen problem-solving and emotional regulation
* Build confidence and feel empowered while doing something they enjoy

No gaming experience is required — just a willingness to be creative and have fun.

Our servers are safe and moderated, and NDIS Core and Capacity Building funding is accepted.

Term 4 enrolments are now open. Spaces are limited, so secure your place today.

Enrol now at www.gctherapyhub.com.au

11/10/2025

08/10/2025

30/09/2025

If your load feels extra heavy … there’s a reason why.

You’re not imagining it. And you’re certainly not alone.

Research shows that mothers of children with disability spend up to three times as many hours caring for their children.⁠ And to be honest, on the days when the
paperwork
meetings
appointments
follow-up calls
and the advocacy pile up
Well, it can feel like way more than that.

So it makes sense that your own well-being often slips to the bottom of the list. It happens to all of us.

That’s where Healthy Mothers Healthy Families can help.⁠ This free, evidence-based program was created specifically for mothers of children with disability. It’s here to support your health and wellbeing — while still balancing the needs of your child and family.⁠

It’s all about small, manageable, realistic steps to look after you. For some mums, that means the daily ritual of drinking a coffee (while it is still warm!) before the kids wake up. For others, it’s scheduling in 10 minutes before school pick-up to breathe deeply in the car. Or, booking that GP appointment for yourself that always seems to fall off your list. Over time, those small steps can add up to lasting change.

There’s a wealth of published research on the program’s impact, and more than 1,200 mothers have already taken part.

And here’s the truth: when you take care of yourself, it doesn’t just help you. The ripple effect flows through your whole family.

We're running our final workshops for 2025 and spaces are limited:

Workshop 1: Starting Wednesday 15 Oct, 7:30pm (NSW Time)
https://events.humanitix.com/hmhfgroup825

Workshop 2: Starting Monday 20 Oct, 7:30pm (NSW Time)
https://events.humanitix.com/hmhfgroup925

We hope you can join us 🧡

Healthy Mothers Healthy Families* is an evidence-based online health education and empowerment program for mothers of children with disability. The program was developed by and is proprietary to A/Prof Helen Bourke-Taylor from Monash University. Visit https://healthymothers-healthyfamilies.com/. (*) all names brands licensed by Monash University.

29/09/2025

It’s Down Syndrome awareness month, here is little Kruze, one of the little ones I have had the privilege of supporting for many years!

What an absolute privilege it is to be part of his journey — to walk alongside him and his family, to celebrate the little wins, and to witness the big ones that leave us in awe. Watching him smash his goals, time and time again, reminds me daily of the strength, determination, and joy he carries within him.

He teaches us that every milestone, no matter how big or small, is worth celebrating. His resilience, his laughter, and his spirit light up the path ahead and show us that true success isn’t measured by speed, but by courage and heart.

I am so proud of all that he has achieved and beyond excited for all that’s still to come. What a gift it is to be part of his story. 💛💙

Carla 😊

24/09/2025