History of Lifestyle Connections

HISTORY OF
LIFESTYLE
CONNECTIONS:
1993 - 2018

Booklet complied by Susan Barclay, Vice President 2018 Management
Committee, by researching the archives and seeking information from longstanding
governance and management individuals Bill Butler, Jenni Brittain,
Katie Britt, Jo-ann Hoare and Leo Brunker who all reviewed the booklet.
Wendy O’Reilly, President Management Committee 2018 also proofed the
document.
In this booklet, named individuals are restricted to our primary founders,
governance members holding positions for more than 10 years, and
operational managerial employees. We gratefully acknowledge their
dedicated service, as well as that of many other unnamed individuals who
have had such valuable input over these past 25 years.
Printed in August 2018 in Cairns QLD
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THE BACKGROUND
As we celebrate our 25 th year, Lifestyle Connections thought it fitting
to produce a small booklet outlining our history to date, to rejoice in
our long loyal service to our valued people with a disability and their
families in this beautiful Cairns region.
In the 1960-80’s the situation for people with disabilities in Australia
was very different to today, and many of us do not wish to be
reminded of what those days were like! The game changer fortunately
came in 1986 when the Federal Disability Services Act, which
recognised that people with a disability were valued members of
society and were entitled to the same rights and privileges as their
fellow citizens, was passed. This prompted some Queensland parents
whose family members with disabilities were approaching adulthood
to begin lobbying the State Government in the late 1980’s to provide
improved services. Some argued strongly for individual support from
small community or family-based services to be formed as an
alternative to the existing large disability support services that
provided support in traditional congregated and segregated group
settings, with little or no inclusion in the general community. That was
the scene in those ‘olden days’, but in Cairns there were rumblings for
change.
In November 1989, the Australian Association of Special Education
held a conference in Cairns from which arose a local Working Party on
recreation and leisure to investigate overall needs and initiate action.
In 1990 they formed The Recreation Task Force for People with
Disability, which met monthly and included Cairns families who wished
their family members with a disability to be given the same
opportunities enjoyed by the rest of the community, to have the
chance to succeed and the chance to fail - life’s experiences that
develop us all!
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A passionate local twosome, Colleen Dolan OAM and Margaret
(Maggie) Wraight from this Task Force worked tirelessly with a small
group of families to prepare a proposal to help people access activities
which already existed in the community. This proposal for a small
Service called ‘Leisure Connections’ was submitted to the Queensland
Department of Families in March 1992 and requested funding for 80
hours of support per week to assist 20 individuals on a 1 to 1 basis to
be included in community recreation/leisure activities. Notification of
success followed in
late December 1992,
and in January 1993
Leisure Connections
was officially founded
as that alternative to
traditional services.
The same Cairns duo and parents had also secured funding from
Commonwealth Department of Health, Housing and Community
Services through “The National Parent Information Project”, and with
assistance from the Queensland Community Resource Unit (CRU) held
a two-day Forum in April 1992, specifically by parents for parents. It
provided up to date information about service provision options
established by parents in other areas of Queensland that were greatly
improving the lives of people with a disability by giving them and their
family control over their supports and responding to their specific
needs. The inspired local parents formed the Cairns Regional Family
Network to bring about change, as the only support for adults with a
disability in Cairns at that time was a large state-wide organisation
providing residential care and workshop facilities. In July 1992 they
submitted their proposal to Department of Families for a flexible family
support service called ‘Real Living Options’ for a nominated 16 families.
That submission was unsuccessful, but fortunately at the same time
the submission for ‘Leisure Connections’ was successful.
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By then the first disability specific legislation in Queensland Disability
Services Act 1992 was passed and the disability sector reenergized.
Maggie and Colleen presented the reasoning and history behind their
two submissions at a Qld Parents of People with a Disability Inc.
conference “Access ’93: Inclusion in Life” held in Brisbane in March
1993. So, Leisure Connections was born onto a stage before
international, interstate and local people!
OUR FIRST FIVE YEARS: 1993 – 1997
Leisure Connections was a unique Service in Cairns at the time, the first
to provide individual one-on-one support in the community at ordinary
recreation and leisure activities/venues chosen by the Service User and
their family. The funding received was less than requested, but
enabled setting up an office, employment of a Coordinator and funding
for 60 support hours per week for up to 15 individuals. Initially Leisure
Connections was sponsored by Cairns City Council until it became
Incorporated on 8 th December 1993. The first Steering Committee
meeting with Colleen as Convenor and Joy Treloar as Secretary was
held on 27 th January 1993, and the inaugural Annual General Meeting
(AGM) was held 23 rd February 1994. Colleen was the founding
President of the Management Committee of Leisure Connections
Association Incorporated and held that position for 24 years, and
Maggie was the first Secretary, later holding position as Vice President.
As an organisation we owe a lot to these two dynamos, who have both
sadly passed away.
Leisure Connections had a challenging first two years. Most of 1993
was spent on the developmental work to set up the Service before the
first people could receive support. This mammoth task was done
predominantly by Colleen and Maggie, with invaluable advice from
Pauline Carlton, the Community Resource Officer with Department of
Communities. We rented our first office from mid-1993 at Shop 2, 221
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Sheridan St, Cairns City. The sole full-time Coordinator, Karen
Mansfield, set the groundwork for our operations, set up and
maintained all direct support, supervised Support Staff and ran the
office and accounts. As the only paid staff member she had the
assistance of the 9 members of the Management Committee. Karen
made a great contribution to our Service during those formative years.
Leisure Connections’ structure was centred on the people with
disabilities (Service Users) and their Family/Carer/Advocate (Family)
who had the main say in what support they desired. The organisation
was governed by a Management Committee (Committee) of
predominantly parents and operated by managerial/office staff (Staff)
who oversaw the support workers (Support Persons). “Block funding”
was allocated by the State Government and enabled our Service to
support people one-on-one from 2 to 4 hours a week in minimum 2-
hour shifts, as two people simply enjoying an activity in the community
like everyone else.
The first Service User entered the Service on 5 January 1994 and by
June 1994 we were supporting 8 people with 11 on the waiting list. The
original Mission Statement was “Leisure and Recreation are an
accepted and integral part of the Australian way of life. Leisure
Connections will assist people with a disability to share equally in this
experience.” However, we had been somewhat naïve, and the reality
was that the community was not necessarily welcoming, and people
did not see the value in individual support. In those early years we had
to undertake a tremendous amount of community education!
By July 1995 Leisure Connections was supporting 17 people with 8 on
the waiting list and were at our full capacity of 60 hours support a
week. By the end of the first five-year period (December 1997) we
supported 19 people with 26 on the waiting list, and had assisted 35
individuals throughout the year. The turnover of Support Persons was
relatively high due to the casual work hours available to them, but the
numbers of Service Users leaving our Service was relatively low and
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our waiting list high. In the first five years our Staff included only one
full-time (for a short while two part-time) Coordinator each year. Karen
Mansfield, Jan Newman, Ellen Holland and Frank McComber were
these invaluable employees.
Leisure Connections was providing much-needed social opportunities
for our Service Users, and its obvious success gave the impetus for that
same small group of dedicated Cairns parents to rejuvenate their
original 1992 proposal for a lifestyle support service ‘Real Living
Options’. The thinking behind this Service was detailed in a heartfelt
article “Pursuing a Dream” by Colleen, published in the CRUcial Times
magazine in 1998. She described the only three housing options (all
group homes) for adults with disability in Cairns in the 1980’s, and her
realisation that these would not suit her daughter, her family or other
families like them who wished their loved one to lead an ordinary life.
Her attempts to make change from within saw her labelled “a troublemaker
and radical”, so she decided to create a new service that would
fulfil this dream. In 1996 funding was received from the Queensland
Government Department of Families to set-up our ‘sister’ organisation,
Real Living Options with Colleen as founding President and later as
Treasurer.
Leisure Connections Association Incorporated was the sponsoring
organisation for Real Living Options until 2003 when they became
incorporated as a separate entity. From 1996 to this day the two
services have shared their office space and equipment. Both
organisations share the same founders and basic philosophies, and
appreciate the financial and other benefits of sharing.
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DECADE OF MIDDLE-AGE SPREAD: 1998 - 2007
The next decade was initially one of relative stability and slow steady
growth limited by funding and Disability Services regulations, despite
our long waiting list and approaches for support by word of mouth.
This suited our caring, family driven service as we always wished to
retain that special personal touch. The early years involved lots of
training from CRU to educate everyone about inclusion, participation
and Social Role Valorisation. Then the latter part of the decade saw
more expansion and changes.
In 1998 we moved from
Sheridan St to larger
premises in a Queenslander
at 128 Martyn St
Parramatta Park (corner
Grove and Martyn Streets).
During the first year of this
decade Helen Leafa became
Coordinator and we
supported 34 people overall
in 26 different activities at
45 venues – evidence of a responsive Service providing choice and
flexibility to the people it serves. Over the first five years of this decade
the number of Service Users at any one time fluctuated between 23
and 32, with 12 to 27 on the waiting list, and each year we supported
between 34 and 36 people in 25 to 63 different activities.
During the last five years of this decade we supported 30 to 34 people
per year in 26 to 64 different activities. At any one time we supported
27 to 30 Service Users with 28 to 50 on the waiting list. One of our
aims was that if Service Users gained full independence in their leisure
and recreation activities they would exit the Service so new people
could receive the same opportunities from our support. Several Service
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Users voluntarily left our Service over this decade and new people
began their journey with us. Many others are still with us today.
Leisure Connections retained its original Mission Statement, Vision and
Philosophy with only very minor changes to keep up with the times.
Block funding, where the Service not the individual, ‘owns’ the funds
continued throughout this decade, but we continued to always give
choice and flexibility to our Service Users. When Service Users had
crises, Leisure Connections sought brokered funds usually negotiated
quarterly from other Service Providers, so we could provide more
support hours to fulfil that individual’s needs.
In December 2000 we employed a part-time administrative assistant,
Julie Smith, who held that position for the next 18 years. In 2002 Helen
Leafa our Coordinator resigned and we welcomed Tony Willett as
replacement. We then employed 17 Support Persons, of whom 9 were
long term. As Support Persons worked only a few hours a week the
approximate 50% turnover was to be expected.
Leisure Connections was heavily involved in the development and
operation of the Cairns-based Community Access Card which gave free
or discounted access to venues for someone accompanying a person
with a disability. This initiative was in place before the State
Government brought in the similar Companion Card program in 2009.
From July 2004 all services receiving State Government funding came
under the Disability Sector Service Standards (Quality System),
requiring full accountability in the quality and continuity of service
provision. Leisure Connections was Service User focused and already
provided a quality service. However, we now had to ensure we met the
new Quality Standards and document what we did in a way we were
not used to. This involved many hours of intense documentation for
our Service to implement and review self-assessment, introduce a
system of continuous improvement, develop a succession plan and risk
assessments for the Service, and change all our policies to meet our
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practices. In 2006 feedback forms were introduced, and in 2007 we
had our first external audit and became Quality Assured. We began
annual Service User Surveys, with the results, all good and heartwarming
to date, presented at our Annual General Meetings.
At the end of the
lease at Martyn Street
in 2004, as the rent
was to increase and
we were expanding,
we shifted to a house
nearby at 439 Draper
St (corner of Grove
and Draper Streets)
for the next 6 years. A
grant from the Reef Casino Benefit Fund enabled purchase of some
much-needed new office furniture! The next modernisation occurred
in 2005 when Leisure Connections converted its accounting system
from manual to computer. At that stage, most Committee members
knew little about computers, and the conversion caused a lot of
headaches.
Also in the latter years of this decade, the State Disability Services Act
2006 replaced the 1992 Act, and other government legislation meant
Leisure Connections had to increase the age level of our target group
from the original 16 school age, to 18 years of age. We also had the
opportunity to expand the Service through the Queensland Disability
Services ‘Day Services Cell’. Funds received gave us the opportunity to
increase staffing, and for the first time to start meeting the needs of
our growing waiting list.
We ended this decade supporting our full capacity of 30 people at one
time, and during 2007 had supported 31 individuals in 64 activities.
Katie Britt had replaced Tony Willett as Coordinator in 2006 and then
as our Service Manager (a new title) in 2007, with a new position
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created for a Coordinator, Leo Brunker. We had documented what we
did in a way that we had never had to do before, and at last received
the opportunity to start growing our Service.
OUR MID-LIFE CRISIS: 2008 – 2012
2008 was the year we almost doubled in size through the Day Services
Cell funding, starting the year with 26 Service Users and finishing it
with 46 Service Users participating in 73 different activities. Expansion
continued during this five-year period, as after the introduction of
lifestyle support we ended the period in 2012 with 28 Support Persons
and 52 Service Users. Due to increasing workload, Fiona Williamson
had taken on a newly created role of Assistant to the Service Manager
and later stepped into the Coordinator’s position.
As we grew to almost 50 families using our Service, the close-knit
connections and word of mouth communications became less viable. A
hardcopy Newsletter was introduced in April 2009 and has continued
to this day.
In 2009 the Federal Government proposed a National Disability
Insurance Scheme (NDIS) for long-term disability care and support, and
in 2010 the Productivity Commission followed with a public inquiry.
Leisure Connections Committee lodged a submission supporting this
transformation of Australia’s disability support system (potentially in
line with our own philosophies) and outlining the flaws in the current
system. The Productivity Commission proposed the NDIS to be
overseen by the National Disability Insurance Agency, with trials to
begin in other states in 2014.
Meanwhile our State disability sector was also changing. In late 2010 a
couple of our Committee members attended a Qld Disability Services
10-year Plan workshop which focused on inclusion in community and
appeared to be a resurgence of the vision and values that created
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Leisure Connections. They impressed on the Director General, that
although one-on-one support is more expensive at the outset, it can
efficiently and successfully build interdependence!
Further changes followed in the Qld Government model and
benchmarks for delivery of Disability Services. In 2010, Katie Britt
became our part-time Quality Officer, Leo Brunker our Service
Manager and Tenille Davis our Coordinator.
Amidst this, our rented
building in Draper Street
was sold and the new
owners began repairs to
develop it as upmarket
business premises before
our lease expired, making
for a very unpleasant
time! So, in 2010 we
moved to our more
upmarket current office 113 – 115 Aumuller St Bungalow. Despite a
move and all the Government directed changes we maintained
governance, operations and support as fluidly as possible, and
remained resolute that these and any further changes were not going
to alter our vision and values.
In 2011 the new Qld Disability Services’ funding model meant the
Department began handling applications for support, changed the
supply/allocation of support hours, and removed our long waiting list.
We helped as many of our current and wait list people as we could, but
our future looked uncertain unless we obtained more funding to keep
pace with the dramatic wage rises since 2009 for support and office
staff.
2011 to 2012 was a difficult and anxious period due to these State
Government decisions and our financial difficulties. We came under
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intense pressure to provide more support to fewer people, and make
more people independent of our Service so more people could move
through. We also lost the recognition that we were a “niche” Service
where all our support has additional costs that were previously funded
to support people out in community.
We did everything in our power to ensure Leisure Connections could
continue to deliver the quality service we were all used to. The
Committee and some parents and Service Users lobbied State and
Federal politicians to secure more funds, received some Federal
Government assistance and made tough decisions to rein in expenses,
like removing the mileage cost subsidy.
With these pressures, the NDIS looming and our strong belief that oneon-one
support really does develop skills and self-dependence we
decided to diversify rather than specialising in recreation and leisure.
So, in 2012 we expanded our services to provide lifestyle support to
people with their own packages, without changing our long-standing
recreation and leisure support.
All lifestyle support was provided under the same values and vision
which drive our recreational component, as years of experience has
shown that our methods of support help people gain confidence in
their ability, stand tall and enrich their lives. We will always strive to
help the people we serve to live a life like everyone else in the
community. We were fortunate that our Staff and Support Persons had
experience in providing lifestyle support – most having worked with
our sister service Real Living Options or other Providers.
Thankfully we all weathered this changing State Disability environment
together and survived without any changes to our original values. The
diversification into lifestyle support also meant we were better
prepared for the Federal NDIS.
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CHANGING TIMES: 2013 – 2018
The highlight of 2013 was Colleen
Dolan receiving the ‘Order of
Australia’ Award (OAM) in the
Australia Day Honours list for
service to people with a disability.
An OAM is the highest recognition
for outstanding achievement and
service, and Colleen’s selfless
dedication and devotion to people
with disabilities earned her this
deserving recognition. Our Service
was so thrilled and proud of our
humble founder - a hero to so
many families - we will always hold
her in awe and the highest regard.
In 2013 we celebrated our 20th year anniversary with a huge cake at
our AGM. Also that year, the free Community Leisure Cards were
launched. Leisure Connections auspiced this project and was heavily
involved in creating the Cards cooperatively with several Cairns
services to assist people to discover/participate in community
activities, thereby reducing social isolation and developing
relationships and valued roles in community.
Our move to providing lifestyle support in addition to community
access meant that 2013 was one of the busiest years to date for Staff
and Committee, with operational and governance updating whilst
continuing to provide quality service to all stakeholders. The most
significant changes were re-wording our Mission Statement and
Constitution, dropping our target age to 16 years, and providing 24-
hour residential support to one Service User. Our Support staff
increased to 36 in 2013 and then to its maximum yet of 58 in 2017.
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In 2014, to accommodate our expanded services and enable the
Service Manager to manage the Service without also coordinating
support, Katie became Lifestyle Coordinator and Matt Schyff became
Community Access Coordinator. Lisa Preston filled in for Leo as Service
Manager for 3 months in 2015. By mid-2015 we had 32 Support
Persons supporting 41 Service Users through block funding for
recreation and leisure, 5 with lifestyle support and 5 with brokerage
support for community access.
Now we were an approved
Service to provide
community access and
lifestyle support our name
‘Leisure Connections’ did
not reflect our expanded
supports, but our motto
“Joining the Community” did still apply! So, members voted at our
AGM on three suggested names, and in 2015 we became ‘Lifestyle
Connections’ and changed ‘Leisure’ to ‘Lifestyle’ on our original oval
green/purple logo. In 2017 we decided to modernise our logo in
readiness for the NDIS. Once again there was a vote on several logo
designs, and our new circular green logo came up trumps!
Communications were also
changing with the times. In
2014 our Service’s website
was launched as a useful
resource for our Service
Users, families/advocates, Staff, Support Persons and Committee, and
exposure on the World Wide Web. Our Facebook page followed in
2016, and then in 2017 our own Portal. All are proving to be useful
tools. Our Newsletter adopted the ‘Lifestyle’ name change on the oval
logo at Issue 17 (Dec 2015), and at Issue 19 (Aug 2017) changed its
format and featured our new logo and website Cairns scene. Copies of
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all Newsletters are now on our website, but we still produce hard
copies, despite most of us using more efficient communications like
mobile phones and internet!
At the 2016 AGM Colleen stood down as President and Wendy O’Reilly
ably took over the reins. We greatly miss our founding member, long
time President and fountain of knowledge Colleen who sadly passed
away in 2017, and we aim to be guided by her passion and spirit. We
find some solace in knowing that when Colleen stood down as
President, she did so with the confidence that the organisation had a
strong and experienced Committee for its future heading into the
NDIS, and of course shared our great faith in the wonderful Service
Manager and Staff.
The NDIS rolled out in Cairns on 1 st July 2018, as a significant social and
economic reform making a positive difference to people with disability
and their families. It is a huge change as disability funding shifts from a
welfare to an insurance model, but we are excited about the
opportunities and choice it offers for everyone in our Lifestyle
Connections community. Currently (August 2018) we have 5 office
Staff and 45 Support Persons supporting 53 Service Users. Twenty-one
of these Service Users have approved NDIS plans in place and the
numbers are steadily growing.
We will continue to support people, as needed/requested, to do the
ordinary things that all of us do every day in our homes and in the
community. Some will need more assistance than others, all have
control and choice over their own lives and supports. This includes
choice of their Lifestyle Connections Support Person with whom they
are simply two people participating together in normal daily activities.
People will continue to have CHOICE in their lives, INCLUSION in
community and OPPORTUNITY. These have always been Lifestyle
Connections three main philosophies. We have always simply
responded to requests with “What type of assistance do you need
from us to enable you to lead an ordinary life?” We now all have the
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advantage that our philosophies have always been those of the ‘new’
NDIS – we were way ahead of our times!
OUR SENSE OF HISTORY
The sense of family, history
and continuity that
envelops our Service has
been made possible
through the loyalty and
long-term associations
within our Lifestyle
Connections community.
Over half (55%) of Service
Users have been supported
by us for over a decade and seven for the full 25 years or all their adult
life. We have still had a steady input of new people join our Service.
The number of Support Persons increased over the years as the
number of Service Users grew. At least 7 of our Support Persons have
worked for our Service for over 10 years. Our office Staff have
predominantly been there for the long term, many previously working
as Support Persons. Three of them have been with us for over 10 years
and two of those for almost 20 years (see Table on page 18)!
The Management Committee has included between 6 and 11 members
annually. Thirty-five people have served on our Management
Committee over the past 25 years, 21% of them serving for over a
decade, and three for over 23 years. The majority of Committee have
always been family members of Service Users, all highly valued and
with a range of skills. Apart from Colleen Dolan OAM and Maggie
Wraight, three other dedicated family members have loyally served on
the Committee for over 10 years and are still there in 2018 – Bill Butler
since the first meeting in 1994 as Treasurer for 23 years and then a
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general member; Jenni Brittain since 1997 as Vice President (for 14
years), Secretary and a general member; Janice Noonan (just recently
resigned) as Secretary for 18 years; and Jo-ann Hoare as a general
member for 11 years.
It is that special personal, understanding and caring atmosphere that
has consistently pervaded and defined our Service over its 25 years,
that has cemented the long-term commitment and satisfaction within
our Lifestyle Connections community.
THE FUTURE
Lifestyle Connections has seen many changes over these past 25 years
and now faces another with the NDIS. We look forward to the
challenge and to continuing our caring support to our valued Service
Users and their families both ‘old’ and new. We have grown slowly but
remained relatively small to retain that personal touch – we do not
want to get too big – even under NDIS. We are here to support each
other on this journey.
For many families who have used the services of Leisure/Lifestyle
Connections for many years, part of the joy has been watching our
Service Users grow up, lead more autonomous lives and blossom. This
can be attributed to them themselves, their families/carers but also to
our Staff and Support Persons that have assisted along the way.
As Colleen wisely said about the future for our loved ones with a
disability - all we can do is build a Service based on our philosophy of
an ordinary life, build networks for them, have procedures in place,
and trust that these safeguards will meet their changing needs during
their lifetime.
We close this booklet with a fitting quote from Colleen’s article
“Pursuing a Dream” - “Only people who can look beyond the disability
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and see the real person can share our dream. This does not mean that
we pretend the disability does not exist. On the contrary, we say that
everyone has the right to lead an ordinary life and some people need
more help than others.”
ACKNOWLEDGING OUR VALUABLE MANAGEMENT STAFF
NAME POSITION EMPLOYMENT
Angus, Fiona Assistant to the Coordinator 2017 - current
Britt, Kathryn Coordinator 2006
" Service Manager 2007 - 2010
" Quality Officer 2010 - 2014
" Lifestyle Coordinator 2014 - current
Brunker, Philip Coordinator 2007 - 2010
" Service Manager 2010 - current
Cameron, Sandra Coordinator 2000 - 2001
Davis, Tenille Coordinator 2010 - 2016
Holland, Ellen Joint Coordinator 1995 - 1996
Leafa, Helen Coordinator 1998 - 2002
Mansfield, Karen Coordinator 1993 - 1995
McComber, Frank Coordinator 1997 - 1998
Newman, Jan Coordinator, Joint Coordinator 1995 - 1996
Preston, Lisa Service Manager 2015
Stubbs, Robyn Part-time Coordinator 2014
Schyff, Matthew Community Access Coordinator 2014 - current
Willett, Tony Coordinator 2002 - 2006
Williamson, Fiona
Assistant to the Service Manager;
Acting Coordinator
2008 - 2010
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