Community, Social Participation & Travel Assistance

The terms are often used interchangeably. Community participation generally refers to accessing and engaging in community activities, groups, events, and public spaces. Social support encompasses maintaining relationships, building friendships, and social connections. In practice, both are about staying connected—whether through organized activities, informal social time with friends and family, or exploring your community. Our services cover all aspects of social connection and community engagement.

Yes! Transport and travel assistance is a key component of community participation support. We can provide transport in a support worker's vehicle (where they hold appropriate insurance and licenses), accompany you on public transport, assist with taxi or rideshare services, or support you to learn to use public transport independently. The goal is ensuring transport barriers don't prevent you from participating in activities you value.

That's absolutely fine! Many participants aren't sure where to start. Our team can work with you to explore your interests, research available community activities and groups, attend different activities on a trial basis to find what you enjoy, introduce you to new experiences you might not have considered, and gradually build a schedule of activities that bring you joy. Discovery and exploration are part of the process.

Yes, we offer both individual support (one support worker with you) and group support (one support worker supporting multiple participants together). Group activities can be great for building friendships with peers, reducing individual support costs by sharing a worker, trying activities you might feel nervous doing alone, and participating in organized social programs. We also support individual participation if you prefer one-on-one support.

Where possible, we assign consistent support workers to your community participation activities. This is beneficial because they learn your interests and preferences, build a rapport and friendship with you, understand your support needs, and make activities more comfortable and enjoyable. For variety or when your regular worker is unavailable, backup workers familiar with your support plan can attend.

For regular, recurring activities (e.g., weekly art class), we set up an ongoing schedule. For one-off events or special occasions, we prefer at least 1-2 weeks notice to ensure worker availability, but we understand spontaneous opportunities arise and we'll do our best to accommodate shorter notice when possible. The more advance notice, the better we can ensure availability.

If an activity you planned to attend is canceled, we can use the scheduled support time for an alternative activity, reschedule to another day, or cancel the support shift (depending on notice provided). We try to be flexible and help you make the most of your support hours. Many participants appreciate having backup activity ideas for these situations.

Yes! Supporting employment and volunteer participation is an important aspect of community engagement. We can assist with researching volunteer or employment opportunities, attending interviews or initial meetings, on-the-job support during initial training, building workplace skills and confidence, and liaising with employers about your support needs. This falls under community participation and can be life-changing for building purpose and connection.

Not at all! Community participation supports benefit participants with all types of disabilities including physical disabilities who need mobility or transport assistance, sensory disabilities requiring communication or navigation support, psychosocial disabilities benefiting from companionship and encouragement, acquired brain injuries needing support to access activities, chronic health conditions limiting independent participation, and anyone who faces barriers to community engagement due to their disability.

Community participation is typically funded under Core Supports (Assistance with Social and Community Participation) or Capacity Building Supports (Improved Daily Living - Community, Social and Civic Participation). Your plan may specify hourly rates for individual or group support. Check with your support coordinator or NDIS planner to understand your funding and how to use it for activities that matter to you.