Lets Connect Support Services

Next Wednesday I am speaking at a Carer Network event on the Sunshine Coast on how our family supported William to move out of home into his own space with the right support team in place and how we built a strong community network around him. This is not about registered or unregistered provider but a general open conversation with other families who are looking at something similar.

Carer Connection Event - Building Confidence in Transitions: Moving out of Home This free event provides carers with information on the decision for your loved one to move out of home and live independently.

Australia needs a better conversation about the future of the NDIS — one that focuses on building a stronger, sustainable scheme without harming the very people it was created to support.

Right now, the public discussion has centred too heavily on cuts, reducing plans, and removing people from the scheme. That approach places thousands of vulnerable Australians at risk. It creates fear for families, uncertainty for providers, and instability for people with disability who rely on supports every day.

Why has the national conversation not been led by a different question:
How do we build a sustainable NDIS that continues to support people in their homes and in the community for generations to come?

We should be talking about investing in early intervention and prevention, strengthening safeguards and accountability, reducing waste and poor practice, supporting and retaining a skilled workforce, helping families without expecting ageing parents or other family members to continue caring indefinitely, building inclusive communities, ensuring participants receive supports that genuinely improve outcomes, and working with people with disability, families, and providers to design practical reforms.

Older parents, siblings, and extended family members should not have to carry the caring role forever. Many have already given decades of their lives providing unpaid care, advocacy, and support. They deserve peace of mind knowing their loved ones will be safe and supported into the future.

Disability can happen to anyone. It does not discriminate. A strong disability support system is not just for a few people — it is something any Australian family may need at any time.

Government also needs to stop promoting “co-design” if people with disability, families, and those working on the ground are not genuinely being heard. Real co-design means listening, collaborating, and shaping policy together — not announcing decisions after the fact.

People with disability should be supported to live safely in their homes, remain connected to community, and live with dignity. When support is reduced, the pressure does not disappear — it shifts to families, hospitals, emergency systems, homelessness services, aged care, and state governments.

We are already seeing concerns raised by state governments because they understand that when Commonwealth supports are cut, the impacts are felt elsewhere.

A sustainable NDIS is possible. But sustainability should come from smarter systems, better planning, stronger oversight, and genuine reform — not from cutting the supports of people who need them most.

Australia can do better than a conversation based on fear and funding cuts. We should be building a scheme that is fair, responsible, and worthy of the people it exists to serve.

Built as a mum, not as a business plan.

Lets Connect Support Services was never created from a business plan sitting at a desk.
It was built from lived experience. From years of being a mum to a person with disability, navigating systems, fighting for the right supports, and knowing what it feels like to depend on people you hope you can trust.

When you are a parent in this space, you see very quickly the difference between services that are run as businesses, and services that are run with heart. I started Lets Connect because I wanted something different. I wanted a service where people were not just numbers, where families did not have to keep explaining themselves, and where Support Coordination meant more than just ticking boxes.

Over time the service grew, and like many small providers, we thought growth meant we were doing the right thing. But the last 12 months taught me a lot. We had staff come into the organisation and leave again just as quickly, and at times I could see that not everyone shared the same values and ethics I did or the same understanding of how important this role really is.

That was hard, because this service was never meant to be built on numbers or size.
It was built on trust.

As a mum, I know how much it matters who walks beside your family in the NDIS.
I know what it feels like to worry about whether the person supporting you really understands, really cares, or is just doing a job.
And I never wanted Lets Connect to become that kind of service.

So this year we made a decision.
We decided to stop chasing growth and start protecting what we built in the first place.

Today we have a small team, but it is the right team.
A team of strong, ethical women who believe in doing this work properly, who respect the people they support, and who understand that Support Coordination is not just a role — it is a responsibility.

These are women I would trust to stand beside my own son.
And that is the only measure of success that matters to me.

Lets Connect Support Services was built as a mum, not as a business plan.
And that is exactly how it will stay.