Support Worker Quality and Community of Practice

Support workers play a vital role in the support sector. The introduction of the NDIS has raised new, and exacerbated old, challenges and opportunities.

Disability Elders of All Ages members told us about their experiences with support workers and asked us to find ways to address issues with the quality of support across South Australia.

Taking the lived experiences of those who receive support, and the expertise of those who provide it, we are working with key groups to develop a series of workshops, resources and stories for support recipients, support workers and service providers.

20 workshops are being presented free and online from May 2022 to November 2023. The workshops cover a wide range of topics including values, disability history, citizenhood, communication, and many more. The other key aspect of the project is the initiation of a community of practice for South Australian support workers.

A community of practice is a group of people with a common interest or problem, who seek to improve their understanding and practice through their interactions with one another. They bring together organisations and resources in order to improve practice across the whole industry. The topics for each session will be guided by experiences shared by people who receive support, and the members of the community of practice. 

So far we have held a focus group with 7 people who receive support and asked them to describe what it’s like when they have a bad support worker, or a good support worker. The photo below shows some of the things we discussed.

To learn more and to join the community of practice, contact Elizabeth Farrant at elizabethf@purpleorange.org.au or ring (08) 8373 8388.