FAQ Sheet 6
How do I find and organise community support services for when I go to university?
Finding community support services
It is important to organise community support services well in advance. If you already have community support services involved, you are a step ahead. Wherever possible try to stay with the same service(s), as long as the support is of reasonable quality, while you make your transition from school to university; you'll have enough changes to deal with when starting university without also 'breaking in' a new community support service.
No matter what your disability or your support needs, finding and securing the right community support service is notoriously difficult. In NSW there is no central directory to point you to the community support services available.
Once you've identified a service that provides the support you need, you then have to determine whether you fit their eligibility criteria and if they have a vacancy for a new client. This often involves assessment processes, applications for funding and sometimes a waiting period after successfully completing these entry procedures.
Here are some tips on how to find a community support service that suits your needs, useful websites and contact details for other services that may be able to help your search.
Searching tips
- If you already have a case worker (also known as a case manager, case coordinator, support coordinator, etc.) who helps you and/or your family organise community support services, he/she will be the key person in searching for suitable community service(s). This person is expert in the types of support services available and will have networks with the local agencies. Talk to this person about what type of assistance you believe you need and ask them to find you a service that will help.
- If you do not already have a case worker/case manager/case coordinator, speak to any other community service worker already involved, your teachers and/or Transition Support Teacher, university Disability Liaison Officer, National Disability Coordination Officer or Teacher Consultant.
- Speak to other people with disability and their families about the services they use and ask for contact details. Even if it's not the right type of service for you, a good contact person may be able to set you in the right direction.
- When asking for assistance always be as specific as possible about the type of support you want and need. The more specific you are the more likely you are to have clear communication with the service about whether they are able to help you.
- Be open minded about how you may be able to utilise the assistance that the available services can provide. If it's not exactly what you want or need, consider how you could best use this service to meet your needs.
- When you contact a service to request assistance or to find out what supports they provide, ask to speak to an enquiries officer or someone else who can answer your questions about the service. If the person is unavailable, ask for their name and call again later.
- If you leave a message for a service and they do not return the call, it's a good idea to call them back. These services are often so overwhelmed with new callers that they find it hard to get back to those leaving messages.
- If the service you speak to is unable to provide the assistance you are looking for, ask for details of another service that may be able to help. State and federally funded disability services are obliged to supply referral details to those they have been unable to assist.
- Write down the services that you have already called and, wherever possible, the person you spoke to. This way you can keep track of which services you have contacted so that you don't double up and phone again.
- Disability Information Services are a useful source of over-the-phone or web information about services that are available (see below for details). If possible, phone these services (rather than only use their website) because the information officer available may be able to provide you with advice about the type of service to look for and where to go to find additional information. Disability Information Services do not have exhaustive lists of the services available but can provide some details which act as a good starting point.
- The Department of Ageing, Disability and Home Care (see below for website) is the key government agency in NSW for disability services. Staff at the regional offices should be able to provide you with contact details of local disability services that may be able to assist.
- Disability specific services, which assist people only with specific types of disability, may also be able to provide you with information about services they know in the area which supports people with your type of disability.
Useful websites
Here are websites that may assist you to find an appropriate community support service:
Government agency
- Department of Ageing, Disability and Home Care (DADHC) provides, funds and monitors community support services to people with disabilities and older people. The website includes contact details for their regional offices and also links to other websites. Phone your closest regional office to find information about disability services in your area.
Disability Information Services
- Provides telephone and website information about disability services and equipment.
- Information on Disaility and Education Awareness Services (IDEAS) provides an accessible web portal for people wiht disability, their families, carers adn other supporters to access and search for information that promotes their independence. This includes databases of community services and equipment suppliers.
- The community.gov.au website provides a portal to information about community services across Australia, including disability-specific information.
General community services directory
- Lifeline's Just Look is a web-based database of community services across Australia.
Contact details for disability specific services
For people with acquired brain injury:
Brain Injury Association of NSW
PH: 9749 5366
Email: mail@biansw.org.au
Website: www.biansw.org.au
For people with arthritis:
Arthritis Foundation of NSW
PH: 9683 1622
Email: info@arthritisnsw.org.au
Website:http://www.arthritisnsw.org.au
For people who are blind or have vision impairment:
Vision Australia
PH: 1300 847 466
TTY: 9747 5993
Email: info@visionaustralia.org.au
Website: http://www.visionaustralia.org.au
For people who are deaf or hearing impaired:
Deaf Society of NSW
PH: 9893 8555
TTY: 9893 8858
Email: info@deafsociety.com
Website: http://www.deafsocietynsw.org.au
For people who have a mental illness:
Mental Health Association (Mental Health Information Service)
Email: info@mentalhealth.asn.au
Website: http://www.mentalhealth.asn.au/resources/index.htm
For people with physical disability:
The Northcott Society
PH: 9890 0100
Email: enquiry@northcott.com.au
Website:http://www.northcott.com.au
For people with spinal injury
ParaQuad
PH: 8741 5600
Email: paraquad@paraquad.org.au
Website: http://www.paraquad.org.au
Others
Local councils usually have a community officer who may also be able to provide details of local services.