A small group met to discuss how Inverell services can effectively work together at the Benevolent Society on Wednesday, April 18 for the first of what they hope will be many inter-agency meetings.

“It’s incredibly important if we want to be able to ensure that the person that we’re supporting is the focus rather than the service being the focus,” Flourish Australia peer support worker June Roberts said.

“Having a range of different services involved means that a person gets that holistic support that they need rather than just focused in that area.”

The group discussed the different kinds of disability supports available in town and agreed there was a need to explore what services are available for people who don’t receive NDIS funding. 

Ms Roberts said they were keen to involve as many local services as possible to share information in the meetings and work collaboratively, particularly in the disability sector.

She said the NDIS, which places funds traditionally allocated to services directly in the hands of those with disabilities and their families, has created more competition among services.

“That was a lot of what we were talking about today, and how we can start working together to ensure that what all the services are doing is client focused, is person focused rather than what we would like to see happen - rather than service focused,” she said.

The meeting also focused on ways to let the community know what kinds of services are available in Inverell and how they can be accessed. 

The group will meet on the third Wednesday every three months. Any services interested in learning more or joining the meetings are encouraged to contact Flourish Australia. 

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