In 2009 Community Resource Unit and Mamre Association Inc co-hosted two workshops titled“Self Directed Supports and Personalised Budgets in Queensland.” These workshops were designed in response to the considerable interest in self directed support and individualised funding as a way for people with disability and their families to increase their choice and control and to tailor support to truly meet their needs. Presentations provided a local, national and international overview of the key issues, underpinning principles, alternative models of service delivery as well as identifying challenges and opportunities.

Presenters included Lesley Chenoweth, Robbi Williams, Vicki Humphries, Jill Hole, Annette Justin, Kathryn Treston, Valmae Rose, Sue Brady and Brad Swan.

A comparison of the models of support presented on the day is available here.

CRU’s Safeguards Project ran from 2004 until 2009. It emerged out of a long standing concern about the challenges facing individual and family governed agencies and initiatives that are person focused.

Queensland has a relatively high number of services that are consumer and family governed compared to other states. For many years these services have focused on the person and their family and been flexible and responsive to their needs. They have developed structures that give high levels of authority to the people being supported. 

From 2003 CRU was provided with funding by Disability Services Queensland to assist five groups of families to develop family or individually governed collectives. The long term aim of these collectives was to become governance structures that would oversee and safeguard the individual support arrangements and networks that people and their families had developed. The project workers played a facilitative role with the people, families and significant others to assist them to learn about governance structures and models. Each collective worked on articulating their values and vision, processes and structures to ensure good working relationships over time.