Working with Community

Here at the Brotherhood of St Laurence (BSL), we provide opportunities for people with disability, children with developmental delays and disability, their families, and carers to:

connect with others in their community
address barriers to true inclusion and accessibility in communities
use their skills and knowledge to achieve shared goals.

Our Team

We have a team dedicated to working with local communities to improve access and inclusion and provide opportunities for people with a disability.

From left, Jennifer Lumsden, Kath Struthers, Leah Robertson, Kelly Bolton, Hang Nguyen.

Our Stories

We have been partnering with local communities, organisations and others who are passionate about supporting people with disability, children with developmental delay, their families, and carers. Together, we find solutions that make things easier for everyone to participate. Here are some examples of our team’s past work.

Home Interaction Program for Parents and Youngsters (HIPPY) National Training

In 2019, BSL’s Early Childhood team collaborated with HIPPY Frankston North to deliver a pilot training program for HIPPY tutors to support their knowledge of services and referral pathways available to parents and families. After gathering insights from tutors and families in the Frankston area, the team developed a tailored training session for HIPPY tutors to increase awareness of the program and pathways to support families and children.

The training was later rolled out to other HIPPY program sites managed by BSL and later, rolled out to the 100 HIPPY sites across Australia.

This pilot training lay the foundation for ongoing collaboration between HIPPY Australia and BSL Disability Services.

Nugal Murrup Buladu (Belong Spirit Grow)

BSL Disability Services representatives have formed a collaborative partnership with Darebin Best Start and have been active members of the Aboriginal Reference Group since 2019.

The Aboriginal Reference Group found that whilst there is an abundance of information in the early years space for professionals there is a gap in resources for Aboriginal families and carers of Aboriginal children.

The Darebin Best Start – Aboriginal Reference Group worked with Little Rocket, an Indigenous owned marketing and communications company, to develop and create the three short video clips focusing on the early years, bringing information to families with children aged 0-5.

The “Nugal Murrup Buladu – belong, spirit, grow” video series highlights the lived experience of families overcoming barriers to their children starting kinder and school, and aims to support and empower families through the early years journey.

In the 12 months since the launch of the series, there has been an 85% increase in Early Start Kindergarten registrations for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander children in the City of Darebin. The videos have now been shared in communities state-wide and are working to close the gap on education disadvantage for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. The “Nugal Murrup Buladu – belong, spirit, grow” video series was awarded the Creating Collaborative Community Partnerships award at the Victorian Early Years Awards in 2023.

You can learn more and watch the video series here on our website.

“When given the opportunity and space to work collaboratively with other organisations and create such informative and supportive tools for Mob, that’s rewarding in itself, but to go on and win the Creating Collaborative Partnerships award for the Victorian Early Years awards, is truly so fulfilling and speaks volumes about the collaborative project we were able to create.”

Tori Brooks, Early Years Team Leader, VACCA

Connecting Carers in Frankston

Carers living in the Frankston area expressed a need for increased recognition and support for the work of carers living in the local area. One local carer approached BSL and Frankston City Council to address this gap in support and discuss a new initiative, Pathways for Carers.

Pathways for Carers is a monthly nature walk program that offers carers the opportunity to build connections and receive peer-based support while getting active and connecting with nature. This carer led the establishment of the walking program with the support of BSL and Council and has since built a strong network of carers who continue to meet monthly with the support of Orwil Street Community house.

“We are connected to other carers who are experiencing similar life experiences. It can sometimes be very isolating. I have met people I wouldn’t have met otherwise.” Pathway for Carers participant.

Our current projects

People with lived experience (people with disability, children with developmental delay, families, and carers) are always central to our work. Below is a snapshot of our current areas of work in the community. If you are interested in sharing your lived experience and ideas to help in building inclusive communities, contact our team to discuss further.

Be as involved as you would like and be reimbursed for your time.

Connecting Carers

BSL is working with local community organisations to establish a carers wellbeing group to increase accessibility and inclusion in local communities by providing activities and support for local carers.

Carers are those who support a family member or friend who has a disability, a medical condition, mental illness, or medical condition or who is frail due to age. They can be family members or friends, they can be parents, children, siblings, grandparents, or neighbours.