Disability Services

Our Disability Services incorporate our disability accommodation services (Supported Independent Living homes); individually funded supports for clients who have a disability and who are living in their own homes through our Capacity Building program; rehabilitation for people with Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) through our world-class Oats Street facility; and transitional accommodation for people with disability from hospital to independent living at home. As part of our Supported Independent Living homes, we also have two homes that specialise in accommodation for adults with Huntington’s disease.

New model of service for the Transitional Accommodation Program

Using a co-design approach that included clients, families and staff, we developed a new model of service and related resources for our Transitional Accommodation Program at Marangaroo. This was launched on 31 May 2021.

The new model of service better reflects the changes in our client cohort. We were seeing a sustained trend in early discharge from hospital resulting in 70% of clients in 2020/21 being within a subacute stage of recovery; that is within six months of their brain injury. This change has resulted in the model of care having to adapt from a slow stream functional therapy-based rehabilitation service to a mixed model of impairmentbased therapy and functional based rehabilitation.

Growth in Capacity Building

In 2020/21, our Capacity Building Program, who work with NDIS participants, has grown to almost 40 staff supporting 375 clients with a range of disability support services. To respond to the new NDIS Practice Standards, the Capacity Building Program has grown a Behaviour Support Practitioner (BSP) service.

Oats Street expansion

Our rehabilitation program at Oats Street successfully expanded the number of places available in its program from 48 to 53 in 2020/21.

Our plans continue for the further development of this service.

Having purchased the adjoining three houses, we will utilise the additional space to create services that further enhance outcomes for people with ABI and their families. We are currently using one of these adjoining houses to increase our capacity to accommodate more clients. Over the next 12 months, we will be consulting with key stakeholders and staff to understand where we can further develop our service.

Huntington’s disease campus

In 2020/21 we further developed the design concepts for a redevelopment of Ellison House and Kailis House. The new campus will be purpose built to accommodate our clients from both our Huntington’s disease services – Kailis House and Ellison House, accommodating people in different progression stages of Huntington’s disease.

Huntington’s disease impacts many areas of the individual’s life and capacity in activities of daily living. It is essential that we build an environment that minimises the impact of the disease on the individual, whilst maximising their potential to live the life they choose in close collaboration with their families.

Adapting to COVID-19 in Capacity Building

The COVID-19 pandemic not only had a big impact on our residential homes, but also on our community teams. In response to the pandemic, our Capacity Building team were able to adapt to ensure continuity of supports to its clients. This included: Defining what a critical and essential service is by incorporating a balanced approach between the NDIS and the client’s needs; development of shared agreements with how services could be delivered to a client differently; development and implementation of a transdisciplinary model for therapy services to support our clients in Supported Independent Living and where required, in residential aged care, minimising the number of staff required face-to-face with clients; and with the support of IT services moving to a virtual model of support and implementing tele-health and other online applications.

Brightwater and Bassendean Cricket Club partnership

The partnership between Oats Street and the Bassendean Junior Cricket Club has continued in 2020/21. The award-winning partnership has seen Brightwater clients with an ABI work at the club canteen to aid their transition back into the workforce.

The Disability Royal Commission

The Disability Royal Commission was established in April 2019 in response to community concern about widespread reports of violence against, and the neglect, abuse and exploitation of, people with disability.

The Royal Commission is aiming to better understand incidents of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation that have impacted people with disability aiming to prevent such incidents through better protection of people with disability. It is expected that this will be achieved through best practice in reporting, investigating incident responses and through promoting a more inclusive society.

The Royal Commission has recently been granted an extension for the due date of their final report. The report is now due on 29 September 2023, and whilst the Royal Commission has yet to visit Western Australia, we are monitoring the sessions and will provide submissions if and where relevant. Brightwater continues to monitor all developments from the Commission and looks forward to the final recommendations. Brightwater Marangaroo (Transitional Accommodation Program) client Des Lynch and Therapy Assistant Rozanne Schmulian were the stars of our International Day of People with a Disability Appeal in December 2020.

They were interviewed by Perth radio station 6PR as part of our radio-thon.

Des has an acquired brain injury after undergoing radical surgery to cure his epilepsy as a child.

Meet Des and Rozanne

“I had an operation at 9 years old to stop the fitting, and it stopped the fitting but it left me paralysed down the left side of my body,” Des said.

Rozanne says “Every day, Des brightens up the room when he walks in and everyone loves him.”

“I love my job and making a difference in people’s lives and helping them, even just putting a smile on their face,” Rozanne said.