About Weeroona

Weeroona's History

1989 – The increasing need to have support services for people with disabilities and their families in the Gympie region was identified through public meetings, surveys and personal contact.

1990 – Formal steps were taken to establish a working group to secure funding for appropriate support services.

1991 – Working group was incorporated as Weeroona Association Inc and received funding via the Home & Community Care Program HACC).

1999 – Weeroona received funding from Disability Services Queensland (DSQ)and this included Family Support Program (FSP).  This initiative was to provide flexible, responsive supports for families of children with disabilities and close the gap where complex needs were not adequately funded by existing funding programs.

2001 – Introduction of another DSQ program – Moving Ahead program (MAP) which then became Post School Services (PSS) providing funding for young adults to transition from school into adult life - develop life skills, further education, vocational training, access to work and community participation.

2019 – National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) was the biggest reform of funding for disability on a National level replacing state funded services.

The NDIS funding gave participants and their families the opportunities to access funds that they could make choices about how and where to use them.

It opened the door for many people who had never accessed funding prior to this innovation.

In January 2019 NDIS rolled over in Sunshine Coast of which covers the Gympie region and still today advancements are being made in the refinement of this funding model to the benefit of all people with a disability, all ages and all types of disabilities and their families.

Services provided emphasise the following:

The emphasis of service is based on:

• the needs of the individual and the family
• Provision of an equitable (same price for all under NDIS) flexible (choice of provider) and professional standard of service (NDIS registration is a preferred model)
• Services being provided to people with a disability of all ages and types of disability – physical, intellectual, mental health areas.