News & Media

We’re continuing to grow

March 26, 2020

This week, we welcomed 43 new starters to Everyday Independence, strengthening our team to more than 350 people working in communities across three states. We’re excited that 40 therapists (23 occupational therapists, 12 speech pathologists, 5 physiotherapists) and three support team members have chosen to progress their careers with us. Everyday Independence is committed to …

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Online therapy offers a fun new way of accessing therapy

March 26, 2020

As people across Australia are being asked to stay at home to reduce the spread of COVID-19, our therapists are supporting many families to adjust to new routines and new ways of spending their time. Occupational Therapist Marny and Speech Pathologist Becca have been working with two young children over the past year to develop …

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Changes to the NDIS pricing for therapy services during the COVID-19 pandemic

On March 25th the NDIA announced a temporary price increase of 10% for therapy services. Everyday Independence follows the NDIS Price Guide for all our fees and charges, so we have adjusted our pricing to reflect the NDIA changes. These changes will come into effect today, Thursday 26 March 2020 and will be in place …

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Our response to COVID-19: information for people we support and our referrers

March 18, 2020

The spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in the Australian community is serious and we’d like to update the people we support and our referrers on how we are delivering therapy to look after everyone’s health. We are committed to providing therapy in the safest and most effective way for each person’s individual circumstances. Continuing therapy …

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2020 Telstra Business Women’s Awards VIC winners announced shortly

Everyday Independence founder and director Leanne Healey is a Victorian finalist in the 2020 Telstra Business Women’s Awards which are being announced on Tuesday, March 17th. Leanne founded Everyday Independence in 1997 and today it’s one of the largest interdisciplinary therapy providers in Australia, offering occupational therapy, speech pathology and physiotherapy to people living with …

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Supporting people impacted by bush-fires and in extreme weather

February 17, 2020

This bushfire season has had a devastating impact on our communities, wildlife, firefighters, emergency and other support workers, and the beautiful Australian landscape. As a team, we’ve put in place a range of initiatives to provide immediate assistance to people with disabilities and to manage therapy appointments on days of extreme heat and poor air …

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We welcome new team members, open more therapy hubs

February 17, 2020

As we start 2020, we send a very warm welcome to our 78 newest team members at Everyday Independence. Our latest group of new starters includes 70 occupational therapists, speech pathologists and physiotherapists, and eight administration team members. We are very excited to now be a team of 311 people working across teams in Melbourne, …

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Private Practice Made Perfect Podcast

Recently the Everyday Independence Directors – Ingrid Cole, Mal Healey and Leanne Healey joined Cathy Love on the Private Practice Made Perfect Podcast.   Ingrid, Leanne and Mal shared their experience on how using a social model of disability and becoming a people-centred practice has helped Everyday Independence build our team, support participants and improve …

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Meet Matt Wong, Occupational Therapist, Gold Coast.

We chat with Matt about his journey to become an OT, what he thinks good therapy looks like and he shares with us what he does on a typical day. Tell us a little bit about yourself. I joined Everyday Independence in January 2018 as a graduate OT and  have a particular interest in supporting  …

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Meet April O’Neill, Team Leader Gold Coast

We introduce April O’Neill, Occupational Therapist and Team Leader for the Gold Coast team in Queensland. From the first week in February, Everyday Independence will be expanding our services and opening a therapy hub on the Gold Coast. April will be leading a  team of multi-disciplinary therapists who will support people with a wide range …

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We’re expanding our services into Queensland

December 18, 2019

We are very excited to be expanding our services into Queensland. From Monday 3 February we are available to support people with disabilities living on the Gold Coast and in the Gold Coast Hinterlands with occupational therapy and speech pathology. Our therapy team will provide occupational therapy and speech pathology services to people of all ages so …

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2019 Everyday Independence Empower Me conference

November 26, 2019

We recently held the inagural Everyday Independence Empower Me Conference in Melbourne. More than 200 of our Victorian and New South Wales team members came together over two days to engage, learn and to celebrate our achievements this year. We were also honoured to hear from guest speakers Kurt Fearnley AO and the Honourable Mr …

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Our therapy services expand across Sydney

November 26, 2019

We’re very excited to be expanding our services across Sydney. From next month, we’ll have teams based across four therapy hubs to support  people living with disabilities in most of Greater Sydney, with the exception of the Northern Beaches.  This means more availability for appointments, less travel likely, and more access for families to our therapy …

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Therapy services expanding across Melbourne

November 26, 2019

We’re excited to be expanding our services in Melbourne with the addition of two therapy hubs. Next month, we’ll open a new therapy hub in Melton.  While a team of therapists have been supporting families in the Melton Brimbank area with their therapy needs, a local therapy hub will mean that we can also offer …

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Meet Madeline Hand, Team Leader Sydney

November 26, 2019

We introduce Madeline Hand, occupational therapist (OT) and Team Leader for the South Eastern and South Western Sydney teams. Madeline supports children and young adults to improve their quality of life by maximising their participation in activities of everyday life.  Madeline is highly experienced, having worked across many fields including early childhood intervention services (ECIS), …

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Meet Kate Hyett, Regional Lead

November 27, 2019

Kate recently joined the Everyday Independence team to support our teams in Bendigo, Barwon, Ballarat  and Albury to deliver great therapy services in their local communities. Kate has worked across the hospital and health care industries in metropolitan, regional, and rural settings across Australia in senior director positions.  She is a registered nurse with post …

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Careers evenings in Melbourne

Are you an occupational therapist, speech pathologist or physiotherapist who is interested in supporting people with disabilities to live to their full potential? Our therapy services are in demand and we have allied health roles available in all of our therapy hubs in Victoria and New South Wales. Come along to one of our careers …

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Everyday Magic sees Tarus’ garden grow

October 24, 2019

Tarus has always wanted a vegetable garden of his own and to make friends with others who love gardening.  However living in a large SDA , Tarus is unable to have his own veggie garden at home. Izabel, Tarus’ occupational therapist, supported him to find a local community garden with raised garden beds, which was …

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Celebrating OT Week 2019

Each of our 14 teams came together today to celebrate OT Week and the many ways that occupational therapy supports people with disabilities to live a good everyday life. People often ask ‘what is occupational therapy? Occupational therapy supports people to do the things they want to do in their daily life. Our occupational therapists …

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Meet Jenna Noonan, Team Leader Southern Melbourne

October 22, 2019

We chat to Jenna about what she’s enjoys most about being an occupational therapist, her new role as Team Leader and what her typical day looks like. Tell us a little bit about yourself I’ve always been attracted to working in the disability sector.  I joined the Everyday Independence team following four years clinical experience …

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We’re growing in Western Melbourne and Inner Gippsland regions

October 22, 2019

With more people requesting support to achieve their goals, we’d pleased to announce that we are expanding our services in Western Melbourne and  Inner Gippsland. Western Melbourne region Everyday Independence therapists have recently begun supporting people in the local government areas of Melton and Brimbank. Now, we’re putting the final touches on a space in …

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The magic happens in between therapy sessions

October 22, 2019

At Everyday Independence, we empower the people we support to be in control of their therapy and keep practicing and improving beyond every therapy session. When therapy is integrated into daily life routines, we see the fastest and best results. Everyday Independence therapists don’t give people ‘homework’ to do before the next therapy session.  Instead, …

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Carers Week 2019

October 16, 2019

Carer’s Week (13-19 October) We’re recognising and thanking carers for their dedication and significant contributions in providing care and support to family members and friends who have a disability, mental illness, chronic condition, terminal illness or who are elderly with care needs. Carers come in all shapes and sizes from a variety of backgrounds, with …

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New site opens in Wyndham 

October 2, 2019

We’re excited to open an additional site in Western Melbourne to support people living with disabilities in this region. Our new site in Werribee will support the therapy needs of people in the local government area of Wyndham and surrounding area. This area includes the suburbs and localities of Cocoroc, Hoppers Crossing, Laverton, Laverton North, …

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Vincent gets physical with boxing

October 2, 2019

Exercise has consistently shown to be a positive factor for mental health, mood regulation, motivation and in Vincent’s case, it has also opened doors for engagement and participation with others in his group home. Vincent is a 26-year-old who has been living in shared accommodation since the age of 21. He has been diagnosed with …

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Winner at the 2019 Australian Allied Health Awards

September 24, 2019

We are thrilled to announce that we have been awarded two awards at the 2019 Australian Allied Health Awards.  The awards are designed to recognise, inspire, promote innovation and excellence within the Allied Health community. Early Career Excellence Award Harley Hayes, Occupational Therapist in our Bendigo team won the Early Career Excellence Award. While only in …

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Empowering people with disabilities with person-centred therapy

September 20, 2019

Harley Hayes, occupational therapist and winner of the Australian Allied Health Awards, Early Career Excellence category, talks about the benefits of using person-centred therapy to support people with disabilities to have more choice and control in the areas of their life that are important to them While I was at university completing my occupational therapy …

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Jess speaks to Human Nature

To celebrate Speech Pathology Week 2019 we’re sharing a beautiful story about Jess. Jess has been working together with our Speech Pathologist Amanda, from our Newcastle team since December last year to develop her communication skills. Amanda has been supporting Jess to speak confidently with people outside of Jess’ family and to use the phone …

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Celebrating Speech Pathology Week 2019

Today marks the beginning of Speech Pathology Week and this year’s theme is ‘communicating with confidence’. With more than 1.2 million Australians living with a communication disability, speech pathologists play an important role in supporting people to communicate with confidence. We’d like to thank our speech pathology team members for their dedication and commitment to …

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You can do it. Be brave!

When we asked 10-year-old Monique for her advice for a child who was just about to start receiving therapy support, she had five simple, but powerful words. Words that are relevant to people of all ages. ‘You can do it. Be brave’. Monique’s daily life is much like any other 10-year-old girl’s.  She loves spending …

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Working as a team to support people with their therapy needs

August 21, 2019

When a person needs more than one type of therapy, the common approach is for each therapist to meet with them, conduct their own assessment and develop their own plan.  This means multiple assessment and the plans may not work all together. We do things differently. At Everyday Independence, when a person needs more than …

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We’re growing in New South Wales and Victoria

August 21, 2019

With demand for our services increasing across all of our sites, we’ve maintained a strong focus on recruitment over the past six months. We’re committed to delivering high quality therapy services to the people we are currently supporting and assisting new participants to get started with their therapy as soon as possible. Last week we …

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Making it personal. Our approach to supporting people with disabilities.

There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to supporting people with disabilities and what works for one person, may not work for another person with the same disability.  In this article we provide real examples of how our therapists take into account the person’s goals, needs, strengths and interests to deliver what’s important to …

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Harley Hayes, 2019 Australian Allied Health Awards finalist

July 25, 2019

We are very excited to announce that Harley Hayes, Occupational Therapist at Everyday Independence, is a finalist in the 2019 Australian Allied Health Awards in the category – Early Career Award. While only in his second year of practice, Harley has proven he is a talented clinician with exceptional leadership and interpersonal skills that enable …

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Focus on occupational therapy

Occupational therapy supports people with disabilities of all ages to perform daily tasks in a way that enhances their quality of life, increases their social participation, independence and overall well-being. This can include activities at home with cooking, self-care, enjoying time with friends and family, getting out and about, and participating in study or work. Our …

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Dave’s living his best life with the right supports

June 26, 2019

Kate Morris, Speech Pathologist in our Newcastle team supports many people with disabilities in the Hunter New England area.  But Dave’s journey is one that she’s particularly proud to be a part of. Dave’s story is a great example of what a person with a disability can achieve when they have the right supports around …

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Talking speech pathology

May 22, 2019

Speech pathologists support people who have challenges with their communication due to issues with their speech, language, fluency, voice, or in understanding what others are saying.   A speech pathologist can also help make mealtimes more enjoyable and safer for someone who has problems swallowing food and drink. At Everyday Independence, our speech pathologists use evidence-based …

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Amber travels by train independently, for the first time in 20 years

May 22, 2019

Noises, overcrowding, confined spaces, or feeling unsafe can make anyone’s journey on public transport extremely stressful, let alone if you suffer from anxiety. Pamela Borg, occupational therapist with Everyday Independence understands how challenging it can be for someone with a lifelong mental health condition to use public transport. Pamela recently supported Amber, a young woman …

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Meet Steph, Physiotherapist, Albury team

May 7, 2019

Steph Weller recently joined the Everyday Independence team as a physiotherapist with our Albury team. Relocating from Adelaide at the beginning of this year, Steph has fallen in love with Albury’s relaxed feel and its people. Steph was inspired to become a physiotherapist as a teenager after working closely with a physiotherapist after recovering from …

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Meet Monica Leo, Team Leader Peninsula Team

Monica Leo is an Occupational Therapist and Team Leader for our Peninsula Team based in Mornington. Ever since she was little Monica wanted to work with kids and every day they teach her something new. Being a mother of two children, Monica understands the importance of supporting families so they can look after themselves and …

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Everyday Independence celebrates growth milestone

April 29, 2019

Today, we celebrate a significant growth milestone as we welcome our 200th team member to Everyday Independence. For an organisation that started 20 years’ ago with one person’s passion to make a difference, it’s an important milestone that we’re very proud of. Every person who is part of the Everyday Independence team works to deliver …

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Meet Sonya O’Donohue, Practice and Participant Lead, Southern Melbourne

March 28, 2019

Sonya O’Donohue is the Practice and Participant Lead in Southern Melbourne and supports people with a disability to access our services. After learning more about a participant’s needs and what they would like to achieve, Sonya matches a therapist who can help them to achieve their goals. Sonya schedules the participant’s first therapy appointment and …

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Extended contact hours

We’ve extended our hours to make it easier for you to contact us or make a referral. Our Intake Team is now available from 8am – 6pm Monday to Friday on 1300 179 131. A member of our Intake team can talk to you about our services, our intake process and how we can work …

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The role of physiotherapy in supporting people with a disability

March 28, 2019

  We chat with Trish Hill about the role physiotherapy plays in supporting people with a disability to achieve their goals. Trish works in our Bayside team in Melbourne and is a passionate physiotherapist with extensive experience in Paediatrics. What is physiotherapy? Physiotherapy uses evidence-based techniques to improve a person’s health and wellbeing. Physiotherapy is …

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DHHS Assessment – Excellent feedback

March 8, 2019

This week each of our teams got together to celebrate our success in the recent DHHS Human Services Standards Assessment. We were so thrilled to receive such positive feedback about our organisation and that we have been recommended for accreditation. The start of the assessors report said ‘“Everyday Independence started from one person with a …

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Everyday Independence announces partnership

March 4, 2019

We are excited to share with you that Everyday Independence is now partnering with Sprout Occupational Therapy in Mornington. This partnership will allow Everyday Independence to broaden our therapy services into the Mornington Peninsula and Frankston regions. For Sprout it is an exciting opportunity to join Everyday Independence to be part of a multidisciplinary allied …

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New offices open in Melbourne and regional Victoria

We are excited to announce that in response to increasing requests for therapy in the regions of Southern Melbourne and Ballarat we are expanding our team and opening new Everyday Independence locations. In January, we opened an office in Narre Warren, where we have seven therapists providing occupational therapy, speech pathology and physiotherapy to people …

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Leanne Healey shares her thoughts on the role of occupational therapists in disability

February 1, 2019

Leanne Healey, Everyday Independence founder and director, has shared her thoughts on the role of occupational therapy in supporting people living with a disability and highlighted the importance of person centred practice in all we do in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald this weekend. We’re thrilled that as the inaugural winner of the OT …

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Everyday Independence features in the NDIS provider newsletter

January 29, 2019

Here at Everyday Independence we are pretty excited to feature in the NDIS provider newsletter this month. Leanne’s OT of the Year award has given her a wonderful platform to talk about her passion for a social model of disability and focusing on people with disability being the experts in their own lives. You can …

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Team member awards and recognition

February 1, 2019

At the end of last year, the 2018 Everyday Independence Excellence Awards were awarded to team members who had gone over and above in their work at Everyday Independence. The Awards are peer nominated and acknowledge the achievements of our team members. Each nomination, provided evidence in three or more of the following areas: Outstanding …

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Ruth’s story

January 17, 2019

At Everyday Independence we support children and adults of all ages to achieve their goals. Meet Ruth, her goal was to enter the workforce after an acquired brain injury when she was a child impacted her memory and her ability to process information and she had spent many years in treatment and rehabilitation. A job …

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Leanne Healey awarded Occupational Therapist of the Year

November 18, 2018

We are very excited to announce that Leanne Healey, Director of Everyday Independence has been awarded Occupational Therapist of the Year at the 2018 Australian Allied Health Awards. Leanne received the award in front of more than 150 Allied Health and Business professionals in Brisbane on last night. The awards are designed to recognise, inspire, …

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Leanne Healey – FINALIST – Occupational Therapist of the year

October 10, 2018

We are very excited to announce that Leanne Healey, Director of Everyday Independence, is a finalist in the 2018 Australian Allied Health Awards in the category – Occupational Therapist of the Year. Leanne Healey is an exceptional Occupational Therapist with over 32 years’ experience. She is passionate about bringing a social model of disability to …

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Speech Pathologist supports travel dream for family

September 27, 2018

A family holiday can feel out of reach for many people with children who have complex sensory and communication needs.  Vicki Cox, Speech Pathologist with Everyday Independence, understands how difficult it can be to support young children and teens who struggle with the challenges of a major change in routine experienced on an overseas holiday. …

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Albury local to lead a new disability therapy service

July 23, 2018

Helping people with communication difficulty to have a voice and connect with others is something Jade is really passionate about. Jade Telfer grew up in Albury Wodonga and after completing a Bachelor of Health Sciences (Speech Pathology) at Charles Sturt University she moved to Melbourne to work as a Speech Pathologist at Everyday Independence. Having …

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July 7, 2018

The concept of ‘just enough support’ is something we really focus on with all the people we work with. You can build independence when you are stretched and challenge yourself. There are so many ways our occupational therapists, physios and speech pathologists help people see and meet their potential. It excites us and motivates us …

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Therapy in daily life

March 21, 2018

Spot the therapy session in these photos… The answer is that both children are engaging in therapy but one is more likely to get quicker results. Which one do you think it is? We aim to empower the people we work with to be in control of their therapy and keep practicing and improving beyond …

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We are now registered for Behavioural Supports under the NDIS

April 2, 2018

Everyday Independence now has behaviour supports as part of our NDIS registration. This is under the Improved Relationships funding – specifically working in the areas of Specialist Behavioural Intervention Support and Implementation of behavioural management strategies. We understand that challenging behaviours are a result of a complex interaction between the individual and their environment. Using …

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