Inclusion at Heart

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Inclusion at Heart We support people with injury illness and disability to improve their lives by facilitating inclusion

We provide tailored evidence-based services to children, young people or adults (and carers) who have physical and / or mental health conditions and disabilities. We provide support in relation to the following:

Vocational support:
Supporting people with disability, illness or injury to access work, volunteer, or education environments by undertaking and offering services including:
- Career exploration and assessments
- Job placement and development services
- Employer education and guidance
- Skills development

Psychosocial support:
Coordination of needs to address barriers to participation and identify goals through assessments and interventions.
- Support to adjust to the impact of a disability including independent living, life care planning and counselling. Medical management support:
Work collaboratively with you and your treatment providers to develop a plan to help you achieve your health and work goals. Advocacy support:
Assist the person with disability to exercise choice and control and to have their voice heard in matters that affect them. Services include:
- advocating for access to the NDIS
- advocating for adjustments or accommodations within the workplace / educational institution including schools
- advocating for gifted students (including twice-exceptional student i.e. gifted person who also has a disability)


We address a broad range of issues including:
- Mental health conditions including anxiety, depression, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), trauma, suicide, stress and more.
- Physical disabilities including traumatic brain injury (TBI), acquired brain injury (ABI), stroke, spinal cord injury (SCI), epilepsy and more.
- Intellectual disabilities
- Twice-exceptional (gifted with a disability)
- Chronic / persistent pain
- Autism (ASD) plus comorbid conditions including Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, ehlers-danlos syndromes, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), epilepsy and dysautonomia

Acknowledgement of Country:
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land where we work and live, the Gubbi Gubbi people and pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging. We celebrate the stories, culture and traditions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders of all communities who also work and live on this land. Acknowledgement of Diversity:
We acknowledge and respect the diversity of bodies, genders and relationships as well as each person's each person’s culture, sexual orientation and abilities. Acknowledgement of Lived Experience:
We would like to recognise those with lived experience of mental health conditions and recovery. We acknowledge that we can only provide quality services through valuing, respecting, and drawing upon the lived experience and expert knowledge of the individual, their families, carers, friends, staff and the local community. Qualifications:
- Master of Rehabilitation Counselling from Griffith University
- Standard Mental Health First Aider
- Youth Mental Health First Aider
- Graduate Certificate of Financial Planning
- Bachelor of Economics from University of Queensland
- Bachelor of Business (Management) from University of Queensland

Counselling approaches:
- Evidence based
- Strengths focused approach
- Lifespan approach
- Trauma informed care
- Positive psychology
- Narrative therapy
- Motivational interviewing
- Mindfulness based approach

Professional Membership:
Full Member of Australian Society of Rehabilitation Counsellors Ltd (ASORC)

Many workers who are underpaid never chase what they are owed, because it takes too long, costs too much and is too stre...
20/10/2026

Many workers who are underpaid never chase what they are owed, because it takes too long, costs too much and is too stressful.

The federal government has announced a new Fair Work Court, to sit alongside the Fair Work Commission. It would be staffed by judges with workplace law expertise, with the aim of resolving disputes more quickly and cheaply. Consultation on how the court will work is planned for this year, so the details are still being shaped.

For people with disability, people with health conditions and those in insecure work, a simpler path to resolving workplace disputes could make a real difference. This article looks at what the court might mean and the questions still to be answered.

A dedicated court could help fill a gap for workers seeking justice, but the design will matter.

Self advocacy is people with disability joining together to speak up and make change on the issues that matter to them.S...
19/10/2026

Self advocacy is people with disability joining together to speak up and make change on the issues that matter to them.

Self Advocacy for Everyone is a website from Inclusion Australia. It brings together easy-to-read information on rights, the NDIS, speaking up, making complaints, work, health and staying safe.

You can also find local self advocacy groups, peer support and advisory groups, and hear stories from people with disability about their own experiences, including at work.

A great resource to share with clients, families and support workers.

Connecting Self Advocacy Nationally

ADHD does not always look the same in girls and boys, and new research is showing why that matters.A few findings from r...
18/10/2026

ADHD does not always look the same in girls and boys, and new research is showing why that matters.

A few findings from recent studies:

• ADHD symptoms such as inattention and impulsivity increased in the days before and at the start of a period for women with ADHD
• Teenage girls with ADHD and higher levels of depression symptoms got less benefit from CBT than boys
• For girls, individual CBT led to double the improvement of group CBT

These are early findings from fairly small studies, but they add to what many women and parents have been saying for years: assessment and support work better when they take the whole person into account.

ADHD symptoms in girls differ due to menstrual cycle hormones that impact inattention and impulsivity, according to new research on s*x differences in att…

Are you a small Queensland construction business thinking about taking on your first apprentice?The TradieStart program ...
17/10/2026

Are you a small Queensland construction business thinking about taking on your first apprentice?

The TradieStart program offers a base incentive of $10,000 to eligible small employers taking on their first apprentice in a construction trade. There is an extra $2,000 for apprentices from a priority cohort, which includes people with disability, women, veterans and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. There is also an extra $4,000 for apprentices aged 21 or over.

Medium and large employers and Group Training Organisations can also receive incentives if they employ an apprentice from a priority cohort.

Payments are made once the apprentice passes the 6 and 18 month milestones, and places are limited.

If you are an employer who has been open to giving someone a go, this is a great time to start a conversation.

Financial incentives for Queensland construction businesses to hire and support apprentices in priority trades.

16/10/2026

A long pause before answering. An answer that wanders before it lands. A candidate who seems over-rehearsed.

In a job interview, these can be read as hesitation, lack of focus or lack of authenticity. For many neurodivergent candidates, they are simply how their brain works under pressure.

This article from career coach Audrey Lessard looks at the interviewer’s side of the table. One of her key points is that clarity is a form of kindness. A furrowed brow or unexplained silence can throw a candidate off for the rest of the interview, and replay in their mind for days. Naming what you are thinking (“I’m frowning because I have a follow-up question”) costs nothing and keeps the person in the conversation.

A useful read for anyone who recruits, and for job seekers who have come out of an interview thinking “I blew it” without knowing why.

Reading Time: 6 minutesGetting your Trinity Audio player ready... A few years ago, I used to conduct interviews and I remember one thing clearly: when a candidate got scattered, when their ideas spilled out in every direction, it didn’t bother me. If anything, it intrigued me. I’d bring them bac...

15/10/2026

A new review of 11 studies found that 44 percent of children with ADHD also had obstructive sleep apnoea.

Sleep apnoea fragments sleep and can cause problems with concentration, memory, planning and problem solving. These overlap heavily with ADHD symptoms and can make them worse.

The encouraging part is that treating sleep apnoea led to improvements in both the sleep problem and ADHD symptoms.

If your child has ADHD and also snores, wakes often during the night or is very hard to wake in the morning, it may be worth asking your GP whether a sleep assessment (or ENT review) is appropriate.

Sleep apnea in kids with ADHD is prevalent; adenoidectomy and pediatric CPAP can help both disorders, finds new research.

14/10/2026

Yesterday I came face to face with exactly what this ABC article warns about.

I was playing solitaire on my phone when an ad popped up. It looked like a genuine ABC News TV segment featuring the Governor of the Reserve Bank, followed by what looked like a real ABC article. Familiar faces, professional branding, the whole thing.

I worked in business banking for 15 years and I have an economics degree. The investment "opportunity" made no sense to me at all. But I'll be honest: for a moment I genuinely believed I was watching a real news story. That's how convincing it was. I reported it to Scamwatch.

The ABC reports that ASIC removed more than 19,000 scams in the past 12 months, up 182 per cent on the year before. Many use AI deepfakes of trusted public figures, including RBA Governor Michele Bullock, then lead people to fake news pages and bogus investment sites. Australians lost more than $2 billion to scams in 2025, and investment scams made up the largest share.

If it can almost fool someone with my background, it can fool anyone. Being caught out by these scams is not a sign of being careless or not smart enough. They are built to be believed.

A few things that may help you and the people you care about:

Be wary of any ad, video or "news story" promoting an investment, especially one claiming a public figure has a secret way to make money.

Don't click through. Go directly to the real news website or app and search for the story yourself.

Check that any investment provider holds an Australian Financial Services Licence on ASIC's Moneysmart website, and make sure the name matches exactly. Scammers copy real licence details too.

If someone calls you after you've entered your details, hang up.

Talk about it with your family, especially older relatives, teens, and anyone who may be more vulnerable to online pressure.

If you see one, report it at scamwatch.gov.au. If you've lost money, contact your bank straight away.

Please share this with someone who might need it.

Regulators are removing record numbers of fake celebrity-endorsed investment scams, using AI images of famous figures from the prime minister to Alan Kohler and Gina Rinehart.

13/10/2026

Australia invests more than $1.3 billion a year in disability employment support, yet outcomes remain weak, especially for people with high support needs.

A new report finds that too many people are excluded from work altogether, diverted into day programs or confined to low-paid sheltered work with little chance of progressing.

The evidence on what works is clear. Better results come when systems prioritise open employment regardless of level of need. That means tailored job matching, place and train approaches, job customisation and dedicated pathways from education into work.

The report also highlights the employer side. Too few employers recruit, accommodate and retain people with disability, and government could lead by example as a major employer.

At Inclusion @ Heart we see every day what becomes possible when the job is shaped around the person, rather than the other way around.

That’s exactly why Inclusion @ Heart's created Upstride, in partnership with Sincere Support Sunshine Coast.

Upstride is a coffee trailer run by young people with disabilities. It’s a real workplace with real customers, where young people build employability skills as a stepping stone into the open labour market, not a destination.

Support workers provide scaffolding on shift, building each person’s capacity and confidence one step at a time. When they’re ready, we help them move into open employment.

It’s place and train in action, with a pathway from learning into work, built around each young person.

☕ Come and grab a coffee and say hello:
📍 Sessions Garage, Marcoola
🗓 Saturdays, 7am to 10:30am

The evidence on what works is clear. Better results come when systems prioritise open employment regardless of level of need. That means tailored job matching, place-and-train approaches, job customisation, and dedicated pathways from education into work.

Australia’s disability employment system is failing those who need it most. Prioritisingopen employment is the route to better results

12/10/2026

Heading to university soon, or supporting a young person who is?

ADCET has released a fully rewritten Transitioning to University: Autistic Students’ Guide. It was reviewed by autistic students and researchers and is written in a strengths-based, neurodiversity-affirming way.
It covers three areas:
• Understanding your autistic identity at university
• Navigating university systems, including disability support, reasonable adjustments, self-advocacy and how to raise a complaint
• Practical strategies, including sensory-friendly study spaces, planning, energy and capacity, and recognising and preventing burnout

There are also five free downloadable tools: a strengths and interests activity, an adjustments workbook, a university terminology glossary, a starting university checklist and an energy check-in.

It is free and available in Word and PDF. Well worth sharing with students, parents and school support staff.

The Transitioning to University: Autistic Students' Guide is a newly rewritten ADCET resource, co-designed with autistic students and researchers, that supports autistic people at every stage of their university journey. Grounded in the neurodiversity paradigm, the guide combines practical strategie...

11/10/2026

Autistic burnout is not the same as depression, and treating it like depression can make it worse.

A 2026 study of 379 autistic adults found that autistic burnout and depression are related but distinct. Burnout often comes with increased sensory sensitivity, difficulty masking, executive functioning problems and a strong need to pull back and reduce demands.

This matters at work and in rehabilitation. Many depression approaches encourage people to do more and engage more. For someone in autistic burnout, recovery often needs the opposite: fewer demands, less sensory input, time alone and the freedom to decide what support they need.

For employers and return-to-work planning, this means flexibility and autonomy are not optional extras. They are part of recovery.

Read more here:
https://embrace-autism.com/autistic-burnout-is-not-depression/

And on why recovery depends on autonomy:
https://embrace-autism.com/autistic-burnout-recovery-requires-autonomy/

A 2025 study suggests that while autistic burnout and depression are related, they are not the same thing; autistic burnout has its own unique characteristics.

Address

Sunshine Coast, QLD

Opening Hours

Monday 8:30am - 4pm
Tuesday 8:30am - 4pm
Wednesday 8:30am - 4pm
Thursday 8:30am - 4pm
Friday 8:30am - 4pm

Telephone

+61493281331

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