Inclusion at Heart

02/09/2026

How much of someone’s capacity is being consumed by disability admin?

This recent piece from Young People In Nursing Homes (YPINH) caught my attention because it puts some numbers around something that can be easy to overlook in disability and rehabilitation work: administrative burden is a participation issue.

Tenant Voice surveyed more than 278 people and found that:
• 89.6% had completed an administrative task that day
• 97.2% of those tasks were related to disability
• People completed nearly 3 disability-related admin tasks per day, on average
• Each task took around 38 minutes

That means many participants spent 38 minutes to 1.8 hours every day on disability-related administration, on top of the ordinary admin everyone has to manage.

And the burden isn't simply about whether the task gets completed.

A phone call might only take 10 minutes, but what about the time spent waiting for a response, following up, explaining the situation again, chasing another service, remembering what needs to happen next, or worrying about whether someone will actually do what they said they would?

For people already managing disability, health issues, appointments, services and work or study, that cumulative load matters.

From a rehabilitation perspective, I think we need to ask:

Are we assessing someone's capacity to participate while overlooking how much of that capacity is already being consumed by navigating the systems around them?

The YPINH report makes a simple but important point: disability systems should ask less of people with disability, not more.

Worth a read for anyone working in disability, rehabilitation, health, social work or allied health.

No one likes doing Life Admin (if you do, we want you to tell us your secrets). But for people with disabilities, Life Admin is next level.

01/09/2026

🧠 “But biology says…” — what does the research actually tell us?

There’s a growing public debate about whether being transgender is somehow “against biology”.

But the science is considerably more complex than a simple male/female binary.

Human biology isn’t made up of just one characteristic. Chromosomes, hormones, reproductive anatomy, brain development, genetics and many other biological processes interact in complex ways — and biological characteristics don't always fit neatly into two absolute categories.

New Australian research has also challenged claims about transgender people being “biologically impossible” or somehow defying the natural order.

The research doesn’t suggest that biology is irrelevant. Quite the opposite: it highlights how much more complicated biology actually is.

This matters because simplistic claims about “biology” are increasingly being used to justify the exclusion of transgender and gender-diverse people from education, healthcare, workplaces and community life.

As social workers, rehabilitation counsellors and other professionals, we don't need to have all the answers about gender to know one thing: people deserve to be treated with dignity, respect and without discrimination.

📖 Read the research and the evidence for yourself:
🔹Attached Conversation article
🔹 The underlying research and broader scientific evidence are worth reading too — because good science is about looking at the evidence, understanding its limitations and being willing to challenge overly simplistic conclusions. (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-06265-6)

💜 Inclusion at Heart believes evidence, lived experience and human dignity all have a place in the conversation.

A new study in twins shows the likelihood of being trans is influenced by your genes.

31/08/2026

🏠 When community creates a pathway home

A wonderful example of what can happen when local organisations, churches and volunteers come together with a shared purpose.

The inaugural Nambour Winter Shelter Program has just wrapped up after 10 weeks, with:

🤝 22 people registering for the program
💛 More than 70 volunteers involved
🏠 At least 4 people moving into housing, with another guest subsequently securing accommodation
🍽️ Dinner, showers and a warm, safe place to sleep provided across four local churches

But perhaps the most important part of the program wasn’t simply providing somewhere to sleep.

It was connection.

The program created an opportunity for people experiencing homelessness to build relationships with volunteers over time. As Pastor Dale Dowler from The Shack Community Centre explained, trust can take time, particularly for people who have experienced trauma.

Sometimes meaningful conversations happen over something as simple as a game of cards or Jenga.

That really stood out to me.

Housing is more than a roof. Sustainable outcomes can also depend on connection, trust, safety, dignity and having people around you who are willing to walk alongside you.

From a rehabilitation perspective, this is a great reminder that people’s circumstances, environments and social connections can have a profound impact on their ability to participate, engage and move towards their goals.

Congratulations to The Shack Community Centre, the four participating churches and the 70+ volunteers who made the inaugural Winter Shelter possible. ❤️

And importantly, planning is already underway for 2027.

This is community-led action creating real-world outcomes — and it’s something worth celebrating.

Nambour churches’ program opens doors to housing
- Winter Shelter Program

The Shack Community Centre pastor Dale Dowler decided this was the year to “grab the bull by the horns” and bring a Winter Shelter to Nambour.

Ten weeks later, the inaugural program has attracted 22 registrations, more than 70 volunteers and helped several guests move into housing.

Pastor Dowler said the Nambour model was based on programs operating elsewhere through Australian non-profit Stable One, which partners with churches and communities to provide temporary winter accommodation for people experiencing homelessness.

Four Nambour churches opened their doors on consecutive nights over winter including FlameTree Church on Wednesdays, Nambour Christian Church on Thursdays, Sanctuary Park Church of Christ on Fridays and Ignite Christian Church on Saturdays.

Guests were registered before entering the program, with each venue providing dinner, showers, a warm bed and volunteers working shifts through the night.

Pastor Dowler described the first season as a “massive success”. “We had four housing outcomes out of it,” he said, adding another guest had since told him he had also secured accommodation.

Those outcomes included public housing, accommodation through The Shack’s Gen One Village and placements in caravan parks and a boarding arrangement.

Two visitors stranded from Victoria were also able to use the shelter temporarily before reconnecting with family and returning home.

Pastor Dowler said the real strength of the 10-week program was the relationships that developed between guests and volunteers. “You get to know people over 10 weeks and go from there,” he said.

For people who had experienced trauma, he said trust could take time to rebuild. “But I think because these volunteers are just so friendly and when people come on in, they were just so well accepted and welcomed. I think that’s what made the difference.”

Sometimes those important conversations happened in surprisingly ordinary ways. “It can get spoken about over a game,” Pastor Dowler said. “A game of cards or a game of Jenga can bring a lot out in people.”

With the first winter completed, planning is already under way for 2027.

Pastor Dowler said the churches, Sunshine Coast Council representatives and volunteers had made the inaugural season possible. “Probably the most important asset of this is our volunteers,” he said. “Over the 10 weeks, over 70 volunteers, which was absolutely amazing.”
The Shack Community Centre

30/08/2026

A significant new development in POTS and dysautonomia care 👇

A new international multidisciplinary expert consensus on Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) and dysautonomia has just been published in The American Journal of Medicine.

One of the key messages that stood out to me is the recognition that orthostatic intolerance and autonomic dysfunction can cause substantial symptoms and functional impairment even when a person does not meet the traditional heart-rate criteria for POTS.

This is important because diagnostic thresholds can sometimes overshadow the bigger picture: How is the person’s condition actually affecting their daily life and functioning?

The consensus statement addresses:
🔹 recognition and diagnosis of POTS and non-POTS dysautonomia
🔹 the significant functional impact of these conditions
🔹 management and treatment considerations
🔹 education and advocacy
🔹 priorities for future research

The expert panel reached very strong to unanimous agreement across all 31 consensus statements, highlighting the need for improved recognition, diagnosis and management. (Life Science Network⁠)

For rehabilitation and allied health professionals, this reinforces the importance of looking beyond a diagnosis or a single physiological measurement and considering the person’s actual functional capacity, activity tolerance, participation, work, study and everyday life.

POTS and dysautonomia can be complex, multisystem conditions. A person’s difficulties may not always be obvious — and they may fluctuate considerably from one day or situation to another.

Good assessment starts with listening to the person’s experience and understanding how their condition affects function.

Current diagnostic criteria for postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) require history of orthostatic intolerance and heart rate elevation of ≥30 bpm in adults or ≥40 bpm in adolescents during a 10-minute standing or a tilt table test. Many patients with orthostatic intolerance experie...

27/08/2026

Aged care assessment process

This article has a good explanation of the process and things you may wish to consider if undertaking an assessment.

It might be tempting to focus on your ‘good days’. But here’s what to keep in mind when an assessor asks about your health and everyday life.

25/08/2026

What does the research tell us about parents of children with disability?

New findings from the Parenting Today research, led by the Parenting Research Centre, provide an important insight into the experiences of parents and carers of children with disability.

The national study surveyed more than 10,000 parents and caregivers, including around 600 parents caring for a child with disability under nine years of age. (Parenting Research Centre⁠)

The findings are striking:
• Parents caring for young children with disability were twice as likely to experience psychological distress.
• They were nearly twice as likely to report that they were not in good health.
• They were 50% more likely to find parenting demanding.
• 48% experienced loneliness, compared with 31% of parents whose children did not have disability.
• Parents also reported higher levels of frustration, guilt and concerns about whether they were meeting their own expectations of parenting.

These findings matter because it can be easy to focus on the needs of the child while overlooking the wellbeing of the people providing the care and coordinating the support.

For many families, the demands can extend well beyond parenting. There may be appointments, therapy, education meetings, advocacy, funding applications, challenging behaviours, disrupted routines, financial pressures and uncertainty about what support will be available in the future.

And importantly, this isn’t about suggesting parents aren’t coping or aren’t doing enough.

The research highlights that the environment around families matters.

Support needs to consider the whole family: including practical support, connection with other parents, accessible services, respite and opportunities for parents to look after their own wellbeing.

It also reminds us that asking “How is your child going?” is only part of the conversation.

Sometimes we need to ask:

“How are YOU going?”

And then, importantly, listen to the answer.

Research like this is valuable because it helps move the conversation away from individual families needing to “cope better” and towards understanding what families need to thrive.

A major Australian study finds parents caring for young children with disability are twice as likely to say they are in poor health, feeling constantly in demand and lonely.

24/08/2026

An interesting, and important, new finding about cannabis and psychosis

A new UNSW meta-analysis has found that people who use cannabis and develop psychosis tend to experience their first episode earlier than people who don't use cannabis.

The research looked at 149 studies involving more than 71,000 people. The difference was particularly striking in older age groups: in studies where psychosis developed from age 30 onwards, cannabis users experienced onset an average of 6.3 years earlier. Importantly, the researchers are clear that this study does not prove cannabis causes psychosis, but the consistency of the findings strengthens the concern about a potential causal relationship.

This caught my attention because, in my work, I have encountered a number of neurodivergent clients who have used medicinal cannabis primarily to help with sleep, only to subsequently experience psychosis. In several cases, there has also been a family history or other underlying vulnerability to psychosis.

The impact can be enormous.

What starts as "I just need something to help me sleep" can potentially become a major mental health episode that affects someone's ability to study, work, maintain relationships and function independently.

And this is where I think we need to have a more nuanced conversation.

Medicinal doesn't automatically mean risk-free. Cannabis can have legitimate therapeutic uses for some people, but the potential psychiatric risks shouldn't be overlooked simply because it has been prescribed.

At the same time, people struggling with sleep deserve better options than simply reaching for a tablet, oil or other quick fix.

There is some really interesting Australian research looking specifically at sleep in children and young people with neurodevelopmental disabilities. For example, researchers at UQ are developing and evaluating tailored behavioural sleep interventions that consider the particular needs of people with neurodevelopmental differences. ( #2 link below - Child Health Research Centre)

The broader point for me is this:
👉 If you're neurodivergent and struggling with sleep, don't assume medication or medicinal cannabis is your only option.
👉 Ask questions about the risks, including your own or your family's history of psychosis.
👉 Seek advice from people who understand both neurodivergence AND sleep.
👉 Look beyond the medical model when appropriate. There may be evidence-based behavioural, environmental and other approaches that haven't been discussed with you.

I'm not giving medical advice, and I'm certainly not suggesting that anyone stop a prescribed medication without talking to their treating team.

I'm simply encouraging people to do your own research, ask questions and seek additional perspectives.

Sometimes the "simple solution" isn't actually the simplest solution when you consider the potential consequences.

And sometimes there are other solutions that simply haven't been offered to you yet.

This new research is definitely worth a read:
1. https://www.unsw.edu.au/newsroom/news/2026/08/cannabis-linked-earlier-onset-psychosis-marijuana-pot-weed - "Cannabis linked to earlier onset of psychosis" (full journal article here: https://www.biologicalpsychiatryjournal.com/article/S0006-3223(26)01385-5/fulltext)

2: https://child-health-research.centre.uq.edu.au/early-sleep-interventions-children-neurodisability - "Early Sleep Interventions for children with neurodisability - Child Health Research Centre - University of Queensland"

People who use cannabis are developing psychosis years earlier than non-users, new research shows, prompting calls for greater health warnings about one of the nation’s most widely used substances.

23/08/2026

Watching Operation Varsity Blues on Netflix got me thinking about something much bigger than US college admissions.

The documentary highlights what can happen when there is a highly desirable outcome, people are willing to pay significant amounts of money to achieve it, and someone builds a business around selling that outcome.

And before anyone thinks, “That happens in the US, not here”. I think we’d be burying our heads in the sand.

It happens everywhere.

We see versions of this across health and wellness, education, disability, employment, coaching and many other industries.

There is an increasing market for people and businesses selling solutions to problems that people desperately want solved.

That doesn’t automatically make those businesses bad. Nor does it mean formal qualifications are the only measure of someone’s ability to provide a valuable service.

But I do think we need to become better-informed consumers.

What exactly are you buying?
What training and qualifications does the person have?
What evidence supports the approach?
How are staff trained and supervised?
Are the claims being made realistic?
And what happens if the promised outcome doesn’t eventuate?

This is particularly important when the service relates to children, disability, health, education, employment or other areas where people may be particularly vulnerable or motivated to find an answer.

A polished website, confident marketing, testimonials and a clearly packaged “solution” can make something look very professional. But they don’t necessarily tell us how much expertise, evidence or appropriate safeguards sit behind the service.

This isn’t about criticising particular businesses or saying that every non-traditional service is problematic.

It’s about asking questions before we buy into the solution.

Operation Varsity Blues is an extreme example, but the underlying issue isn’t limited to American universities.

Do your research. Ask questions. Look beyond the marketing. And make informed decisions about who you trust to provide a service.

20/08/2026

Free resource for small business and sole traders to assist with positive duty in the S*x Discrimination Act.

The Australian Human Rights Commission gives small business owners and managers easy access to the information and support they may need.

Resources to support small businesses to learn about the positive duty in the S*x Discrimination Act.