Community Living Accomodation Service

The Spastic Centre Community Living Accommodation Services supports approximately 140 adults with disabilities to live as independently as possible within the community. The Centre currently manages 30 community houses across metropolitan Sydney and Newcastle.

How is the Housing Arranged?

Service users make the decision on the area in which they would like to live, the type of accommodation, i.e. house or unit in which they wish to live, and with whom they might like to share. The State government (The Department of Ageing, Disability and Home Care) provides funding support. This money is used to cover the individual cost of providing personal support and care.

In most cases, arrangements are made to lease premises from the NSW Department of Housing. Special attention is given to the location, particularly access to shops, transport and the community in general.

House modifications, such as ramps, widened doors and fully redesigned kitchens and bathrooms, are carried out and paid for by the Department of Housing.

Service users provide the furnishings for their homes.

What Support Services are Provided?

Varying levels of support are offered by Community Living Services.

At the highest level of support, staff are available whenever residents are at home. In-home care is provided,with regular assistance with meals, bathing, dressing and domestic chores. A House Manager is employed to manage the day-to-day running of the service with support from Community House Workers. Service users are encouraged and given the opportunity to be involved in this process.

At the lowest level of support, Community Support Workers make drop-in home visits on a regular basis.They provide advice and support to service users on different issues such as budgeting, advocacy and house maintenance. The main focus of this service is to assist the service user to develop their own range of community support networks and services. Personal care and/or domestic support for the service user is provided by an outside agency such as Home Care. Additional support is offered through individual and group skills training for community living. Assistance is also offered to arrange community-based recreation and support from volunteers.

View contact and location details

This information is available in a print friendly version as a factsheet (PDF)