Julia Farr MS McLeod Benevolent Fund has a new name – we are now the JFM Fund. In addition to our new name, we’ve also given our brand and website a vibrant makeover – we hope you like our new look!

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A man using a mobility aid is smiling at a woman standing next to him. They are in a park.

YPINH Taking Control of My Supports

YPINH received a grant to work with people living in specialist disability accommodation, to explore ways in which they could have greater control of their NDIS supports. The project initiated the National Workforce Collaboration, which has a goal of attracting and retaining high quality disability support workers.

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About the grant

The National Workforce Collaboration is a group of passionate and committed people who have been meeting since March 2023. The Collaboration grew out of the project’s activity in South Australia and is made up of people with disability, disability support workers, disability support providers, Union representatives and advocates.

The Collaboration recognise the availability of good support workers is a critical factor in people with disability having control over their supports. The Collaboration is co-creating and implementing an advertising campaign to attract new support workers to the disability field. Right now there is a shortage of support workers and very high turnover of staff in the sector. This leaves people with disability lacking quality essential supports to live the life they choose.

“We’re acting now to ensure people with disability have the supports they need. We want to support workers in the industry who want to be there to support us and the What’s my Future campaign shows this.”

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Project goals

The campaign aims to change the narrative and societal attitudes towards people with disability and therefore change the value with which society views disability support work. The goal is to reach high school and university graduates, and people considering a career change,  through a public facing campaign designed to promote support work as a viable career option, increase community awareness of disability support work and improve community attitudes towards people with disability.

“The workforce is such a critical issue for the disability sector. The What’s my Future campaign demonstrates the values of the people we are seeking and the value of the support they provide.”

The campaign showcases diversity of disability, diversity of support work and diversity of people. The campaign will use social media, a website and printed materials to highlight the value of disability support work in a real and honest way.

The Collaboration is unique in bringing together differing experiences in the disability field, with each member contributing their insights, expertise and time. Through co-design the collaboration has formulated an approach to encourage new support workers to the field and planned for an advertising campaign that shows the value of this critical work.

This collaborative approach and the campaign’s profile has generated substantial interest from federal departments, including successfully advocating for federal funding that will bring to life the ideas seeded by the JFM Fund grant.

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Photo of Sheryl Boniface, Recruitment Campaign Project Manager for Growing a Skilled Disability Support Workforce, YPINH

“The JFM Fund grant has given us the flexibility to grow and evolve the campaign concept and its delivery in an organic way rather than being fixed in its conception or direction. This flexibility has been critically important to the group’s collaborative approach and has allowed us to continue refining how we can co-create and deliver the campaign’s beneficial outcomes. We are extremely grateful for the Fund’s support to enable us the freedom to explore ideas which led to the development of this campaign. ”

Sheryl Boniface, Recruitment Campaign Project Manager, Young People in Nursing Homes National Alliance

Funded projects

Barry and Angie from the Neighbourhood Circles project stand in a garden smiling at camera

Neighbourhood Circles

Neighbourhood Circles Project aims to support increased knowledge and understanding on the role of neighbourhoods as spaces of inclusion, belonging, safeguarding, and support. Neighbourhood Circles works with people with a disability or mental illness to strengthen their sense of safety, inclusion, and belonging to their local neighbourhood.

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Youth Options Raising the Game image of people at computers

Raising the Game

Empowering neuro-diverse young people and fostering collaborative industry ties Raising the Game is a project that offers a quality assurance (QA) service for game studios, while also providing training, jobs, and work experience opportunities for young people.

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Jocelyn's Circle of Support. Photo of six women standing in front of a painted mural.

Circles of Support

Community Living Project (CLP) received funding in 2006 to establish Circles of Support after identifying that many people with disability were isolated from social support networks, with no one to “look out” for them.

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Group of people with disabilities in a cooking class

Julia Farr Youth Mentoring

In 2009 the JFM Fund funded leadership development of mentors for Julia Farr Youth Mentoring, a peer-to-peer support program for young people with disability between the ages of 11 and 18 who were mentored by other young people between the ages of 18 and 30 years who also live with disability.

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Acknowledgement of Country

In the spirit of reconciliation we acknowledge the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and recognise their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and cultures today.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples should be aware that this website may contain images or names of people who have passed away.