The Wondering Wattle

16/01/2026

13/01/2026

Over the past few weeks, the Wondering Wattle team has taken staggered leave to balance rest whilst also minimising disruption to the everyday lives for people we support coordinate with.

We did this mindfully and intentionally, because, well, 'your disability doesn't take a holiday even if your SC does'.**

The last few of our team are finishing their leave this week, and we are all back “on the tools” from Monday, 19 January.

As a Team we want to thank you for your grace, patience, understanding, and support as we rested, reset and now prepare for another year of excellence in Helping Humans Thrive.

Brave is kind
Meryl
💛

**This is a key reasons why we have our unique POD Model of support coordination - where every participant has TWO people who know your story, support and access needs; so if one's absent, there's still someone to support you.

10/01/2026

🎉 Happy Birthday, Juliet! 🎉

Today we’re celebrating our very own Juliet — the brains, the backbone, and Meryl’s magical Diary Fairy 🧚‍♀️✨

Juliet is the kind of person you want behind the scenes when things are busy, messy, and moving fast - she brings order without stripping away the humanity, calm amidst the chaos.

Jule's is fiercely loyal, deeply committed to the process, and always actively learning and upskilling; not because she has to, but because she genuinely cares about getting it right.

Add to that Jule's thoroughness (the kind that catches the detail before it becomes a problem), and her unwavering commitment to bringing her best to The Wondering Wattle… and you’ve got someone truly special.

A few of our favourite loves about our Jules:
💚 Next-level smarts + strategic thinking
💚 The ultimate Diary Fairy magic (chaos → calm)
💚 Human-centred design lens in everything she touches
💚 Loyal, values-led, and constantly learning
💚 Thorough, thoughtful, and always brings her best

We love, love, love having you on our team, Jules — and we’re so grateful for the heart, brains, and care you bring every single day. 💛✨

23/12/2025

For our southern NT friends and those passing through, skip the usual (boring) radio stations and be sure to tune in to 8CCC Community Radio 102.1fm

You'll enjoy quality local DJs broadcasting anime, sports and rock music, amongst other great topics; all hosted by "many voices (on) one frequency" to reflect the diversity and whole of community in Alice Springs.

💛

17/12/2025

🌿Going Gently🌿

It's been a rough few days since Sunday.

Community violence, in any form, by any perpetrator, in any circumstance is destabilising and distressing. For those in our community with additional vulnerabilities, be they age, disability, culture, connection it's even scarier.

I have struggled to manage the shifting algorithm in my social media feed and the impact is tangible on my own mental health. It's a heaviness and hypervigilance feeling. I imagine it's been similarly tough for you, too?

So, when I happened across this post from Sesame Street it offered a reminder that gentleness, kindness and support is how we are all going to manage to navigate this, and other community violence experiences which happen to, around and against those we love.

Watch.
Pause.
Reflect.
And then commit to going gently with ourselves and with others around us - its in our together that we will find the way through.

Brave is kind (and a little sad right now)
Meryl
💛

Remember: Lifeline 13 11 14 is a call, or text 0477 13 11 14, away if it's getting too tricky for you right now.

14/12/2025

🎄Christmas is coming 🎁

Christmas can be magical and it can be messy. Often it’s both the experiences all smooshed together.

However this season looks for you, we’re wishing you grace, peace, kindness, and the gentle nurture you deserve.

Our Team are still here for supports over the break, just with slightly reduced staff.

You can reach us by calling
1300 WONDER (966 337) or your usual Support or Relationship Coordinator, to be connected to a team member.

💛

09/12/2025

Today is Human Rights Day; a reminder that every person has the right to dignity, safety, inclusion and a real say in their own life. 🌏✨💪

At The Wondering Wattle, being 'human-rights-driven' in our support coordination isn’t just a fancy slogan – it’s how we show up every day for humans by:

* Seeing people with disability as rights-holders, not “cases”

* Protecting choice and control which means the right to say 'no'

* Challenging decisions and systems that undermine safety, dignity or culture

* Building supports together that are trauma-informed, values-led and centred on what matters to each individual person

Human rights live in the everyday moments – how we listen, how we plan, and how we respond, especially when something isn’t okay.

Today we’re recommitting to helping humans thrive, not just survive. We'd love you to recommit with us, too.

💛

To mark Human Rights Days we asked some of our 2025 Australian Human Rights Awards finalists to tell us what human rights mean to them.

02/12/2025

🌎 International Day of People with Disability 🌎

18/11/2025

🎉 Happy Birthday, Clare! 🎉

Today we’re celebrating our Support Coordinator, Clare. The reliable get-it-done thinker and doer for our families with kiddos on the scheme. As our paediatric-specialty SC, Clare champions children and their parents through the early-childhood maze, especially navigating the all-too-infuriating “parental responsibility” assumptions and and non-supportive school challenges, to make sure supports actually meet real needs and eliminate real barriers.

For so many parents, Clare is the calm anchor in the eye of the storm: steady, thorough, and always thinking, wondering, and fine-tuning her practice and processes to prioritise the betterment of deserving little and big people.

Our favourite things we love about our Clare:
💚Rock-solid reliability & follow-through
💚Evidence-led advocacy for kids and families
💚Calm under pressure, clear in the chaos
💚Endless curiosity and continuous improvement
💚Her wardrobe of endless shades of green

We love, love, love having Clare as part of our team and we celebrate all you are and all the hats you wear 💛 ✨

17/11/2025

Sometimes courage looks like Shane's post below.

"Saving Bedford" was critically important for the 1,000+ people, including participants we support coordinate with, who now have secure employment, a sense of belonging and deep connection to their workplace......BUT.....(and there's a BUT).......

The supported employment structure is NOT human-rights driven, nor entirely and completely inclusive, nor a picture of a 'fare day's wage for a fare day's work' with many, many employees in supported employment earning half or less of the minimum wage.

So, whilst my team and I join in celebrating the relief and joy with the workers that matter most (and their loved ones), we also sit in discomfort with a supported employent structure which continues to perpetuate antiquated, tokenistic principles of employability.

Let this brignt-light on Bedford, as one of the many supported employment providers, be a "shake up and wake up" reminder to us ALL that ALL people deserve a 'fair day's wage for a fair day's work'.

I am really pleased to hear that Bedford workers will have stability and job security moving forward. So many smiles and so much pride.

I just want to say something important while celebrating this moment. Our disability employment structure needs real attention. Many people in supported employment are paid wages that do not reflect respect or dignity. That needs to change.

But employment itself matters deeply. Having a place to go each day. Having a purpose. Having friends and community. Feeling valued. That is powerful for any person.

Big thank you to the Malinauskas Government for stepping in. I truly believe that without state support Bedford may have closed and hundreds of people would have lost meaningful work. Now the future looks much brighter.

I really hope this becomes a turning point for fair wages and improved dignity in supported employment for people with disabilities.

This is what inclusion should feel like.







Image description.
Bedford workers celebrating at an announcement event. South Australian Premier stands at the front holding a microphone under a TV screen while the room erupts into cheers and applause.

14/11/2025

At The Wondering Wattle, “Helping Humans Thrive” has always meant ALL humans – including those living at the intersection of disability, neurodivergence, mental ill-health and gender diversity. We know that for many trans and gender-diverse people with disability, the world is still not gentle, safe or accessible enough.

Australian research tells us that trans and gender-diverse people are more likely to live with disability, experience poorer mental health, and face higher rates of violence and discrimination than the general population. These aren’t just statistics to us – they are our participants, families, friends and our colleagues.

So during Transgender Awareness Week, this week, we want to say this clearly:

🌿 You belong exactly as you are
🌿 Your gender is valid, your access needs are valid, your safety matters
🌿 You deserve supports that affirm your identity and your disability

Our team at The Wondering Wattle includes both proud trans folk and fierce allies.

If you’re a trans or gender-diverse person with disability (or you love one) and you’re feeling worn down or left out by the system, We see you. We believe you. You deserve more than survival and we'd love to connect to see how we can support YOU to thrive.

All are welcome at The Wondering Wattle 💛