Inclusion at Heart

28/11/2025

🌟 Little Friends Scholarship Program – Supporting Kids to Rebuild Their Lives 🌟

Imagine being a child starting over after leaving a violent home environment.
Your family has finally found safety — but now money is tight. The school camp your friends are going on, the sport you love, or the music lessons you look forward to suddenly feel out of reach.

When families rebuild after domestic or family violence, the focus is often on essentials like housing and food. But what about the children — and the little things that make growing up special?

That’s where the Little Friends Scholarship Program steps in.
This Friends With Dignity initiative provides up to $500 per child (aged 5–18) to support education and extracurricular activities, helping young people stay connected to the things that bring them joy, routine, and confidence.

The scholarship can assist with:
✔️ School camp fees
✔️ Uniforms or school supplies
✔️ Digital devices for learning
✔️ Art supplies, music lessons, or sports registration
✔️ Sporting equipment and more

🗓 Round 16 applications open 17 November 2025 and close mid-February 2026.

Families in our community who are experiencing financial hardship due to domestic or family violence are encouraged to apply.

Learn more or apply online on their website.

💛 Let’s ensure every child has the chance to participate, belong, and thrive.

Our Little Friends Scholarship has been established to ensure all children have the ability to either further their education and/or be able to participate in extra-curricula activities that they may not be able to pursue due to the financial impact of Domestic and Family Violence within their famil...

27/11/2025

Free event for female tradies to connect

Get tickets on Humanitix - Tradie Social Sunshine Coast Friday Games Night - Powered by BUSY Sisters. BUSY At Work, suite 2 2/21 First Ave, Maroochydore QLD 4558, Australia. Friday 12th December 2025. Find event information.

26/11/2025

Get tickets to free Christmas event on the Coast

Caloundra's Christmas Street Party

25/11/2025

Free breakfast event to discuss manufacturing job pathways on the Coast

Let’s connect education and industry to spark curiosity, build capability, and create real opportunities for our students. Join us .

25/11/2025

24/11/2025

This article is disturbing, so I completely understand if you choose not to read it. It also happened in Turkey, not Australia — but I’m sharing it because it highlights an important conversation we need to be having with young workers about their rights.

As a Rehabilitation Counsellor, a big part of my work is focused on preventing workplace injuries. I place a strong emphasis on this with my younger clients because the statistics are clear: young people are more likely to experience a workplace incident than any other age group.

It’s not just about safety — it’s about helping young workers feel confident to speak up when something isn’t right. And if they don’t feel comfortable doing that alone, I attend workplace meetings with them to make sure their voice is heard.

I’ve challenged many workplaces that seem to think it’s acceptable to underpay or take advantage of young staff. It’s not OK — and it never will be.

We all have a responsibility to create safer, fairer workplaces.

The apprentice - who was left with fatal internal injuries - is one of three to die like this recently.

23/11/2025

A different free event this Wednesday which you may prefer to attend

Join us for Family Matters: Towards Safer Relationships - a community session on recognising harmful behaviours, new QLD laws, and support pathways for migrants

23/11/2025

Free event run by QLD Disability Network this Wednesday

Get tickets on Humanitix - Bright Sparks Workshop Wellways hosted by Queenslanders with Disability Network (QDN). Wellways Carer Hub, a1/24 Lowe St, Nambour QLD 4560, Australia. Wednesday 26th November 2025. Find event information.

22/11/2025

Who doesn’t love Christmas activities

Your Guide to Sunshine Coast Community Christmas Events 2025 🎄

This festive season, the Sunshine Coast is bursting with COMMUNITY CHRISTMAS EVENTS for families. Here is where to celebrate with the community this year.



✨ SUNSHINE COAST COUNCIL SUPPORTED EVENTS:
https://kidsonthecoast.com.au/sunshine-coast/your-guide-to-sunshine-coast-community-christmas-events-2025/

🎄 FIND ALL CHRISTMAS EVENTS:
Christmas Events for Kids and Families on the Sunshine Coast:

https://kidsonthecoast.com.au/sunshine-coast/christmas-events-for-kids-and-families-on-the-sunshine-coast-2025/

21/11/2025

🌟 Job Opportunity – Woolworths Kawana Waters (Buddina) 🌟

Proactive Services – Trolley Collection Driver
(Available through some DES providers on the Coast)

Woolworths Kawana Waters is recruiting Trolley Collection Drivers. These roles are generally up to 15 hours per week, with shifts between 6/9am–10pm, 7 days a week.
Please discuss with your candidates and screen appropriately before referring.

🚗 Trolley Collection Driver – Key Tasks:

• Drive a trolley collection vehicle to collect trolleys from car parks and surrounding streets
• Load trolleys onto the vehicle via a ramp
• Return trolleys to the bays
• Some cleaning tasks required

👉 Requirements:
• Full Australian Licence or Green P-plate
• Physical ability to push/load trolleys (up to 15kg)
• Positive attitude, teamwork, flexibility, communication skills, and willingness to learn

📄 Right to Work Documents

Candidates must have valid evidence before referral. Accepted options include:
• Australian Birth Certificate + Photo ID
• Citizenship Certificate + Photo ID
• Australian or NZ Passport
• International Passport with valid visa (PR, Bridging, Student 8104/8105, WHV 8417, etc.)

Original documents must be sighted at interview.

20/11/2025

There are absolutely no winners here.
This is a heartbreaking situation for everyone involved — two kids simply riding home from school, two families changed forever, and an entire community grieving.

While the focus is rightly on the tragedy, it also raises some difficult questions. I’ve been told this particular pathway has seen multiple bike collisions in the past (I can’t confirm that, but if true, it speaks to broader safety issues). The path is extremely narrow — not really designed for two bikes, let alone high-powered e-bikes, to safely pass each other.

And yet, nothing seems to be changing. On Wednesday evening, I watched a group of 12–15-year-olds on e-bikes riding on the road in Caloundra, outside a school and right near a police station, blocking traffic. Some were riding safely, some weren’t. Many parents aren’t placing limits on their use, so clearly the current approach isn’t enough.

From a brain-development perspective, we also need to be realistic. Executive functioning, impulse control, hazard perception and decision-making continue developing into the late teens and early 20s. For boys, full maturation typically doesn’t occur until around 25. That means many young riders simply don’t have the neurological capacity to consistently judge speed, distance, and risk — especially on powerful devices that move faster than traditional bicycles.

And then there’s the hidden side that most people don’t realise:
e-bikes that exceed the legal power/speed limits are unregistered vehicles.
That means if you unfortunately have an accident/collision with one (think of all those near-misses you’ve seen on the road when the e-bikes are ridden inappropriately):
• No CTP cover
• No NIISQ support if someone is catastrophically injured
• No vehicle insurance for the driver who may hit them
• No income protection, rehab supports, or counselling through road-trauma systems
• Property damage (like car repairs) isn’t covered either if you hit them

In this particular case, support may come through Victims of Crime because charges have been laid — but that only applies because it has become a criminal matter. That’s not something we ever want tied to a child.

So we’re left with a pathway that may not be fit for purpose, devices that many young people can’t safely manage, legislation still catching up, and families carrying the emotional weight alone.

As a Rehabilitation Counsellor, I see the long-term impacts of trauma and injury. I don’t have a neat solution here — just sadness, concern, and a belief that we urgently need coordinated action from councils, parents, schools, and government.

For now, my thoughts are with the families, the young people involved, their school communities, and every first responder and healthcare worker who had to attend.

No winners. Just a tragedy that should spark real change.

The boy has been charged with dangerous operation of a vehicle causing death, unlicensed driving, and driving an unregistered and uninsured vehicle.

19/11/2025

🧠 Big News for ADHD in QLD — But Please Don’t Stop at the Headline

There’s been a lot of excitement online about “GPs now being able to diagnose and prescribe for ADHD in Queensland”… but the full story is much more complex — and important.

Here’s what people need to know:

➡️ Not every GP will be able (or willing) to do this.
Only GPs who complete specialised ADHD training and meet strict requirements will be authorised. This won’t be available at every clinic.

➡️ It won’t be a free-for-all.
There will be strong rules, oversight, and regulations to ensure safe and appropriate care. Think of it more like a specialist endorsement, not a general GP function.

➡️ The goal is to improve access — without compromising safety.
This change is designed to ease bottlenecks, reduce waitlists, and support people who currently struggle to access assessment… but with systems in place to maintain high clinical standards.

➡️ It won’t replace psychiatrists or paediatricians.
Specialists will still play a key role, particularly for complex presentations, medication stabilisation, and ongoing oversight where needed.

Headlines make it sound simple — but the implementation is anything but simple. This is a carefully structured model with training pathways, clinical governance, and limitations built in.

If you work with neurodivergent clients or families, it’s worth keeping an eye on the details as they’re released. These changes could help many people, but expectations need to be grounded in how the system will actually roll out.