Brian's Story

My name is Brad and I use my NDIS funding to find support workers to give me a hand with things I need. I’ve signed up to Hire Up and Mable platforms and have engaged workers from a couple of large disability organisations when I needed particular support after leaving hospital or to help me find a job. I also get support from individual contractors who have their own ABN.

Sometimes I look for people to support me for short-term projects, like the time I hired someone from Mable to help me put things in place to complete my International Cert III in Brewing and Distilling. The support worker had studied at university and helped me organise my study routine and gave me good advice about preparing for exams.

My tips for finding good support workers are:

• interview the potential worker (face-to-face if possible) – have a list of questions ready that ask the things you want to know. Take someone with you, maybe your support coordinator or family member – two heads are better than one.
  
• don’t look for a friend – some support workers think they are ‘hire a friend’. Be clear about the work you want them to do.
  
• make sure you have a service agreement – this protects everyone. Get someone else to read it before signing to make sure it’s ok
  
• give the person a couple of tries, it may take a bit of time before you get to know each other and work well together BUT…
  
• if things aren’t working, end the work relationship. I don’t want support workers who spend more time on their phone with other people when they are meant to be working with me or people who try to get as much money as they can out of you for doing as little as possible.