​1. Why set goals?
When we ask people why they set goals, most people gave reasons that are similar to these:

• It gives me something to focus on
• I feel like I am in control of my life
• I have a sense of where I am going and what I am doing
• Goals give me some control over my future
• They make my life challenging and give me something to strive for
  
  

2. What sort of goals to set yourself?
The bottom line is: the goals you set yourself have to work for you. They have to excite you and get your through the tough times when you want to throw in the towel and give them all up.
People have talked about different types of goals and it might be good to have a mixture of the following different goals:
1. Lifetime Goals: these are the big goals of life and it might take you your whole life to achieve them, or at least a very long time. As you get older, your lifetime goals will probably change. Lifetime goals might be about family and relationships, about health and wellbeing, about how and where you live, work and play. Many of these big goals are about what’s really important to you and about the things you value.
2. Long-term Goals: think about these goals as being achievable in a 5-10 year period. For example, saving a huge amount of money, planning for a big life change, planning a career or wanting to get really good at something (did you know it takes 100,000 hours of practice to get really good at something. Things like golf, playing an instrument or painting.)
3. Short-term Goals: these goals are things you can achieve in a day, week, month or maybe a year. Getting fitter might be an example of such a goal, or eating less sugar, being kind to at least one person a day or helping another person.
4. Stepping-Stone Goals; these are smaller goals towards achieving bigger goals. Goals like doing 15 minutes of exercise and then doing 30 minutes. These goals build one on top of the other and with each stepping stone, you get closer to your goal.
When we work with you, we like to ask you to think about what makes a good life for you and help you come up with goals in three important, meaningful areas of life:

• Having goals that are about something (meaningful) to do
• Having goals about the people we love and want to connect with
• Having goals about something to look forward to

Everything is online more and more. It seems if you are not, you are missing out.
 
Whether it’s your Covid 19 vaccination certificate or arranging to get your transport funding from your NDIS plan paid to you (if you have transport funding) you need to get yourself connected to the relevant government agencies.
 
Below, we collect a few good links and resources on how to get yourself set up.

Go to this site to get started: You’ll find a video and a step-by-step guide and information in different languages.

To set yourself up you will need:

• An email address
• A mobile phone (if you don't have a mobile phone you can still make it work)
• A password you will remember (or have written down in secure place that you will remember how to find)
• 3 secret questions and answers tp those questions (you can choose from the options provided or make up your own questions and answers)

Follow the video and/or step by step guide to help you.

Once all that’s done, you will be sent your username and password to your email address and then you can start linking your other government services such a NDIS, Centrelink, Medicare and others
 
(Please note you can also now sign up for mygovID. mygovID like your digitial identity. If you want to know more try this link )

Once you are linked, you will be able to see things like

• Your plan
• Your budget
• Your service bookings
• You can add your bank details so you can receive your fortnightly transport payments (if you get those,  not everyone does)
• And lots more

The NDIS has also created a step by step guide for all things on the 'myplace' portal and you can download the guide.  

When you are ready to set it all up, you will need to call the NDIS 1800 800 110 to get a NDIS Activation Code.

If you want to read more, here is the link to the NDIS website where they keep everything to do with how to access your NDIS myplace portal.

 There are loads of other Australian Government agencies you can link with through your myGov account if you choose to.  myGov is convenient way to access and manage your information with those other agencies.  Check them out!

​​Peta says that it hasn’t always been like that.  In the past, she had no say in who would be assisting her, or when they would come.  Often they were casual ‘fill ins’ that she didn’t know before they arrived, and they were often very late.  ​

​People tell us that their support workers are often involved in very personal parts of their lives.  They rely on them in very vulnerable times when they need assistance the most.  They can be the difference between a bad day and an awesome day.  
Support workers are often key tools in assisting with achieving goals and getting on with living our best lives. We know that people often spend a lot of time with a support worker, so having the right person is important.

6. Plan for meeting and interviewing 
Most people prefer to interview their potential support workers before agreeing to work with them.
You can organise to meet someone by phone, online (through face time, Skype or Zoom), email or in person.

This will give you the opportunity to ask them about:

• their experience with people with a disability
• their qualifications and other skills,
• maybe their find out about their hobbies and interests.  
• It also give you the chance to see if think you will get along.

Think about questions you would like to ask them beforehand and maybe write them down.
 
Also be mindful of things that are not ok to ask in an interview, because they might be considered private or could be seen as being discriminatory.
If you have decided to ask a disability support organisation to provide your support workers, ask the organisation about how you can meet and interview potential support workers before they commence working with you.
Some more tips for meeting, interviewing and deciding on potential support workers 

• Be careful when advertising and meeting people for the first time to keep yourself safe

• If you are meeting face to face - meet  in a public place the first time – for example, at a library, in a café or at the pub
• Think about questions you would like to ask them and what would you like to know about them.
• Ask for contacts for their referees – so you can find out a little bit more about them and what they are like to work with
• Check out if they have a current NDIS Worker Check , First Aid Certificate, drivers licence and car insurance (if you will be needing them to help with transport)
• Check if there have been any concerns with their work in the past or if they are not allowed to work as a support worker: 
• You might like to take a friend or someone you trust with you so that you can hear their thoughts on the person as well ​

7. Know how to make an agreement
Once you’ve decided on your new support worker/s, it’s a good idea to have a written agreement in place between you and your support worker or their organisation that you both agree to and sign.
The agreement should set out things like:

• What the support worker will assist you with and when
• Any expectations about how you will treat each other
• How much you will pay them and how you will pay them
• What to do if things go wrong
• How to end or change the agreement
• Any contact details for you, the person and emergency contact
• Space for signatures and dates 

If you are directly engaging your support worker, it should also include things like:

• Who is responsible for paying income tax, GST, superannuation etc
• Any insurance arrangements and who is responsible for those