Do you have a disability or care for someone who could benefit from the help the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) can provide?
The Community Connectors program is here to give you culturally tailored support within your community to connect you to the NDIS.
“The work of the Community Connectors is so consequential it can change lives.”
What is the NDIS?
The NDIS is a free government program that provides services and support to people with disability.
How can the NDIS help me?
Supports and services can include:
– help with your daily personal activities
– workplace help to allow you to successfully get or keep employment
– help with household tasks to allow you to maintain your home environment
– purchase of mobility aid and/or equipment.
What is a Community Connector?
Community Connectors support people from culturally and linguistically diverse and non-English speaking backgrounds to access the NDIS.
They help by acting as a liaison between you and the NDIS.
Your Community Connector can support you to:
– apply for the NDIS
– connect you with your local NDIS contacts
– provide support for you to understand and use NDIS services better.
CASE STUDY 1 – An older man with schizophrenia who required an interpreter for important conversations had been rejected for help. Amparo was able to advocate on his behalf and show that he qualified for assistance.
Why Community Connectors are important
For Maureen Fordyce, the manager of Queensland’s AMPARO Advocacy, the work of Community Connectors to help culturally and linguistically diverse people with disabilities access the NDIS can change lives.
Maureen says Community Connectors can guide people who often encounter barriers to accessing services.
“People will tell them misinformation in the community that this will affect your visa. There’s also still an enormous amount of stigma in many communities about disability, particularly around mental health and psychosocial disability,” she said.
“So those individuals are often quite isolated from their communities and often they don’t have a lot of informal support from people who can help them connect with services.”
That’s why the work of the Community Connectors is so consequential.
“We have seen what a difference the NDIS can make in people’s lives when they get this support. We’ve got lots of stories of people’s lives being significantly changed from what they were,” Maureen said.
CASE STUDY 2 – A mother who had suffered a serious health event as a result of domestic violence had limited English proficiency and was unable to seek help. Amparo was able to provide her with the guidance she needed to connect with the NDIS.
How to get in contact with your local Community Connectors
| Organisation | State | Local government areas | Contact numbers |
| Multicultural Community Council NT | NT | Darwin | 08 8945 9122 |
| Access Community Services | QLD | Logan, Cairns, Townsville, Toowoomba, Rockhampton, Mackay | 07 3412 8222 |
| Amparo | QLD | Brisbane, Logan, Moreton Bay | 07 3354 4900 |
| Multicultural Community Council Gold Coast | QLD | Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast | 07 5527 8011 |
| Multilink Community Services | QLD | Brisbane, Ipswich | 07 3808 4463 |
| Islamic Women’s Association of Australia | QLD/Vic | Brisbane, Greater Dandenong | 07 3208 6333 |
| Australian Refugee Association | SA | Salisbury | 08 8354 2951 |
| Multicultural Communities Council of SA | SA | Port Adelaide Enfield | 08 8213 4605 |
| Migrant Resource Centre Tasmania | Tas | Glenorchy | 03 6221 0999 |
| AMES | Vic | Greater Dandenong, Casey | 03 9092 1552 |
| Diversitat | Vic | Melton, Wyndham | 03 5222 7275 |
| Ethnic Community Council Victoria | Vic | Brimbank, Hume, Moreland, Darebin, Greater Shepparton, Whittlesea | 03 9354 9555 |
| Migrant Information Centre | Vic | Whitehorse, Monash | 03 9285 4888 |
Access to Interpreters
If you need help understanding the content of this page, please call the Telephone Interpreter Service (131 450) and ask them to contact FECCA on 02 6282 5755 or your local organisation above.
The CALD National Community Connectors Program is a collaboration between the NDIS, FECCA and the National Ethnic Disability Alliance. The NCCP is funded by the National Disability Insurance Agency.
