Life Without Barriers supports 24,000 people across Australia in 2022-23

Life Without Barriers has released its 2022 – 23 Annual “Collaborating for Impact” Report, detailing key collaborations resulting in life-changing impacts for people across Australia.

In 2022-23, Life Without Barriers has supported almost 24,000 people across Australia with a community of over 13,000 staff and foster and kinship carers. The organisation has partnered with over 5,000 people with disability in delivering support services, worked with over 5,000 children, young people, and families, supported 1150 refugees and asylum seekers and aided over 8,000 older Australians to have independence at home.

Chief Executive of Life Without Barriers said the achievements the organisation has made in 2022-23 all come down to effective collaboration, delivering excellent services and trusted partnerships.

“This year, we celebrate the positive changes people have made in their lives with the support of our employees, carers and extended communities,” Ms Robbs said.

“While Life Without Barriers has continued to navigate economic challenges, significant reform and change in the sector, and international conflicts applying domestic pressure, we have continued to stay connected to our values and purpose.”

The report outlines Life Without Barriers' work in 2022-23 to strengthen its disability support workforce to uphold people’s human rights and extend its allyship through Alliacne20 and the newly formed Allied for Children – a collaboration of several of Australia’s largest providers of services for children and families.

This year the organisation has bolstered its policy commitments in disability housing services to enable more choice for people with disability over how they live, launched Learning Without Barriers – an education strategy dedicated to improving educational outcomes of children in care and established advisory groups led by the people they support to offer invaluable insight and direction on services for older Australians.

“This year we took action to remove barriers to employment for people with disabilities by releasing our employment policy commitment which places increasing participation in lived experience at the centre of our employment goals. This has led our organisation to realise the many benefits of having 12.4% of our employees with disability hold leadership roles at Life Without Barriers,” Ms Robbs said.

“We elevated our commitment to reconciliation in our support for the national referendum on a Voice to Parliament, the Uluru Statement from the Heart and major areas of our Reconciliation Action Plan.

“In collaboration, Life Without Barriers delivered the largest suite of freely available accessible resources on the Voice to Parliament across the country and has continued to advance our transformation project to return Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children to Aboriginal Controlled Community Care.

“It has been a rewarding year because of the trust placed in us by people we support, and we sincerely thank the communities we have served for the opportunity to be a part of their lives.

“Thank you to every person who has shared their stories with us in this year’s report. This is our most sustainable, accessible, and interactive Annual Report yet – it’s a living document celebrating our incredible community.”

Access the 2022-23 Annual Report here - https://lwbannualreport.org.au/