NDIS community access and social participation in Brisbane and Logan

Community access is support to take part in life outside your home. A support worker comes with you to the places and activities you choose, helps with whatever gets in the way, and over time does less as you do more. Trailblazer Community Care provides this support across Brisbane, Logan, Ipswich and Redland Bay.

It's funded through the Core part of your NDIS plan, under support to take part in social and community activities. We're a registered NDIS provider (registration number 4050133378), so we can support you whether your plan is NDIA managed, plan managed or self managed.

What community access can look like

The activity is up to you. Some people want one fixed outing each week. Others want help joining a group so that, eventually, they go without us. Both are fine. Here's the kind of thing people use this support for:

• Sport, swimming or a gym session
• A TAFE course, library program or class
• Volunteering or a men's or women's shed
• Church, cultural or community groups
• Catching up with friends or family
• Shopping, a café or the movies
• Learning a bus or train route
• Appointments where you want company

Close to home in Logan

In Logan that might be a weekly session at the Logan Entertainment Centre or the library at Logan Central, the walking tracks around the Daisy Hill Koala Centre, or a trip to the shops at Logan Hyperdome. If you're learning to get around on your own, the Beenleigh line and local buses are a good place to start, and we can ride the route with you until it feels routine.

Across Brisbane

Brisbane has a lot within reach if transport is sorted. People go to South Bank for the parklands and the Cultural Centre, the Gallery of Modern Art, or the Botanic Gardens at Mount Coot-tha. On the southside, Sunnybank's food courts and the local clubs at Runcorn and Rochedale are closer to home for many of the people we support.

Ipswich and Redland Bay

In Ipswich, Queens Park and the Workshops Rail Museum are easy favourites. Around Redland Bay, the foreshore parks and the ferry to the Southern Moreton Bay Islands make a good half-day trip.

How we plan each outing

Before the first outing we sit down with you, and your family or coordinator if you want them there. We talk about what you'd like to do, what's made outings hard before, and what a good day looks like for you. That covers the practical things too: toilets, seating, quiet spaces, how long you can manage, and what to do if plans change.

We then match you with a worker who suits the activity and you. If you want to try the gym, it helps to have someone who doesn't mind a gym. Where you have health needs, such as seizures, diabetes or a catheter, your plan is reviewed by our registered nurse so the worker knows what to watch for.

Getting there

Your worker can travel with you on public transport, meet you at the activity, or drive you in their car. Which is best depends on where you live and what you're working towards. If your goal is independent travel, we'll lean towards buses and trains, even when driving would be quicker.

We charge provider travel on shifts shorter than 4 hours. Shifts of 4 hours or more don't carry a travel charge. You'll see this in your service agreement before support starts.

Entry fees and activity costs

The NDIS funds the worker's support. It usually doesn't pay for your own ticket, meal or class fee, because those are everyday costs anyone going to the activity would pay.

The worker's own entry is a different question, and providers handle it differently. Some ask you to pay it, some absorb it, and some agree a limit up front. Ask any provider how it handles worker entry costs before you sign, so there are no surprises at the gate.

At Trailblazer, you pay your support worker's entry fees and outing costs, unless the worker gets in free through a concession or a Companion Card.

Safety and how we're accountable

Every outing is planned around risk you're comfortable with, not risk we're trying to avoid. You have the right to try new things. Our job is to make that possible and safe enough, then talk honestly afterwards about what worked.

How we screen and train workers, manage incidents and handle complaints is set out on our quality and safeguarding page. If something goes wrong on an outing, you can raise it with us directly or through our feedback and complaints process.

About NDIS funding

We can't approve NDIS funding, and no provider can. Only the NDIA decides what goes in your plan. If a provider tells you they can get your funding approved, be careful. What we can do is keep good notes on your outings and progress, which helps at your plan review.