With typically long wait lists, complex funding structures, and an array of services to select between, Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) does not always make it simple or easy for disabled persons and their families to find the support, such as positive behaviour services, that they need, but that is where Liberty Behavioural Services has been making an impact.
Liberty draws inspiration from founder and CEO David Goodwin, who overcame his own challenges with disabilities to become a leader in the space of coordinating disability services. Today, Liberty Behavioural Services provides positive behaviour support to over 1,200 active participants, connecting them with a network of 100 qualified, experienced, and NDIS registered behaviourists from a variety of backgrounds.
A personalised approach
“We believe in listening to those who know participants best, privileging the participants’ rights, dignity, and autonomy,” Liberty’s website declares. Liberty’s in-network behaviourists work closely with participants and their families to help participants learn strategies for managing behaviours of concern while expanding their skills and abilities. It is not just about acquiring greater calm and self-regulation; it’s about increasing participants’ autonomy, agency, and quality of life.
Besides bringing years of experience to their work, Liberty’s behaviourists complete extensive training at the company’s Centre for Excellence, learning to create Behaviour Support Plans that are personal and designed to empower participants and their caregivers. This allows Liberty to provide the personalised, tailored interventions that have made the agency stand out in the world of NDIS. When a participant is connected with NDIS behavioural therapy, their behaviourist walks journeys with them through every stage of the process from the initial development of the Behaviour Support Plan through each step of implementation. The company also offers an array of options for delivering service, including in-person, online, and hybrid models.
Understanding that progress toward positive behaviour change and increased autonomy can be difficult, founder and CEO Goodwin has always emphasised the importance of personalised support. It’s a philosophy that is mirrored within the organisation’s own workforce, reflected in the support and professional development available to both staff and network partners.
Liberty also connects participants to practitioners without any waitlist, which is made possible in part by the company’s investments in technology that allows for rapid practitioner matching.
A pursuit of excellence
Today, Liberty Behavioural Services is one of the fastest-growing companies in the NDIS sector, but it hasn’t achieved this swift growth at the cost of providing subpar experiences to either its staff or its participants. Quite the contrary. The company’s commitment to encouraging collaboration and support among its staff has led to a staff turnover rate three times lower than the industry average. Liberty has also received recognition for the incredibly positive customer feedback during its NDIS audits, over its five+ years of operation.
The company has had its challenges while scaling – such as the need to chart its way through complex and intricate funding processes while maintaining quality of service across many different needs – but its “people first” philosophy and the inspiration of its founder’s own journey have provided the company with guidance as it moves forward. Liberty’s approach appears more focused on the relational than the transactional; their role isn’t just to connect people with services but to provide meaningful, long-term improvements in participants’ lives.
You can find out more about Liberty Behavioural Services by visiting its website.
Switzer staff were not involved in the production of this article
