Microboards Australia

15/05/2026

Melanie is here!!

We are thrilled to announce that Melanie has joined our team, providing Behaviour Support Services to people living in Geraldton, Western Australia.

Melanie is a Child Health Nurse and registered Positive Behaviour Support Practitioner based in Geraldton, Western Australia, with over 20 years of experience supporting children, young people, and families across a vast range of health and community settings. To add to this she has
a Post Graduate Certificate in Positive Behaviour Support and lived experience of neurodivergence.

Melanie places a strong emphasis on partnership models of support, promoting autonomy, and creating safe, supportive environments where people feel heard, respected, and understood.

Please reach out if you are looking for Behaviour Support Services in Geraldton and Melanie will be in touch.

You can let us know through our referrals link https://lnkd.in/gasTthVx

Or by calling our Manager of Behaviour Support, Rachel Corridan on 0452424274.

26/03/2026

We are thrilled to let people know that we have extended our PBS support to Geraldton, Jabinu Country of Western Australia.

We are very excited to have Melanie joining our team who lives locally and has extensive experience in supporting families and people in person centred meaningful ways.

Please reach out if you or someone you know would value PBS support and the support of Microboards therefore in Geraldton.

Drop us a line at:
[email protected]
[email protected]

Stay tuned for our official introduction of Melanie very soon....

19/03/2026

Australian Story last week featured Deirdre Croft and her son Richard, with Deirdre very effectively raising the important questions nationally of what happens when parents are no longer able to support their children with disability. Marita Walker is interviewed in the episode - Marita is one of the founding steering committee members of Microboards Australia. Deirdre is forming a Microboard for Richard with the support of Microboards Australia with a view to Richard's Microboard safeguarding Richard and his quality of life when she is no longer able to.

Who cares for our children when we're gone if they can't care for themselves? As Deirdre Croft faces the end of her life, she's on a mission to ensure her son is looked after when she's gone.

11/03/2026

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been working closely with our amazing co‑design group as part of our project on 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 for people with Complex Communication Needs.

Last week we talked about 𝐬𝐲𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐬.

There is increasing awareness of the need to support people to communicate when they are experiencing pain.
However, our co‑design group highlighted that identifying and expressing other symptoms can be far more challenging. They also remind us that understanding the concept of a symptom is essential - pain isn’t the only indication that something might be wrong.

An important part of building 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐲 is helping people understand what symptoms are and giving them the words to describe different symptoms.

The co-design group shared some important insights with us, which we didn’t know before having the conversations, like:

•Sometimes when I feel sick, I also feel dizzy.
•Hay fever makes it hard to breathe, but it also makes it hard to move.
•When I eat hot food it makes me feel like vomiting.
•Before I have seizures, things can taste off.
•It can be hard to move when I have a sore ankle.

Our co‑design group continues to remind us that meaningful conversations about symptoms involve much more than simply having the right words available on a communication device.

When someone experiences a symptom, it may be difficult for them to express what’s happening in the moment.

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫, 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭.

These ongoing discussions create opportunities for people to talk about their experiences in ways that feel natural and accessible.
This insight is guiding our work as we develop resources that make health communication easier and more effective for everyone.

24/02/2026

Our MD, Jaquie Mills, was in Sydney 2 weeks ago as a member of the advisory council for the National Centre of Excellence in Disability Health. The advisory council leads the work of the development of the Centre.
The Centre is being established as a result of the 2020 Royal Commission where the epidemic levels of neglect and abuse of people with disability in the Australian health system became more widely known.

The truth is this has been known for more than 20 years, and disability advocates have been trying to do something about it for a very long time. The neglect of the health of people with disability in Australia is shameful and has caused a lot of trauma to a lot of people, not to mention terrible health outcomes, pain, 'behaviours of concern' and premature death.

The purpose of the Centre is to help to change health inequities for people with disability.

The centre is made up of 9 consortium members from across Australia.
The Centre is 2 years into development now and some good things look like they will come to fruition soon, like training for doctors which is co-designed with people with disability, and free online training for nurses.
https://nceidh.org.au/