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About Us

Lionheart’s Beginnings

The best support, built from lived experience — not a business plan.

A Change Was Needed

In 2017 we brought home to Gladstone our second child, a daughter who had been born with a complex undiagnosed genetic condition, otherwise known as a syndrome without a name (SWAN).

While there was so little the doctors could tell us, one thing we knew was that our daughter had a life-limiting condition that had flung us deep into the world of disability and support. Six months after arriving home, our first NDIS package was approved, with the promise of the support our daughter needed to grow and develop to the best of her potential.

After four months of trying to put our NDIS package to good use, we were still unable to find a support service willing to engage with our daughter. We were told that her tracheostomy was too complex to manage, that insurance would not cover the risk, that staff could not be trained for a child so medically complex. In other cases, our calls and emails simply went unanswered.

Kirstie, Lionheart's Operations Manager, lying on a hospital bed beside Florence, looking at a phone together

Kirstie and Florence. This is the support four months of phone calls couldn’t find — so we built it.

Florence sitting on the grass holding a lamb, laughing

And this is what it’s for.

Lionheart Was Born

Using Brett's background in business, and Ellie's experience as a teacher, we first set up a micro-company for the purpose of training and employing support staff for our daughter. It wasn't enough for us to engage independent contractors — we needed people in it for the long haul, who we could trust with our daughter's life and who would be personally invested in her long-term growth.

Years on, that same small team is still with us. Having the right support meant Ellie could go back to work, our daughter is kicking goals, and our family isn't just surviving — we're thriving. Ellie is now at Lionheart full time. We know, through lived experience, the difference quality support makes to someone living with disability, and to their family. Everyone deserves that same chance to belong.

Lionheart opened as a registered NDIS provider in 2021. Five years on it has more than 200 staff, three Gladstone sites, a nursing team, SIL homes and teams supporting people living in SDA — and the same rule we started with: nobody gets told they're too complex.

“From seeing a little Flo with staff walking around our area… to a conversation with a paediatric nurse at Gladstone Hospital, and leading us to Lionheart when there were only two clients and three staff — I've been there to watch the growth and be part of the journey from the very start.”

Parent of a Lionheart participant
Our Vision

Imagine a place where…

…it doesn’t matter what you look like, how you communicate, or what you can and cannot do. Acceptance is unconditional, and you are seen for the incredible human being that you are.

Wherever you’re at, you’ll be met at your level. Wherever you want to go, someone will walk with you.

Our Mission

To deliver outstanding support to individuals living with disability, and in doing so, create a community of inclusion for all people of all abilities.

Hear Us Roar

Our Values

“The box sucks.”

Not everyone fits neatly into the boxes drawn by ‘mainstream’ systems — and that's a good thing. Five values keep us honest about it.

1

Right to Thrive

Freedom to choose, to contribute, to learn, and to feel safe — for everyone, always.

2

Whatever It Takes

Proper training, consistent teams, and never turning someone away as “too complex” — whatever it takes to deliver the best support we can.

3

Green and Growing

Like a sapling, life is about learning and growing — whatever age or role you're in. That applies to us as an organisation too, which is why feedback matters so much.

4

Stronger Together

Living with, or caring for, disability is hard. It shouldn't be something anyone does alone.

5

Diversity is a Superpower

The full spectrum of human diversity gives our world colour, meaning and strength.

Meet the Team

Family owned. Family operated.

We're committed to supporting participants and families living with disability in our local community. Whether you're a participant or a family member, our team works with you to achieve your goals and live your best life, on your terms.

Support workers are the part of Lionheart you see. The teams below are the part that makes it possible — and they're who you'll actually get on the phone.

Brett and Ellie together

Brett & Ellie

FOUNDERS

Partners of 14 years, and the reason Lionheart exists — the story is above.

They lead Lionheart together, as equals. Brett brings a background in business; Ellie’s background is teaching, and it shapes how Lionheart understands growth, learning and inclusion. She now works at Lionheart full time. Neither of them is the one in charge — every decision that matters gets made by both.

Book a time with Brett — pick a slot from his own calendar.

Kirstie, Operations Manager at Lionheart

Kirstie

OPERATIONS MANAGER

Kirstie runs everything operational at Lionheart — across our sites, scheduling, rostering, community coordination, and the day-to-day machinery that gets the right support worker to the right person at the right time. If it has to actually happen, it goes through Kirstie.

Michele, Nursing Director at Lionheart

Michele

NURSING DIRECTOR

Michele leads Lionheart's nursing team and holds clinical governance — care plans, scope of practice and delegation, medication management, and oversight of any investigation with a clinical element. She is the reason we can say yes to people with complex clinical needs. How the clinical process works.

The teams behind them

RN

Nursing Team

TANK STREET

Our registered nurses. They assess every family before support starts, write the care plans, train support workers to each person’s individual plan, and are reachable on any shift. How the clinical process works.

Michele (Nursing Director) · Lillian · August · Rhiarn

ADM

Admin Team

BOOWAN COURT

The first voice you hear when you ring, and the people keeping the paperwork, records and day-to-day running of our sites in order.

Rosemary · Michelle · Melisa

SCH

Scheduling Team

BOOWAN COURT, SECOND FLOOR

The people who make sure the right support worker is at the right place at the right time — including when something falls over at short notice. If you’ve ever had a shift covered on the same day, that was them.

Melinda · Emma · Jodi · Rena · Mitch

FIN

Finance Team

TANK STREET

Invoicing, claiming and service agreements. If something on a statement doesn’t look right, they’ll go through it with you line by line.

Amy · Ash · Maria

QC

Compliance Team

TANK STREET

Worker screening, training records, incident management, audits and the NDIS Practice Standards. Unglamorous, and the reason the rest of it holds together.

Kass · Richard

S&I

Systems and Innovation

BOOWAN COURT

The systems the rest of it runs on — rostering, records, reporting and the tools that make the day-to-day work rather than getting in the way. Where a manual job gets turned into one that isn’t.

Jess

200+

Our wider team

Behind the names above: more than 200 support workers, nurses, coordinators and office staff across our sites — many with us for years, not months.

Your coordinator

One person who knows you

Every participant and every support worker at Lionheart has a coordinator — a single point of contact who looks after a group of families and the staff who support them.

It means you’re not explaining your situation from scratch to whoever picks up the phone. Your coordinator knows your history, knows your team, and can actually make a decision. They’re the person you ring when something needs sorting out, and the person your support workers ring too — which is why things get fixed rather than passed around.

They’re also, for what it’s worth, some of the best people we have.

What your coordinator actually does

  • Gets to know you, your situation and what you want out of your supports
  • Builds and adjusts your roster, and sorts cover when something falls through
  • Matches support workers to you, and introduces them before they start
  • Checks in — not just when there’s a problem
  • Keeps your support team and our nursing team on the same page
  • Handles the things you’d otherwise have to chase
  • Supports the workers in your team too, so they’re not guessing

This isn’t NDIS Support Coordination

Worth being clear, because the word ‘coordinator’ gets used for two very different jobs.

An NDIS support coordinator is independent of your providers. They help you use your whole plan, choose between providers, and hold those providers to account — including us. We deliberately don’t deliver that service.

A Lionheart coordinator is internal. They coordinate the supports we deliver for you. If you have a support coordinator, ours works alongside them — not instead of them.

How to reach yours

If you’re already with us, you’ll have your coordinator’s direct details. If you’re not sure who yours is, call the office on (07) 4910 8777 and we’ll put you straight through.

Community

Tanya, Community Coordinator at Lionheart

Tanya

Community Coordinator

Message Tanya
Louisa, Community Coordinator at Lionheart

Louisa

Community Coordinator

Message Louisa Job share with Steph
Steph, Community Coordinator at Lionheart

Steph

Community Coordinator

Message Steph Job share with Louisa
Michelle, Community Coordinator at Lionheart

Michelle

Community Coordinator

Message Michelle
Christine, Community Coordinator at Lionheart

Christine

Community Coordinator

Message Christine

Programs

Lynsay, Programs Coordinator at Lionheart

Lynsay

Programs Coordinator

Message Lynsay

Supported Independent Living

Amanda, Supported Independent Living Coordinator at Lionheart

Amanda

Supported Independent Living Coordinator

Message Amanda
Janet, Supported Independent Living Coordinator at Lionheart

Janet

Supported Independent Living Coordinator

Message Janet
Liz, Supported Independent Living Coordinator at Lionheart

Liz

Supported Independent Living Coordinator

Message Liz Enrolled Nurse

Aged Care

Lynette, Aged Care Coordinator at Lionheart

Lynette

Aged Care Coordinator

Message Lynette

Want to know more about who supports you?

Get in touch and we'll walk you through exactly who you'd be working with.

Make a Referral Call (07) 4910 8777