Latest / Sarah Knows Support Workers / 17 Years in the Disability Sector: Lessons Every Support Worker Needs to Hear | Sarah Heriot

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17 Years in the Disability Sector: Lessons Every Support Worker Needs to Hear | Sarah Heriot · Sarah Knows Support Workers

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  I have had 17 years in the disability sector and these are
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  the things that I've learned. Hi guys, I'm Sarah from Sarah no
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  support workers podcast. Today I am running solo and I am
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  coming to you by myself to host this episode because I feel like
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  it's really important that I can tell you all what I have learned
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  in this sector for the last 17 years.
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  So when I first started in the, the disability sector, I was 19
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  years old, like at a service in Melbourne's West.
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  And that was 17 years ago. And I, we have pretty much seen
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  so many changes in that period of time.
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  So in this episode, I want to share with you all some of the
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  biggest things that I have learned in the sector and not
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  from a book and not from policies, but from showing up
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  for the last 17 years, from listening, from walking
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  alongside the people that we serve.
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  So you're probably wondering, Sarah, what the hell have you
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  learned about? When I first started, I worked
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  on the block funding and then the NDIS came along and honestly
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  it's messy at the moment, it's confusing and it is
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  overwhelming. But I have survived this far and
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  I didn't just survive, I thrived.
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  And the funding, the systems change everything, the language
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  changes, but the work still continues and say is the same
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  because our role is to support the people that we serve, to
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  live the fullest of their lives and live an ordinary life.
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  So what I have learned all right in this time, I have learnt
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  about ratios and groups. I have learned how much a ratio
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  and a group size had changed dramatically because back in my
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  heyday, let's just say it wasn't a one to three ratio.
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  And we moved from really having some really big groups to
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  smaller ones and more individualized.
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  So it's been a fantastic move to be honest with you, because it
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  means that the people that we serve in a group setting got
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  more, got more opportunities to go do more things to be
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  supported better and not in a bigger group because we all know
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  that the one-size-fits-all doesn't work.
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  It works for this person. So this that shift has changed a
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  lot and it really does matter. It changes how people live, how
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  they were supported and the voices that they were.
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  The voices were heard. I've learnt about language and
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  how the names have changed. Yeah, I'm like.
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  And it's continuing to change. Right now, the titles or words,
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  especially in Victoria, what we call things today have changed.
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  What we call things today isn't what we call the musical.
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  And it wouldn't be what it is now in the future.
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  I'll give you an example. Back in the heyday it was called
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  accommodation group homes. Yep.
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  And now it's SEAL. It is somebody's home.
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  So it is completely different to ever before, but behind every
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  name change is still a person and that really does matter.
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  So what I've learned about accommodation particularly,
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  right. So this is in Victoria,
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  accommodation has changed so much.
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  So we're seeing more seals than ever before, which was back in
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  the heyday, accommodation, group homes, all sorts of different
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  names like they, I had so many different names to now.
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  And what it has done, to be honest with you, it has given an
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  opportunity to people for more than ever before because it used
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  to be like a ratio of one to five.
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  And now we've got houses within our community, there's a ratio
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  of 1 to 3. So it means a smaller number in
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  the house. So more opportunity to do and
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  engage in activities than ever before.
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  But also we're funding people a lot different before where we
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  might be a one to three ratio and we're funding somebody from
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  1:00 to 2:00. It's got to go down to the
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  person that we serve and their support.
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  So what they really need to absolutely thrive in their home
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  environment. So there's more choice, there is
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  more flexibility and there's more ways for a person to live a
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  life of their own and as independent.
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  And it's not perfect, but it's still progress.
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  And you're probably seeing now, especially in this space, that
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  there's a lot more people living independently than ever before.
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  Not in nursing homes, not in bigger accommodation with the
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  numbers. It's more independence.
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  And that's brilliant to watch. So what I've learnt about choice
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  and control, because this is really important, it all ties in
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  one of the biggest lessons I have learnt that choice and
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  control belongs to the person that we serve.
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  And not me, not a provider, not the system, not the family, it's
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  the person that we serve. And sometimes, if I'm really
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  honest, that can feel limiting for a support worker and it can
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  be limiting for a support worker to make sure like, especially if
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  you've got a mindset that doesn't always see the
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  importance of it or the way that you are working and the people
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  that you're working around because you are who you sit
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  with. That is really important to
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  remember that if you've got, if you're working with people with
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  really limited mindsets, I dare say you, you will get a limited
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  mindset. But it's not about comfort.
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  It's about the person that we serve and what they want.
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  And our jobs are to listen and to take, take out Bola wherever
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  Learning to step back is a part of this and it works well for
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  the person we serve because they are the main character, The main
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  character, the main energy for. So what I've learned about
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  myself in this period of time is that I've learned to leave my
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  own thoughts and opinion the front door.
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  Yeah, yeah, I have. And I have learnt skills that I
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  never thought I would ever learn.
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  Like to be fair, if it wasn't growing up in this sector, the
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  disability sector, I probably wouldn't have learned how to
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  cook the average steel. But I it was because it really
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  did force these type of skills. I learned how to clean, I
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  learned how to use a dryer properly without blowing up a
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  house, which is pretty important.
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  Maybe that's the story for another day.
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  But life skills I probably should have learnt at home to be
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  fair, but I learnt them as a support worker and I'm better
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  for it now. But what I have seen across the
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  sector and I've our sector best to be honest, like I'm going to
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  brag right now. I'm going to, I'm going to put
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  my foot down and brag because I've said I have been around
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  some awesome play managers, some very funny, brilliant support
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  coordinators, program coordinators that just get it,
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  employment supports that really just kicking goals when people
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  actually get jobs, which is fantastic independent living.
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  I'm seeing people in the seal space absolutely nail it.
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  I have seen it all and I have watched this sector grow and
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  change and evolve in the last 17 years.
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  And I truly believe that the next 17 years I've got to be a
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  game changer. And the one thing that has never
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  changed, to be fair with you, because like, you know, a lot of
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  things have changed, but one thing that has never changed is
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  and that I've always held on to and always have probably focus
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  very hard on. And one thing that I will
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  continue to teach support workers is advocacy and choice
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  and standing up for the people that we serve is incredibly
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  important. Listening to them, back them,
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  letting them lead. This is the heart of our job and
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  always has and always will be. So I want you to take this on
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  board as a support worker. Our job and our main job is, is
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  to listen and to help provide opportunities for them to grow
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  and develop their skills. So if you're a support worker in
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  2026, listening to this right now, whether you're new or
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  you've been around the block a couple a while, know this.
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  You are a part of the sector that changes and changes a lot.
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  And when you center advocacy and choice, you are doing your job
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  perfectly, bloody brilliantly, in fact.
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  So I would like to thank you all for showing up.
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  Thank you all for caring, and thank you all for being a part
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  of this journey. Thank you so much for listening
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  to today's episode.