If you’re looking for an NDIS or NIISQ provider on the Gold Coast because you only need help with a few specific tasks, you’ve likely been facing the same problem a small group of people set out to solve 34 years ago. This is the story of Mobile Attendant Care Services (MACS) and how we set out to challenge the status quo about how people with disabilities could be assisted to live their lives.

Where It Started

In 1992, many adults with disabilities who had significant support needs were living in some form of congregated care. The typical support options on offer to people were nursing homes and, for some, small group homes, which were few in number. Yet these options, some of which were considered state-of-the-art at the time, did not support an ordinary life.

A group of about 10 people with disabilities and supporters began meeting in a small room on the northside of Brisbane. They would order beer and pizzas and talk about what they could do. They talked about a service that would be on-call during the night for toileting or other needs, that had the ability to be flexible and ultimately enhance their comfort and lifestyle overnight.

A Better Way, Built by the People Who Needed It

At this time, a small group of people with physical disabilities who wanted to live more independently in the community found a practical answer. They pooled their resources to pay one support worker to travel between their homes. That simple change gave them more flexible assistance times. It meant they could call for help as needs arose, and it made their support more cost-effective.

That idea flourished to become MACS, and today, that same response to people seeking greater independence and reassurance remains just as relevant today, with 50% of the MACS Management Committee always made up of people with lived experience of disability.

Today, MACS remains a mobile attendant care service at heart. Its workers travel throughout the night, providing planned and unplanned support to people in their own homes.

Unfortunately, the Same Problem Still Exists

Many people don’t need a support worker for hours at a time. They need help getting into bed, a hand with medication or repositioning during the night, reassurance that when something unexpected happens, or they don’t get home till late, they have someone to call on. These tasks can take minutes, not hours. Yet support is often delivered in long, fixed shifts. That can leave participants booking and paying for far more time than the task actually takes. It’s funding that could have gone towards other support they really need.

The Next Chapter for MACS: We’ve arrived on the Gold Coast

After 34 years in Brisbane, we have expanded our drop-in and on-call support to the Gold Coast, giving more NDIS participants on the Gold Coast access to flexible support at home. The model is simple: drop in, help, drop out. A disability support worker on the Gold Coast drops in, helps with exactly what you need, then says goodbye. There’s no worker waiting around and no long shift built around a short task.

The MACS Gold Coast Service offers two types of support:

• Night Drop-In Support: Runs from 6 pm to 6 am, with visits booked regularly in advance or can be requested for unplanned needs. Workers can support you on their own or alongside your primary care team. Visits can cover personal care, transfers or repositioning, medication assistance, getting up or going to bed and more.
• On-Call Support: Time-sensitive help for non-emergency needs, mainly overnight between 6 pm and 6 am. This could include medication assistance, bowel and bladder care, repositioning or equipment issues.

The service is available within approximately 30 minutes of Nerang, and MACS can work alongside your existing providers. You’ll need appropriate funding in your NDIS plan, usually under Core (Assistance with Daily Life).

What Comes Next: An Independent Evaluation

The Gold Coast launch is also a chance to show what this model can do. The Summer Foundation is independently evaluating MACS on the Gold Coast. The Summer Foundation identifies, designs and scales up solutions that work by combining independent data with lived experience.

While MACS puts its support model into practice, the Summer Foundation is researching how it works, including participant outcomes, safety, reliability and value compared with more traditional support arrangements. Taking part in the evaluation is optional, and you can use the Gold Coast service without joining it. We’ll share more about the evaluation in next month’s blog.

Find Out Whether MACS Suits You

After 34 years, MACS is now offering flexible drop-in support to the Gold Coast. MACS welcomes enquiries from NDIS and NIISQ participants, families and carers, support coordinators and allied health professionals. Register now or call 07 3857 0333 to find out whether it suits you.