Excellence in disability services

George Ayoub

Solution Ideas Ability Boutique
Penrith NSW

George is recognised for his leadership to empower people with disability through inclusive support that has lived experience at its heart.

As the founder of Solution Ideas Ability Boutique, a peer-led disability service in Western Sydney, George has pioneered initiatives that are improving the delivery of support and employment outcomes for people with disability. Central to his work is the Peer Navigator model – an approach that employs people with lived experience of disability to guide participants through employment and the NDIS, at the same time building confidence and strengthening self-advocacy.

The model has significantly improved participant outcomes, increasing employment and engagement, reducing service fragmentation, and enabling individuals to exercise greater choice and control over their supports. Participants have reported improved wellbeing, improved financial independence, stronger community connection, and increased independence. More than half of George’s workforce has lived experience of disability.

A recipient of the 2025 Australian Disability Leadership Institute award for Inclusion, George leads with integrity and purpose, championing a more inclusive, community-driven disability sector.

Carol Jennings

WaterWombats
Bruce ACT

Carol Jennings is recognised for founding Waterwombats, an innovative allied health service supporting autistic children and children with disability through a unique blend of aquatic and land-based therapies. Using the water as a primary therapeutic environment, Waterwombats integrates occupational therapy, exercise physiology, drama therapy, counselling and community-based supports to deliver holistic, family-centred care.

A mental health social worker with lived experience of autism, ADHD and autoimmune challenges, Carol established Waterwombats after identifying a critical gap: children with disability face significantly elevated drowning risk, yet traditional swimming programs often cannot accommodate sensory, behavioural and trauma-related needs.

Her innovative model addresses water safety, confidence, trauma recovery, social connection and participation outcomes simultaneously. In 2025, Waterwombats delivered more than 5,700 therapy sessions, with 92% of participants demonstrating increased water safety skills within a single term.

Kevin Lee

The Cram Foundation
Shellharbour NSW

Kevin is recognised for his exceptional leadership to empower people living with disability in their daily life activities through skilled Active Support.

Through his work with The Cram Foundation, Kevin transforms routine daily activities into meaningful opportunities for participation, skill-building and independence. Rather than completing tasks on behalf of the people he supports, Kevin breaks activities into achievable steps and adapts his approach to each person's abilities, pace and preferences. His personalised approach embeds dignity and choice into everyday support. One individual who previously avoided meal preparation due to low confidence progressed, through Kevin's patient support, to independently preparing simple meals – a change that meaningfully improved their confidence and sense of achievement.

A highly respected mentor and leader, Kevin is generous with sharing his knowledge and experience, which has strengthened person-centred practice across the team. Every day he demonstrates that small everyday actions can improve quality of life.

Early Intervention & Allied Health Team (Foundations of Growth)

Koorana Child & Family Services
Belmore NSW

Koorana's Early Intervention & Allied Health is recognised for developing Foundations for Growth, an innovative school-based model that brings transdisciplinary allied health support directly into public schools to support children with disability and additional needs.

Comprising speech pathologists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, psychologists and specialist teachers, the team identified a critical gap in access to early intervention and inclusive support for children with disability and developmental delay, particularly among culturally and linguistically diverse and refugee communities.

By introducing classroom-based screening and targeted intervention within school environments, the team has reached over 400 children and their families across five schools per year, with 300 children identified for early intervention for the first time. Nearly 95% of children achieved positive progress towards their individual goals, while more than 220 teachers received capacity-building coaching to ensure the program benefits future children and families.

Northcott Healthcare & Clinical Governance team

The Northcott Society
North Parramatta NSW

Northcott's Healthcare and Clinical Governance team is recognised for designing and delivering a free, disability-competent Oral Health Clinic in partnership with the University of Sydney School of Dentistry – the first dental student placement of its kind in Australia.

The team addresses a critical gap in care for people with intellectual, physical, and psychosocial disabilities who face significant barriers to mainstream dental services. Through a hybrid model combining in-person clinics with e-dentistry, the clinic grew from 35 patients in 2024 to 85 in 2025, with most receiving preventative and early intervention care. The interprofessional team – bringing together nursing, administration, clinical governance, and academic expertise – embeds behavioural support and personalised care planning into every appointment.

Their work reduces avoidable hospitalisations, builds carer confidence, and strengthens the dental workforce's capability in Special Needs Dentistry.    

Safe Ride

Freedom Solutions Australia
Coburg North VIC

The Safe Ride team is recognised for an innovation project addressing a critical road safety risk: passengers with disability unbuckling or escaping restraints in moving vehicles.

The team brought together volunteers, engineers, allied health professionals, industry partners and people with lived experience to co-design six new assistive technology solutions. The leading design outcomes were two active restraint innovations that address unsafe buckle release. Along with four environmental or sensory solutions, providing a passive response to identified overstimulation, discomfort or loss of control.

Iterative co-design workshops led the project, the team progressed concepts through CAD modelling, risk assessment and real-world prototype trials, mapping compliance against relevant Australian standards throughout.

Trials demonstrated safer journeys, with children joyfully stating the backseat “is like my playroom”. Safe Ride is moving to fill a market gap, providing practical, co-designed pathways toward safer vehicle travel.