Westhaven - Live how you choose.
Westhaven’s History
Westhaven is a regional not-for-profit, community-based disability services provider, and for over 65 years, has been supporting adults and children with a wide range of disabilities to live life the way they choose.
In the early 1950s, a Dubbo medical practitioner identified the need to provide a place of learning appropriate for children with intellectual disabilities in central west New South Wales (NSW). A more comprehensive offering then grew to support each individual as they entered adulthood, including accommodation options, a sheltered workshop for employment and goal-driven skills development, and so began the not-for-profit organisation known today as Westhaven.
Over the years, Westhaven has continued to evolve as the NSW disability services provider of choice for both adults and children living with disability and their families.
Westhaven Today
Today, Westhaven’s full range of NDIS services are;
- Supported independent living
- Short-term accommodation
- In-home support
- Community participation programs
- Individualised goal-driven skill development
- Supported employment
- Children services (short-term accommodation and community programs)
General Manager of Westhaven Adult Services, Penny Gibbs, explains the organisation’s success and longevity are a result of its ability to evolve and grow its service offering to meet the changing demands of its participants’ nuanced care.
“We structure our offering on each individual’s specific needs. There is no one size fits all approach when it comes to disability care, and that’s why we remain agile and flexible to work alongside our participants and their families to understand what they need specifically out of their plan and what they need to live a fulfiled and rich life,” Penny says.
In the late 2010s, Westhaven experienced an unprecedented spike in service demand with the mass closures of large residential facilities across NSW. The organisation responded quickly and successfully transitioned large numbers of participants to Westhaven services. This catalyst sent Westhaven on a trajectory of substantial growth, which only continues to gain momentum with the organisation now operating in Dubbo, Broken Hill, Orange, and Bathurst, employing more than 700 staff across the state.
One of Westhaven's most significant challenges with the sizeable spike in demand was resourcing tailored disability services to accommodate the influx. Providing tailored care through bespoke programs is incredibly resource intensive, and Westhaven needed to ensure they could maintain their leading standard of quality care when meeting the increased demand. Operating in the Dubbo community made this possible. As a community-based organisation, Westhaven has always collaborated with other local businesses and stakeholders to meet their service demands at an industry-leading standard. Being so ingrained in the fabric of the Dubbo community meant their local advocates could step up and contribute to resourcing solutions. In return, Westhaven could continue its commitment to creating positive change for the people they support and the communities they live in, reinvesting all profits into supporting locals. Furthermore, the success of this community-based model continues to be replicated as Westhaven extends into new markets across NSW.
Impact and Response of LGAs
As Dubbo is the Orana region’s largest service centre and a destination city, the scope and quality of tailored services Westhaven offers have been strongly welcomed by the Local Government Area (LGA) and neighbouring towns. As a result, Dubbo residents and visiting participants have come to rely on access to Westhaven’s consistent and industry-leading care without any geographical disadvantage.
Remaining unwavering in its mission to support participants to live the way they choose; Westhaven ensures local and visiting participants have a full and experience-rich life. This sees participants travel from across the region to utilise the short-term accommodation options and cultural activity services when visiting Dubbo. This ongoing support has seen the organisation grow exponentially in the last decade and, as a result, advance its training and service development to further benefit regional communities.
Working with Westhaven
Westhaven is a committed Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) employer and embraces diversity in its workforce, encouraging people of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds to apply for available positions. The organisation also encourages applicants from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island heritage and people with lived experience of disability.
In addition, Westhaven employs a large number of locals whose roles directly impact the community they grew up in, as well as recruiting from larger metro centres bringing therapeutic specialist skills and resources to the regional areas of NSW.
Westhaven’s Director of People and Culture, Kylie Peacock, explains that Westhaven’s recruitment approach sees locals build rewarding careers with incredible opportunities for skill and knowledge development without leaving their regional homes.
“We have so many exciting employment opportunities that would suit local school-leavers looking to start a career in disability or looking for flexible work around their studies in a support worker role.
“We are also looking to attract experienced therapeutic specialists who wish to grow their career in regional allied health, with a clear development trajectory and the chance to experience the benefits of living in a beautiful country community,” Kylie says.
Visit Westhaven’s Careers page to see current available roles.