Our history

Its key goals were to lobby for specialised spinal injuries units and to establish accommodation facilities for people with severe spinal cord injury.

Held at Gore Hill Oval near Sydney.
It also sponsored 24 athletes to participate in the first Commonwealth Paraplegic Games held in November in Perth.

under its Welfare Department, to provide continence and pressure prevention aids to members in response to difficulties members encountered in getting access to these products at reasonable prices.

operations and was one of the first sheltered workshops in NSW providing employment to people with disability.

The Association continued its strong association with wheelchair sports in 1972 establishing the Paraplegic Sports Club. This led to international competitions and the support of an Australian Team to compete in the 1979 International Stoke Mandeville Games in the UK – the precursor to the Paralympics.

This continued until 1989 when courses became available through the Commonwealth Rehabilitation Service and Cumberland College, Lidcombe.

held annually with the finals televised live on Channel 9 and covered by the Australian Women’s Weekly magazine.

fitting hand controls into cars, manufacturing tailored controls, repositioning car seats and for those with quadriplegia, installing switches for indicator lights and high beam into car headrests. It also constructed and repaired wheelchairs.

the only fundraising event supported by the entire music and entertainment industry in Australia. The fundraising luncheons and events ran for over 30 years.

The Association became more involved in lobbying with key achievements including the establishment of the Mobility Allowance in 1983.

rehabilitation officers, a spinal nurse, rehabilitation counsellor and a continence advisor. The Welfare Department also commenced the preparation of highly regarded medico-legal reports for members who had sustained a spinal cord injury via a motor vehicle accident.

with a Fishing Club, weekly swimming sessions at the Western Suburbs Hydrotherapy Pool, horticulture classes at Ferguson Lodge, gliding with the Southern Cross Gliding Club and weekly rowing sessions with the NSW Adapted Rowing Programme at Glebe Rowing Club.

to provide in-home personal care and became a provider under the Government-funded Attendant Care Scheme.

to include drama classes, wheelchair dancing and dragon boat racing.

into Personal Equipment and Continence Supplies (PECS). Originally established in 1964, to aid selling and distributing crucial supplies to members.

the Association re-evaluated how to more effectively use its resources to eliminate duplication with the Government on service provision. This evolved into the launch of the Community Services Division which provided a Peer Support Program, Regional Network Program, Community Spinal Advisory Service (paving the way for the Spinal Outreach Service) and the Community Living Service.

Called the Rural Spinal Cord Injury Project, it confirmed the need for multi-disciplinary clinics in regional areas and led to a three-year trial examining the effectiveness of these types of clinics. The clinic was created by The Association, with funding from the Motor Accidents Authority and in partnership with the Spinal Injury Units from Royal North Shore and Prince of Wales Hospitals.

which was officially opened by the Governor of NSW, Marie Bashir, who was also the Association’s Patron.

providing over 2,000 products to returned servicemen and women who are registered with the Department.

selling a broad range of medical consumable products to customers both nationally and internationally.

continence and wound care product application advice, continence consults and assessments.

providing clinical education for healthcare professionals.

After a 4 year construction period the new Ferguson Lodge opened on the Lidcombe site. Dedicated to the support and care of people living with spinal cord injury the new site incorporated most recent designs in supported living including individual accommodation, a main building of two 12-bedded wings and, separately, ten villas. Accommodation would be available on a short, medium and long-term basis.

The most far-reaching program designed to support Australians living with a disability – the National Disability Insurance Scheme – was launched. Expected to support more than 500,000 Australians living with a disability at its height at a cost of $22 billion per year, ParaQuad NSW was involved from inception during the initial trials held in the Hunter region of NSW.

the Association expanded its footprint into the Northern Territory, a region that poses particular challenges for people living with spinal cord injury.

A substantial investment designed to double the capacity and greatly increase efficiencies was carried out between December 2020 and March 2021. The investment was in response to strong ongoing growth of BrightSky in serving NDIS and other customers across Australia.

Bringing together our home care and accommodation functions, Home and Living Supports allows for greater coordination and integration of these two areas – alignment with NDIS philosophy.