People in the hinterland towns, where the community is often close-knit and the nearest allied health appointment is still a thirty to fifty minute drive.
Registered NDIS Provider · 405 358 3296
NDIS Provider on the Sunshine Coast
Coastal strip and hinterland. Two quite different problems.
A registered provider covering coast and hinterland
GOTLEHS CARE is a registered NDIS provider, number 405 358 3296, with our office at Park Ridge. Our Sunshine Coast workers are based on the coast rather than travelling up from the south, because a Brisbane to Nambour commute is not a sustainable way to deliver a two hour shift.
We cover Caloundra, Kawana, Birtinya, Maroochydore, Mooloolaba, Buderim, Nambour, Coolum, and the hinterland towns including Palmwoods, Woombye, Montville and Maleny.
The Sunshine Coast splits into two service problems rather than one, and treating it as a single area is where most providers go wrong here.
NDIS services we deliver on the Sunshine Coast
All ten registered supports are available across the region. Three carry particular weight here.
Transport, because hinterland distances are the single biggest barrier a participant faces in an average week. Physical wellbeing activities, since the region’s beaches, pools and walking tracks make outdoor programs genuinely realistic rather than aspirational. And assist life stages and transition, given the number of participants who move to the coast at a point of change and arrive without a support network.
Also available: accommodation and tenancy assistance, personal care, daily living skills, social and community participation, therapeutic supports, specialised driver training, and assistance animals and innovative supports.
Accommodation and Tenancy Assistance
Assist Life Stages, Transition and Support
Assist Personal Activities
Assist Travel and Transport
Development of Daily Living and Life Skills
Physical Wellbeing Activities
Social and Community Participation
Therapeutic Supports
Specialised Driver Training
Assistance Animals and Other Innovative Supports
Who we support on the Sunshine Coast
Participants along the coastal strip from Caloundra through Kawana and Maroochydore, where most of the region’s services and its main hospital are concentrated.
Older participants and those with age-related disability, in a region with an older population profile than most of South East Queensland.
Participants who have relocated here from Brisbane or interstate, often after a health event or a relationship change, and who need supports built from scratch.
And people whose wellbeing is tied to being outdoors, which on this coast is a large proportion, and where the right support keeps that going rather than replacing it.
How support works on the Sunshine Coast
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We plan the hinterland differently to the coast. Longer shifts, fewer of them, and appointments grouped so a participant in Maleny isn’t making three separate trips down the range in a fortnight.
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We use the geography rather than fighting it. Hydrotherapy, ocean and river swimming, walking tracks and coastal paths are all viable here in a way they aren’t everywhere, and a program built around them tends to survive longer than one built around a gym.
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For participants at the Sunshine Coast University Hospital at Birtinya, we support discharge planning and follow-up appointments, which for hinterland residents is a significant trip each time.
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And for people new to the area, we treat building a community from nothing as an actual goal with actual steps, rather than as something that will happen naturally once they’ve settled in.
The problems Sunshine Coast participants face
Distance is the defining hinterland problem. From Maleny or Montville, almost everything is a drive, and for a participant who doesn’t drive that means almost everything requires arranging.
Provider availability drops sharply once you leave the coastal strip. A participant in Mooloolaba has options. One in Woombye has considerably fewer, with an identical plan.
Bruce Highway and coastal traffic through holiday periods disrupts routines for weeks at a stretch, and services that depend on punctuality become unreliable.
Allied health waits are long and travel charges are high, since therapists servicing the hinterland bill for the drive as well as the session.
And isolation in a beautiful place is still isolation. Participants who moved here for the lifestyle sometimes find themselves with a lovely view and nobody to talk to, and that is harder to raise than a practical problem.
What we do about it on the Sunshine Coast
Our workers are based in the region, so travel is proportionate and shifts start when they’re supposed to.
We structure hinterland supports as longer, less frequent visits rather than short daily ones, because that is what the geography actually allows and pretending otherwise wastes funding on driving.
We group trips down to the coast deliberately, so an appointment at Birtinya can be paired with shopping, another appointment or a social activity in the same run.
We plan around holiday traffic in advance rather than absorbing the disruption each year.
And we treat social connection as a support goal in its own right for people who are new here, with specific steps rather than a vague hope that it sorts itself out.
Talk to us about supports on the Sunshine Coast
Tell us whether you’re on the coast or in the hinterland, and what your week involves. Ring 0425 799 687 between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday, or email info@gotlehscare.com.au.
Frequently asked questions
If your question isn’t here, ring us on 0425 799 687. We’d rather answer it properly than have you guess.
Do you service the hinterland as well as the coast?
Yes. Palmwoods, Woombye, Montville and Maleny are all within our footprint, along with the coastal strip from Caloundra through to Coolum. We structure hinterland supports differently, with longer and less frequent visits, because that’s what the distances realistically allow.
Why are hinterland supports structured differently?
Because a thirty to fifty minute drive each way makes short daily shifts wasteful. Longer, less frequent visits mean more of your funding goes on support and less on the road. It’s a practical response to geography rather than a reduction in service.
Can you support appointments at Sunshine Coast University Hospital?
Yes, including discharge planning and follow-up appointments at Birtinya. For hinterland participants each of those is a significant trip, so we plan them properly and group them with other errands where we can.
Does holiday traffic affect services?
It does, particularly on the Bruce Highway and the coastal roads through peak periods. We adjust timings in advance for the affected routes rather than letting routines quietly become unreliable for six weeks.
I’ve just moved to the coast and don’t know anyone. Can you help with that?
Yes, and we treat it as a real goal with real steps rather than something that will sort itself out. Building a social connection in a new area takes deliberate work, and it’s a legitimate use of community participation funding.