Our Supports | The Nest

Individual Programmes

Interest-Based Participation

These programmes are built around what people genuinely care about. Gaming, art, Dungeons and Dragons, Pokemon, music, movement, making things, being together. When participation is shaped around real interest, connection, confidence, communication and skill development are more accessible and sustainable. Shared interests are used as an accessible pathway into communication, participation, confidence, relationship-building and functional skill development.

Sessions are held at The Nest, our purpose-built space at Caloundra Rumba Resort on the Sunshine Coast. The Nest is sensory-aware and designed to feel welcoming, low-demand and human rather than clinical. It is a place where people can settle, connect, participate and build confidence in ways that make sense for them.

The Nest is not a more accessible version of a community group, a hobby club, or a generic social space. It is a different kind of place altogether. Built specifically for autistic, neurodivergent and LGBTIQA+ people, by people who know what it costs to show up in spaces that were not built for you.

Autistic, neurodivergent and LGBTIQA+ people often face barriers in mainstream community settings that are not small inconveniences. Unstructured social environments, neurotypical communication norms, unpredictable sensory conditions, identity-based exclusion and pressure to mask, hide or shrink can be the reason participation does not happen at all. Every session at The Nest is designed around lowering those barriers, not managing the people who face them. The interest is the vehicle. Access is the work.

What grows from sessions tends to be the things that matter most: friendships, confidence, communication, a place to look forward to during the week, the experience of being somewhere you do not have to translate yourself. You do not need a perfect goal to begin. The work is always connected to something real in your life.

Sessions are often shared with others who care about the same thing. That shared delivery is part of what makes the space work. Connection happens between people who genuinely have something in common, and the cost of taking part stays sustainable.

Connection through shared interest is not an extra. For many of the people who come to The Nest, it has not been reliably available before - not because the interest was not there, but because the spaces where that connection usually happens were not built for them. The Nest exists to change that.

Our approach draws on research and practice evidence showing that identity-safe, interest-matched environments support connection, confidence and wellbeing for autistic, neurodivergent and LGBTIQA+ people. References available on request.

About The Nest

Caloundra Rumba Resort, Sunshine Coast QLD

The Nest is our home base. It has been built with sensory comfort, flexibility and low-demand access in mind. Sessions are small, shaped around what people actually love, and never run to a script.

Lighting, layout and noise levels are designed for a range of sensory profiles. You can arrive in whatever state you arrive in. Loud, quiet, talkative, non-speaking, settled, frayed - all of it is welcome.

You bring your interests. We bring the rest.

The environment, pacing, support structure and participation pathways are intentionally designed around access needs and sustainable engagement.

The team in the room. The matching of people who share something in common. The setup that makes the space feel okay. The planning, matching, pacing and support structures that help participation actually work.

If you are using NDIS funding, what is covered depends on your plan, goals and the disability-related support needs being addressed. We are happy to walk through this with you before you start - or your plan manager, support coordinator or trusted person can help you work it out.

Don't see your interest listed?

Tell us what lights you up. When three or more people share the same interest, we build a session around it. New sessions are developed around shared interests, participant access needs and sustainable participation pathways.

You bring the interest. We find the people who share it and create the space for it.

How We Work

How It Works

Sessions at The Nest happen alongside others who share similar interests. That is why you may see several team members working together in the space at the same time. People come with different access needs, and the environment is shaped so connection and participation can happen more naturally between people who actually share something in common.

The Nest supports communication, participation, confidence, self-management, connection and sustainable engagement through neuro-affirming, interest-led and identity-safe support environments.

Because of how the team works together, the ratio works out to close to 1:1 per person, even though sessions are shared.

Current rates:

Under 18, weekday: $45 per hour
Under 18, weekend: $55 per hour
18 and over: $35 per hour

These rates sit well below the NDIS price caps for community participation and capacity building. We have set them this way because access should not depend on having the most generous plan in the room.

If you are using NDIS funding, your plan manager, support coordinator or trusted person can help you work out which rate fits your plan. If you are paying privately, the same rates apply.

Spaces are limited.

A note on pricing

Our rates are set below NDIS price caps to keep access as broad as possible.

If you are using NDIS funding, your plan manager, support coordinator or trusted person can help you work out how the cost fits with your plan. If you are paying privately, the same rates apply.

Coordination - 1:1 Support

Support Coordination and Recovery Coaching

We offer two distinct coordination supports under Registration Code 0106: Support Coordination and Psychosocial Recovery Coaching. Both are funded coordination supports, not coaching programmes. They are delivered one-to-one, are not activity-led, and centre the person, their goals, and what they need to build capacity, connection, and self-direction over time.

Support Coordination helps participants understand and implement their NDIS plans, connect with providers, navigate systems, and build the confidence to direct their own support. It is a coordination function - the support coordinator works alongside you to strengthen your capacity to manage your own life and plan.

Psychosocial Recovery Coaching is specifically for participants living with psychosocial disability. It focuses on building recovery capital, navigating mental health systems, developing daily routines, and working toward a life that feels meaningful and self-directed. Recovery Coaches work alongside participants, not above them. This is a coordination support, not a clinical or therapeutic intervention.

These supports can include:

Goal setting and life planning support
Managing daily routines and transitions
Developing self-advocacy skills
Understanding and navigating systems (NDIS, health, education, employment)
Building independence in community settings
Recovery-focused coordination for participants with psychosocial disability
Preparing for and working through life changes

Funding Information

Support Coordination is funded under Registration Code 0106 and is available to participants with Support Coordination in their plan.

Psychosocial Recovery Coaching is funded under its own line item within Registration Code 0106, and is available to participants whose plans include a psychosocial component.

Both are coordination supports. Your Support Coordinator or LAC can advise on which applies to your current plan.

Who This Is For

The Nest is a neuro-affirming, LGBTIQA+ affirming and identity-safe space. It is not a general community program that accommodates difference on paper. It is a place built around neurodivergent access needs, sensory safety, sustainable participation and identity-safe participation - by people who understand those experiences from the inside.

The Nest is for people who have not always been welcome in spaces built for everyone else. That includes:

Autistic children, teens and adults

ADHDers and people with other forms of neurodivergence

LGBTIQA+ people, including trans and gender-diverse people

People with sensory processing differences

People with intellectual disability

People whose identities sit at the intersection of all of the above

People whose previous spaces have not worked, for whatever reason

You do not have to prove who you are to be welcome here. You do not need a diagnosis. You do not need a perfectly worded NDIS goal. You do not need to be sure this is the right fit before you walk in.

Families and Carers

For Families and Carers

If you are a parent, carer, partner, sibling, or someone who walks alongside a person who comes to The Nest - you are welcome here too.

Many of the people who come to The Nest do not come on their own. Family looks different for everyone, and so does the role you play in someone's day-to-day life. Some families want to be closely involved in what happens at sessions. Others prefer to drop off and pick up. Some want to talk through what is working and what is not, and others want a quiet space to themselves while their person is here.

We work with you in whatever way fits your family. Where the person you love wants you involved, we welcome that. Where they want their time at The Nest to be just theirs, we hold that too.

Funding and Access

How to come to The Nest

People come to The Nest in different ways. Some use NDIS funding where their goals and plan allow it. Some come privately. You do not need a diagnosis, an NDIS plan, or anything else worked out in advance to start a conversation with us.

Pick the pathway that matches what you are looking for. Each one tells you what is involved and how to begin.

Connection with someone who has navigated similar systems, identities, or experiences to yours. Peer mentoring is built around shared understanding, practical encouragement, and supported engagement in everyday life. It can support confidence, communication, routines, social connection, and finding your way into community. It is not therapy, counselling, or formal coordination. It is relationship-based, grounded in genuine common ground.

Building skills through things you actually care about. Executive functioning, transitions, routines, confidence, communication. Working toward independence at a pace that fits how you actually live. Delivered at The Nest and in the community, not in your home. Personal care and daily activities at home are not part of this pathway.

For children and the families around them. Interest-led participation in spaces that feel right for the child. Family-directed work that recognises families as the experts on their own kids. Connection, play, routine-building, community access, and the chance to find people who get it - for the child and for the family.

Coming to The Nest and connecting with the wider community. The team alongside you is what funding covers. The activity is yours. This pathway covers participation at The Nest and supported access to community activities outside of it.

Counselling delivered by a registered counsellor, working within scope. This is a separate pathway from interest-based participation - different conversation, different setup, different funding. It does not include allied health, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, or speech pathology.

You do not need an NDIS plan to come to The Nest. You do not need a formal diagnosis. The same approach, the same team, and the same care apply regardless of how you fund your time here. Contact us directly to talk through privately funded options and what is currently available.

Not sure which fits?

Your plan manager, support coordinator, or anyone who helps you make sense of your funding can have a look with you. Or contact us and we can talk through it together.

If you are a support coordinator or allied health practitioner looking for information to help with someone's plan, contact us directly.

Participation that works with your identity, not against it

What we offer