Liuanga’s Story

In 2017 Liuanga Filimoehala was a student at Chiefly College Senior Campus and for 2 years was participating in Thorndale Industries School Work Experience Program. During this time Liu had the opportunity to learn valuable employment skills and expand his social circle building some potentially life long friendships. In late 2018 his mother, Mrs Filimoehala, was concerned that Liu was about to leave school and was not under the NDIS and she was not sure what his future would look like. She approached Thorndale Industries and with the support from one of our staff, Laura Vickers, was provided with the NDIS booklet 1 and 2 “Understanding the NDIS” and “Planning”.

Thorndale recommended they go to the local NDIS office for additional information in their native language and link with a Local Area Coordinator (LAC). In early 2019 Mrs Filimoehala contacted Thorndale and advised that Liu had been denied entry into the NDIS. She was unsure of what to do at this point.

Thorndale assisted her to link with our NDIS Services Support staff who assisted her to seek additional evidence that can be beneficial in the review process and was supported to lodge a review. Thorndale was notified in April 2019 that Liu was successful in his re-application into the NDIS and would be able to commence supported employment. Without the dedicated support of Laura Vickers, Liu could still be potentially sitting at home unsure of where his future was heading. Instead he is now contributing to his community both socially and financially as a valued member of our team.