If you live with disability and:
- Someone has hurt you physically
- Someone has treated you badly
- Someone has not helped you the way they are supposed to have helped you
- Someone is taking advantage of you
- You are feeling sad or worried
National Counselling and Referral Service - Disability
If you are living with a disability and have experienced or witnessed someone being hurt, treated badly or taken advantage of, you may feel that you need support. We provide emotional support, referrals or information to people living with disability and their supporters, carers and advocates.
We are independent of the Disability Royal Commission and we are also independent of government
All calls are confidential
This page has information for you if one of the sentences below describes you:
I live with disability and have experienced violence, abuse, neglect or exploitation
I care for or support a person with disability with trauma experiences
I work with or advocate for people with disability with trauma experiences
I am affected by the Disability Royal Commission
What is Counselling?
Counselling is a way of getting emotional support.
We are here to help.
Ways you can contact us:
You can call on 1800 421 468
You can email at [email protected] for referrals or information.
You can chat to us online. Webchat is available for people who need support, information or referrals. You can start a chat at the bottom right corner of this page. It is not a counselling service (Terms and Conditions)
You can also connect with us on videoconference. To find out more please contact us via email at [email protected] first.
Please see the links below:
What happens when you call?
- One of our counsellors will answer your call
- We will listen and provide emotional support
- We will provide support based on your needs
- We are trauma-informed and disability-informed
- We understand that everyone’s experience of trauma is different, and everyone has different needs
- We can provide you with information about trauma
- We can provide you with a referral or warm transfer
The service operates between 9am and 6pm AEST/AEDT Monday to Friday and between 9am and 5pm AEST/AEDT Saturday and Sunday and public holidays
We also have a number of bilingual counsellors who speak the following languages:
- Turkish
- Hebrew
- Hindi
- Gujarati
- Punjabi (understands well, but speaks less fluently)
Accessibility
If you are deaf or have a hearing or speech impairment you can use the National Relay Service to call us. Please phone 133 677.
If you need support in another language you can use the free Translating and Interpreting Service on 131 450.
Testimonials
“I am so glad I got through to you. And that I can always get through to you. I feel different now. I don’t know what I would have done otherwise, there’s not many options here and sometimes you just act out”
Robert
“I’m proud of the submission I had made to the Disability Royal Commission and am so glad I told my story. I had lots of counselling and I feel like this process has been so empowering by allowing me to understand myself better and not to think of myself as a victim.”
Anonymous
“In speaking with BKF, I feel for the first time throughout my prison lagging, that I am speaking with someone who is non-judgemental, doesn’t harbour prejudice against myself & prisoners generally & know doesn’t have a vested interested between their self & the other prison staff. with the prison staff. I’ve had regular counselling sessions with counsellors in prison & found them all harbouring the above-mentioned qualities despite what they say. I have found the staff at BK to be sincerely & highly professional. It has helped me to speak more freely & I feel validated & heard for the first time.”
Anonymous
“The sessions with blue knot provide a space to be able to know what I am really thinking and feeling. It’s about my growth. There is no emotional growth outside of here. I am not able to do that safely outside of these sessions. I am very different out of here, very guarded, very cautious, very protected. I do learn things from the process – it gives me the confidence to speak in other forums…..I would really like to do things differently, it’s too late for me….I would like to do good…to make a difference for others…”
Anonymous
“I have felt good in expressing all that to you and thank you for reflecting back to me who I am. It feels like I am free in this room despite where I am. If you could see me – I am tethered to this table with handcuffs. And when I finish (… this session …) there are 5 doors I will be escorted through back to my solitary confinement. But I have just been free for an hour.”
Anonymous
National Counselling Referral Service - Disability Compliments, Feedback and Complaints
The National Counselling Referral Service – Disability accepts compliments, feedback and complaints made by a person on their own behalf or on behalf of an organisation. Please submit your compliments, feedback and complaints here.
National Counselling Referral Service - Disability Privacy Information
The National Counselling Referral Service – Disability takes your privacy and confidentiality seriously. Please see links to key documents below outlining our Privacy Policy and Privacy Statement.
National Counselling Referral Service - Disability Flyer
The National Counselling Referral Service – Disability. Please find the promotional flyer that has been developed for the NCRS – Disability, in both print and digital editions below.
Disability Royal Commission
Submissions to the Disability Royal Commission have closed, but we are still here to offer emotional support to anyone with disability with trauma experiences and those who care, advocate for or support them.
The Disability Royal Commission is due to report to government in September 2023. It is looking at ways to protect people with disability from experiences of violence, neglect, abuse and exploitation, improve identification and responses to people affected and build
a more inclusive society.
To find out more about the Commission visit the Disability Royal Commission’s website.
Disability Royal Commission Support ServicesDisability Royal Commission Support Services Fact Sheets
