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Our history

History of Achieve Australia

In 1951 a group of visionary parents wanted a better future for their children with intellectual disability than confining them to institutions so typical of the day. They established the Subnormal Children’s Welfare Association (SCWA) to pioneer housing and accommodation and related services and provide their children with more opportunities to live meaningful lives.

In 1952 Crowle Home for boys and girls with intellectual disability was built on land in Ryde donated by Mr C. Crowle. In 1954 a school was added, which flourished for 26 years.  

The Achieve Australia of today continues to honour the legacy of our founders by striving to bring inclusion to life every day for the people we support. Below are just a few of the many milestones on our journey.

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1950s -1960s

Forging a new path for housing, education, and jobs

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1970s – 1990s

Strengthening bonds with the community

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2000s

Elevating voices through partnering and innovation

Our inclusion journey

 

1950s-1960s

Crowle Home at Ryde is set up to provide accommodation for girls and boys and a school is added. Mount Own Residential opens in Hornsby as a place for teenage girls and women with intellectual disability. Residents include a lovely young woman, Beris. In 2021, Achieve held a 90th birthday party for Beris who we still support.

1980s 

We become one of the first organisations to provide housing for people with disability set within the community. New services are also introduced including higher education and employment.

1990s 

Achieve parents Don and Jo McKerrell start an annual fundraising fabric and needlecraft sale at Crowle Home. The annual event is such a huge hit it eventually becomes 3 stores and warehouse providing supported employment now known as The Sewing Basket. In 1993, the Crowle Home Branch and Hornsby Challenge amalgamate under the Hornsby Challenge name.

2009

Hornsby Challenge was renamed the Achieve Foundation in 2007. In January 2009 the Crowle Foundation and Achieve Foundation amalgamated to become Achieve Australia. The new organisation includes a commercial enterprise, supported employment, accommodation services and day program activities. Today Achieve’s social enterprises include The Sewing Basket and AchievAble Enterprises, both provide great jobs for people with disability.

2013 – 2017 

From drawing board to official opening – the Crowle Home site at Ryde is sold to a developer. The plan includes 25 platinum-level accessible apartments owned by Achieve within the private residential complex. When the Crowle Estate opens, our clients move into state-of-the art apartments with 24/7 support accessed via the NDIS.

2012 – 2020

Achieve supports the Every Australian Counts campaign for a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Once the NDIS goes ahead, we take part in the pilot, successfully tender for services transferring from NSW Government and get our clients, families and staff ready for the full roll out and successful day-to-day operations.

2015 

A merger takes place between Achieve Australia and like-minded organisation, On Focus, in the Northern Rivers region of NSW. Achieve Australia, based in Casino, delivers Supported Independent Living and day program services to clients in the region.

2018 – 2021

We take part in pilot research about introducing the UK Quality Checkers program in Australia. The program employs people with lived experience of disability to audit services provided to people with disability. The pilot is a success, and we develop our own program, Quality Champions. By late 2021 we have hired and trained our Quality Champions team who start working with our clients to gather their feedback.

2019

Achieve Australia and property fund developer Leftfield Social Housing set up Inclusive Housing Australia (IHA) to address the shortage of Specialist Disability Housing (SDA). The joint venture aligns with new thinking that separating accommodation from support services gives people with disability more flexibility and control when choosing accommodation and support service providers.

2021

The Achieve Foundation is formed as a separate organisation with a bold vision of inclusion, where people with disability experience a deep sense of belonging.

The Foundation is set to dismantle barriers to inclusion using research and innovation in 2 key areas -
housing and supports – because home is where our sense of self is formed and reinforced -and community attitudes and mindsets - because ways of thinking influence who gets included and who gets left out.

2022

Achieve Australia marks our 70th Anniversary with a series of events including a gala where 282 people we support were VIP guests. The fully accessible event took months of planning to ensure dietary and other needs were met. Held in October 2022, comedian Tim Fergusson was MC and an ABBA tribute band kept guests entertained. Guests in gowns and tuxedos enjoyed a night of fine dining, live music, and catching up with friends and family in a glittering ballroom. 

2023

Achieve started delivering high-level supports to 10 people aged 17 to 24 living in 3 houses in the Sutherland area after a successful tender process with St Vincent de Paul. We welcomed many of the staff too enabling continuity of care for the people we support and appointed a new Service Manager and Service Coordinator. Best of all we celebrated Christmas and New Year with our new participants and families.   

2024

Achieve expands in the Northern Rivers to welcome Windara Communities from the Catholic Diocese of Lismore. Located in Casino, Windara includes a commercial nursery, café and function centre, and offers services including catering and lawn mowing. Most importantly, Windara provides training and employment to people with disabilities and its adage, ‘where everyone’s equal’ is well aligned to Achieve’s values. 

2024

In September, Achieve and Inclusive Housing Australia (IHA) announce an expansion to South East Queensland after a successful tender process with Mercy Community. On or about 21 October 2024, Achieve will provide Supported Independent Living and Community Participation supports to participants residing in 7 homes. IHA will provide Specialist Disability Accommodation services and work with participants and their families to develop new best in class SDA options. Achieve and IHA will operate independently of each other to ensure the people we support benefit from separate housing and support services.