In this episode of the Profitable NDIS Provider Podcast, hosts Paul Bryan and Tania Gomez are joined by Brendon Woolf – an NDIS participant, advocate, and SDA consultant with over 40 years’ lived disability experience.

Brendon shares his powerful personal journey, from battling the AAT to secure SDA funding, to working across both provider and participant perspectives. He offers unfiltered insights into current sector challenges — from funding cuts and SDA design flaws to tokenistic disability hiring — and how genuine co-design can transform services.

This conversation goes deep into advocacy, participant empowerment, and practical advice for providers on engaging with people with disability in meaningful ways.

Episode Highlights:

00:00 – Welcome & Brendon’s introduction

04:05 – Lived experience navigating SDA & the AAT process

08:40 – Current changes affecting participants: funding cuts, SDA design updates & loss of flexibility

13:15 – Why participants feel exhausted, unheard & undervalued

17:20 – Moving from tokenistic representation to genuine inclusion in policy and business decisions

22:05 – The importance of advocacy & preparing for an ageing carer population

26:15 – Balancing work in the disability sector as a participant without burning out

30:20 – Advice for providers & participants on surviving the constant change in the NDIS

34:40 – Final thoughts, upcoming events & how to connect with Brendon

Listen via:

Podbean: ⁠https://profitablendisprovider.podbean.com/⁠

Apple Podcast: ⁠https://apple.co/3UQI0cA⁠

Spotify: ⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-profitable-ndis⁠

YouTube: @ProfitableNDIS_ProviderPodcast

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