About Spinal Life Australia
How we started
Our story started over 60 years ago when a group of Brisbanenites living with paraplegia and quadriplegia met and decided they would advocate for what mattered most to them. Through that first meeting Spinal Life Australia was born. Since that day we’ve never lost sight of why we’re here; to make real and tangible differences in the lives of people living with a physical disability. Whether that’s through critical support services, allied health, advocacy at an individual and national level, support via our Back 2 Work team or through our Peer Support team.
We are Spinal Life Australia: A committed team of support workers, allied health professionals; including people with lived experience, striving to change the way disability is perceived, while also advocating for a fairer Australia.
Why we do it
- To empower those living with a disability to live life their way.
- To advocate for a fairer and more equitable Australia.
- To educate and support.
Living the Spinal Life Way
At our core, we’re on a mission to enable those living with a disability to live an accessible, equitable and empowered life. To support this mission, we developed the ‘Spinal Life Way’, a set of guiding principles that drives how we show up and do the work worth doing.
Live a values based approach
We put our customers first and make a positive difference through purposeful connection.
Have a future & innovation focus
We always look for a better way to do things and are willing to share ideas
Always communicate authentically and honestly
We genuinely listen and have meaningful conversations that lead to outcomes
Improve practice & systems
We collaborate across teams and with experts to get the best outcomes
Be responsive and adaptable to opportunity
We embrace change and make continuous improvements
Partners and Initiatives
At Spinal Life Australia, we are always focused on our mission of supporting people to live accessible, equitable and empowered lives. We continue to advocate for a more inclusive community and improved services and experiences for people with disability. We do this directly through our efforts at Spinal Life Australia and Sporting Wheelies, but also by investing strategically in businesses like Move Mobility.
Sporting Wheelies
Sporting Wheelies has been helping people with disability to live more healthy, active, and fulfilled lives since the 1960’s. The organisation was started by some members of Spinal Life Australia (back then we were the Paraplegic and Quadraplegic Association of Queensland) in 1960s and went on to become a standalone charity in 1977. Sporting Wheelies has been solely focused on providing sporting and recreational activities for people with disability. In 2024, Sporting Wheelies effectively came back home to Spinal Life Australia, with members voting to transition operations of Sporting Wheelies back to Spinal Life. We are excited by the opportunities that this change presents to help all Queenslanders with disability live more active and healthier lives and engage with sport and recreation at the grass roots level. We’ll also, of course work with other peak organisations such as Paralympics Australia to identify and support people who have the potential to become our next elite athletes.
Move Mobility
It’s time to get Australia moving! Our investment in Move mobility demonstrates our desire to assist people with disability have a great customer experience while sourcing mobility products they need.
Our goal is to make it easy for you to navigate your way through the world of mobility solutions available. You’ll find the team friendly, helpful and knowledgeable, so please seek their expert advice as they guide you towards a mobility solution that meets your needs exactly the way you want.
