Who Are We

Our history

Community Living Program (CLP) was established in 1987 as part of the Commonwealth Rehabilitation Service.  The aim of the original program was to support young people with an intellectual/learning disability towards independence.  The program was originally attached to the Taringa Rehabilitation Centre in Brisbane’s western suburbs, but moved to Spring Hill in inner Brisbane in its first year.  This marked the program’s first community-based setting.

Concerns regarding funding lead to a group of supporters (Friends of CLP) seeking funding under the new Disability Services Act (1986). Funds were granted in 1989 and the Friends of CLP incorporated as the Community Living Program Inc. on 23 June 1989.  On 20 January 1995, CLP changed its name to Community Living Association Inc. (CLA) when it began to sponsor a range of other projects.  It moved to its current premises at Nundah in 1998.

Today, CLA manages a range of programs that provide support, create opportunities and promote independence for people with disability or young people at risk.  We work with families, young people at risk, people with mental health issues and people with cognitive disabilities.

Our programs have grown over the years to accommodate the needs of our constituents and to adapt to changes in the community.  We also sponsor a number of affiliated organisations and community projects.

The CLA community includes full-time, part-time and volunteer staff and we welcome interest from the community to get involved in and support our ongoing work.

Our approach

While our name and our programs have changed over the years, what has remained constant has been our commitment to supporting a community that includes and values all people.

At CLA we believe that relationships are central to creating community inclusion and are therefore a key focus of our work. Inclusion can take many forms and include many pathways but there is no one-size-fits all approach.

Our approach is adaptive and developmental.  We offer a range of programs and are also willing to look at different options to best support our constituent and work with them in finding solutions to the issues they face.

Read more at our What we do and our Get involved pages or read from our Annual Reports which are available to download as PDF format.