Development of Life Skills · One-to-One · Geelong & Surf Coast
Development of Life Skills in Geelong: Independence, One Small Win at a Time
- MasRic Health provides one-to-one NDIS Development of Life Skills support across Greater Geelong and the Surf Coast. Participants build practical independence skills such as cooking, household routines, shopping and budgeting, using public transport and personal organisation, with the same support worker each week. Support is typically funded under the Capacity Building budget (Improved Daily Living) in an NDIS plan.
She's 26. She Can Learn This.
Most people with an intellectual or developmental disability are capable of far more independence than they’ve ever been given the chance to build. Not because families haven’t tried, but because teaching someone to cook or catch a bus takes patience, repetition and a calm person who isn’t also trying to get dinner on the table and answer three emails.
Our life skills support is for teenagers and adults in Geelong and the Surf Coast with an NDIS plan who want more say over their own day, and for the parents and carers who’d love to see it happen but can’t be the teacher as well as everything else.
It works best for people who learn well with routine, repetition and encouragement. We go slowly, we celebrate the small wins, and we never make anyone feel like a project.
Everyday Skills We Work On Together
One-to-one NDIS support that turns everyday tasks into lasting skills. Cooking a simple dinner, doing the washing, budgeting the weekly shop, catching the bus into Geelong. Taught patiently, in real places, by the same support worker every week.
- Skills chosen from your family member’s own NDIS goals, one at a time
- Practised where life actually happens: your kitchen, the local shops, the bus
- Same support worker every week, so progress builds instead of restarting
Cooking and kitchen confidence
Planning a meal, following a simple recipe, using the stove and oven safely, cleaning up after. We start with one dish someone actually wants to eat.
Home and laundry routines
Making the bed, sorting and running a load of washing, keeping a room tidy, basic cleaning. Built into a weekly routine that sticks.
Shopping and money
Writing a list, finding things in the supermarket, comparing prices, paying and checking change, sticking to a budget.
Getting around Geelong
Reading a timetable, using a myki, catching the bus to Waurn Ponds or into town, road safety, what to do if something goes wrong.
Personal routines and organisation
Morning and evening routines, keeping appointments, using a phone calendar or visual schedule, managing medication reminders.
Confidence with people
Ordering a coffee, asking for help in a shop, making a phone call, joining an activity. Small social steps that open up community life. See community participation.
How Skill-Building Works at MasRic
Start with a goal that matters to them
We pick one skill from the participant’s NDIS goals that they actually want, not the one that’s easiest to teach.
Break it into small steps
Cooking dinner becomes: choose the recipe, write the list, shop, prep, cook, clean. Each step is practised until it’s comfortable before adding the next.
Practise it where it happens
Cooking is learnt in your kitchen, shopping at your supermarket, and bus travel on the route they’ll actually use. Skills learnt in a training room rarely survive contact with real life.
Same worker, every week
The person teaching knows exactly where things were left last time. Nobody restarts from step one.
Fade the support
As confidence grows we step back, from doing it together, to prompting, to watching, to a text saying “how did it go?”. That’s the whole point.
Keep the family in the loop
A short note after each session, and a proper catch-up when a goal is reached or needs adjusting.
Getting Started With Life Skills Support
One skill, one worker, one step at a time.
A conversation
Tell us about your family member, what they'd like to be able to do, and what's in their plan. We'll call you back and listen.
A meet & greet at home
The support worker visits with Masego while you're there. We talk about goals, routines and what a good session looks like. No tasks yet.
One skill, a short trial
Two or three sessions on a single skill to find the right pace and approach. If it isn't working, we change it.
A regular rhythm
Same worker, same day each week, with goals written into a simple service agreement and reviewed as skills are reached.
Why Life Skills Stick With MasRic
Patience is the method
We're never in a hurry. Repetition and encouragement do the work, and real places (your kitchen, your shops, your bus route) make the independence transfer.
Small on purpose
A handful of regular participants means we notice progress and adjust quickly.
The same faces, every time
Skill-building depends on continuity. A team of three means no rotating roster and no repeated first lessons.
Registered and open about it
Audited against the NDIS Practice Standards. Everyone here holds an NDIS Worker Screening Check and a Working With Children Check.
How NDIS Funding Covers Life Skills Development
Development of life skills is usually funded under Capacity Building: Improved Daily Living, the part of an NDIS plan designed to build independence over time. Where a participant’s plan doesn’t include Capacity Building funding, skill-building can often be delivered within everyday support under Core Supports instead. We’ll look at the plan with you and your plan manager or support coordinator and confirm the right line before we start.
We support NDIA-managed, plan-managed and self-managed participants and bill in line with the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits.
Read about capacity building supports budget on the NDIS website ->
Life Skills Questions Families Ask Us
What is Development of Life Skills under the NDIS?
It’s one-to-one support that helps a participant learn practical skills for everyday independence, like cooking, cleaning, shopping, budgeting, using public transport and managing routines. It’s usually funded under Capacity Building: Improved Daily Living.
Is my adult son or daughter too old to learn new skills?
No. Adults with intellectual or developmental disability learn new skills at every age when the teaching is patient, repeated and done in real settings. Many of the people we support are in their twenties and thirties.
Do you run group life skills programs?
No. All our life skills support is one-to-one, because that’s what lets us go at each person’s pace and practise in their own routines and places.
Can life skills support include catching public transport?
Yes. Travel training is one of the most requested skills. We start by travelling together on the route they’ll actually use, then gradually step back until they’re confident on their own.
What's the difference between life skills support and daily living support?
Daily living support helps get everyday tasks done, with the person or for them. Life skills support teaches the person to do those tasks themselves, step by step, and gradually steps back. Many families use both.
Where do sessions happen?
Wherever the skill happens: your home kitchen, your local supermarket, the bus route into Geelong, the library or a café. We come to you across Greater Geelong and the Surf Coast, including Highton, Belmont, Grovedale and Waurn Ponds.
How long does it take to learn a skill?
It depends on the skill and the person. A simple meal might take a handful of sessions; confident solo bus travel can take a few months. We set small milestones so progress is visible along the way.
Which NDIS budget pays for life skills support?
Usually Capacity Building: Improved Daily Living. Where that isn’t in the plan, some skill-building can be delivered under Core Supports. We confirm the right funding with your plan manager or coordinator before starting.
Still have questions?
Feel free to reach out through our website or give us a call. We are happy to help.
What Would You Love Them to Be Able to Do?
Tell us about your family member and one thing they’d like to do on their own. We’ll call you back, arrange a meet-and-greet at home, and work out where to start.
admin@masrichealth.com.au
0491 795 198
Rossack Drive, Waurn Ponds VIC
Support coordinators and plan managers: we respond to referrals within one business day.