Personal care & daily living
Practical, respectful support with personal care, routines and the everyday tasks that help someone live the way they want at home.
Careers · Brisbane
Support worker jobs in Brisbane
Join a small, person-first NDIS team doing support the way it should be done: real 1:1 work, a crew that backs you, and shifts that fit your life. We hire for heart and train the rest.
The role
Disability Support Worker, Brisbane.
A casual role supporting NDIS participants across Brisbane, shaped around real people and real routines. The pay reflects the work, with higher penalty rates on weekends and public holidays and superannuation paid correctly.
Horizons Support Network supports self-managed and plan-managed NDIS participants across Brisbane. Looking for support rather than a job? Check current support-worker availability.
Casual pay rate$36.81 to $45.28per hour
- Higher penalty rates on weekends and public holidays
- Superannuation paid correctly
- Casual: shifts that suit your life
What the work looks like
Real support, in the real world.
Community access & social support
Getting out and about: appointments, activities, outings, sport and hobbies, and being good company along the way.
Building skills & confidence
Helping people build the skills, confidence and independence to do more on their own over time. This is the part that makes the job matter.
A steady, friendly presence
Turning up when you say you will, week in and week out. Being dependable is half the job, and it is the half people remember.
What we are looking for
We hire for heart, and train the rest.
You do not need a care background to be brilliant at this. Some of our best support workers came from hospitality, retail, fitness, teaching, defence and emergency services, or simply parenting. If you are reliable, warm and genuinely care, we can teach the rest.
- Hospitality
- Retail
- Fitness
- Teaching
- Defence & emergency services
- Parenting
The essentials
- Fluent English and the right to work in Australia
- A driver's licence and a reliable, insured car
- An NDIS Worker Screening Check, or a willingness to obtain one
- Current First Aid and CPR, or a willingness to get certified
- A Cert III in Individual Support is welcome, but not essential
See exactly what a strong application looks like, including four example resumes and the list of what gets a no.
Why work with Horizons?
A job worth turning up for.
Real 1:1 work, not a conveyor belt
Meaningful, person-centred support at a human pace. This is not nursing-home work; it is one person, one relationship, real impact.
A team that backs you
A supportive, people-first team with proper supervision behind you. You are never left to figure it out on your own.
Flexibility that fits your life
Real flexibility and shifts that suit you. Great for students, parents and career-changers who need work that works around them.
Community-based, room to grow
Out in the community, not stuck inside an institution, with genuine room to develop and grow as the team grows.
All our support workers hold NDIS Worker Screening clearances and current First Aid, and complete the NDIS Worker Orientation Module.
How to be successful at Horizons
What a strong application looks like.
Most job ads tell you to apply and leave you guessing. We would rather just show you. Below is the standard we read for, four example resumes for four very different people, and the honest list of what puts an application in the no pile. Nothing here is a secret, and none of it costs money.
If your application looks like one of these, you are already ahead of most of what reaches us.
What we look at first, in this order
Your checks, at the top of page one
The NDIS Worker Screening Check, First Aid and CPR, licence and insured car that we ask of everyone on our team. Give us the status and the date. If you have not started them, tell us what you are doing and when, and that still counts.
Evidence that you turn up
Anything with a length of time attached to it: a job, a volunteer role, a season of coaching. Turning up is the part people feel most. If you have gaps, one plain sentence is enough, and you never owe us a medical or personal reason for one.
A specific reason you want this work
Three or four sentences in your own words. Name something real. Passionate about helping people tells us nothing, because everybody writes it. If your reason comes from family or caring experience, tell us what you did: you never need to name anyone's diagnosis, or even your relationship to them.
Honest availability
Actual days and times, including what you cannot do. Anytime is never true, and we cannot build a roster out of it.
A way to reach you that works
A phone number with a voicemail that is set up, or tell us you would rather have a text or an email and we will use that instead. We usually ring. If a phone call is hard for you for any reason, say so in your application and we will work around it.
One page, two at the most
We are reading for the five things above. Everything else can wait for the conversation.
Four examples, four different people
One is a chef with no care experience. One has four years behind her. One is a student who has never been paid to do this. One has been out of paid work for nine years. All four would get a call from us. Open any of them to see the whole thing, with notes on why it works.
Career changerTen years in hospitality, no care experience
Sam Okafor
Support Worker application, career change from hospitality
- Annerley, Brisbane
- 04XX XXX XXX
- sam.okafor@example.com
In short
Ten years running busy kitchens taught me to stay calm when everything happens at once, and to notice when someone is struggling before they say anything. I want work where that matters to one person at a time instead of to a queue.
I am looking for regular shifts with the same people, not hours wherever they fall. I would rather be the reliable face on a Tuesday than pick up whatever is going.
What transfers
- Calm under pressure
- Trains new starters
- Food safety supervisor
- Rosters and handovers
Checks and tickets
- NDIS Worker Screening Check: applied 2 June 2026, receipt available
- HLTAID011 First Aid and HLTAID009 CPR: current, 14 March 2026
- NDIS orientation module: completed 5 June 2026, certificate attached
- Open Queensland licence, own car, comprehensively insured
When I can work
Monday to Thursday, 6am to 2pm, and every second Saturday all day.
Not available Friday evenings. Happy to start on two shifts a week and build up once I know the work.
What I am working towards
- Enrolled in CHC33021 Certificate III in Individual Support, starting next term.
Where I have worked
- Led a kitchen team of eight through 300-cover services, so I am used to holding a plan together when the day changes shape.
- Handled dietary requirements every shift, including texture-modified meals for a regular customer who could not manage solid food.
- Trained twelve new starters and wrote the handover sheet the section still uses.
- Held a food safety supervisor certificate for four years, so documentation and following a procedure are normal to me.
Up to the physical side
- Ten years on my feet through double shifts, so hoist training and transfers do not worry me. Happy to be shown properly and signed off before I do them on my own.
Things I am into
- Cooking, obviously. Also rugby league and a bit of fishing, if that is any use for matching me with someone.
Referees
- Head chef, southside venue. Six years working together, 04XX XXX XXX.
- Junior football coordinator. Three seasons as a volunteer coach, 04XX XXX XXX.
Experienced support workerFour years in, changing providers
Marisa Delgado
Disability Support Worker, four years
- Carindale, Brisbane
- 04XX XXX XXX
- m.delgado@example.com
- marisa-supportwork.example
- 4years paid support work
- 6tickets, all current
- 1:1the work I want
Why I am moving
Four years of paid support work, moving because my shifts got spread across six people I barely got to know. I want one-to-one work where the relationship is the point. Full notice given to my current provider.
Tickets and clearances
| Ticket | Detail | Valid to |
|---|---|---|
| NDIS Worker Screening | Cleared, QLD, issued 11 Aug 2024 | 2029 |
| HLTAID011 First Aid | Provide First Aid | Apr 2027 |
| HLTAID009 CPR | Refreshed annually | Apr 2027 |
| CHC33021 Cert III | Individual Support, Ageing and Disability | Completed 2023 |
| Manual handling | Provider-delivered, hoist and transfers | 2025 |
| Licence and vehicle | Open licence, insured, wheelchair-accessible experience | Current |
- Medication competency assessed and signed off, 2025
- PEG feeding and subcutaneous injections, trained under participant health plans
Shifts I can take
| Morning, 6am to 12pm | Yes |
|---|---|
| Afternoon, 12pm to 6pm | Yes |
| Evening, 6pm to 10pm | No |
| Active night | No |
| Sleepover | Yes, one a fortnight |
| Weekends | Sundays only |
Four weeks notice to my current provider, so I can start from 1 September.
Training log
- 2023: Positive behaviour support, two-day course
- 2024: Dementia-specific care refresher
- 2025: Manual handling re-certification, epilepsy management
Systems I have used
- ShiftCare rostering, digital progress notes, incident reporting. I write notes the same shift, not at the end of the week.
Work history
| 2024 to now | Disability Support WorkerCommunity provider, Brisbane south. 1:1 and shared supported accommodation. |
|---|---|
| 2022 to 2024 | Support Worker, casualTwo agencies. Personal care, community access, progress notes every shift. |
| 2021 to 2022 | Aged care assistantResidential facility. Where I learned hoists and mealtime assistance. |
- Two years with a man with cerebral palsy: personal care, hoist transfers, community access three days a week.
- Supported a young bloke who wanted to catch the bus to TAFE on his own. Eight months of practice. He now does the trip unaccompanied.
Referees, contactable now
- Team leader, current provider. Two years. Happy to speak once I have resigned. 04XX XXX XXX.
- Senior support worker, shared two of my regular shifts for a year. 04XX XXX XXX.
Student, first job in careNo paid care experience at all
Hello! My name is
Tom Whitely
Second-year exercise science student, after my first job in care
Contact
- Toowong, Brisbane
- 04XX XXX XXX
- tom.whitely@example.com
What I already hold
- NDIS Worker Screening Check: applied 19 June 2026, receipt available
- HLTAID011 and HLTAID009: current, completed 3 May 2026
- NDIS orientation module: completed 22 June 2026
- Provisional (P2) licence held two years, own car, insured
Where I would fit
- Swimming, gym, most sport. If you have someone who wants to get active or get back to a squad, that is the shift I would be best at.
Why support work
My younger brother has Down syndrome and for years I have been the one who takes him to swimming and over to his mates' places. I am studying exercise science and I want work that uses the same skills.
I know being someone's brother is not a qualification. That is why I finished my First Aid and the NDIS orientation module before I applied, rather than telling you I would get around to it.
Studying
- Bachelor of Exercise Science, second year, finishing 2027.
- Relevant so far: anatomy, functional movement, safe assisting.
Hours, honestly
- Tuesdays and Thursdays, all day. No classes either day.
- Both weekend days, and full time over university holidays.
- Not available Wednesdays. That is my prac block.
- My timetable changes in February and July. I will give you four weeks notice each time.
How I got here
- 2024 to nowVolunteer assistant swim coach, nine to twelve year olds, two seasons. Two of the squad have a disability, and coaching them alongside everyone else is where I learned to explain the same thing three different ways.
- 2023 to 2024Eighteen months on the floor at a hardware store. Not glamorous, but I turned up for every rostered shift and got comfortable starting a conversation with a stranger.
- 2022 to nowTaking my brother to weekly swimming, and to whatever he has decided he wants to do that week. Four years of it. This is the part that made me want the job, and the part that taught me to wait rather than jump in.
People who know my work
- Head coach, swim club. Two seasons. 04XX XXX XXX.
- Store manager, hardware retail. Eighteen months. 04XX XXX XXX.
Returning to workNine-year gap, unpaid caring experience
Nadia Haddad
- Applying for
- Support Worker application, returning to paid work
- Based in
- Chermside, Brisbane
- Reach me on
- 04XX XXX XXX
nadia.haddad@example.com
My application
I am applying for a casual support worker role. I should say up front that I have been out of paid work for nine years, and I would rather explain that than have you wonder about it.
For the first five I was raising three children. For four of those years I was also my mother's main carer after her stroke. That meant showering and dressing her, prompting medication morning and night, getting her to about three appointments a month, and keeping on top of the paperwork nobody warns you about. I learned to ask services the questions that actually get an answer, and I learned what a bad day looks like when there is nobody else to hand over to.
So I know what this work is. I want to do it properly, for people who are not my family, and be paid for it. I am doing my Certificate III to make it official, and I have two units left.
I speak Arabic and English, which I mention because it might matter for who you could match me with. My availability is built around school hours and I have set it out below rather than leaving you to guess.
Nadia Haddad
Referees
- School principal. Three years as canteen convenor. 04XX XXX XXX.
- Case manager at my mother's aged care provider. Four years alongside me. 04XX XXX XXX.
Checks and clearances
- NDIS Worker Screening Check: applied 11 June 2026, receipt available
- HLTAID011 and HLTAID009: current, completed 28 February 2026
- NDIS orientation module: completed 14 June 2026
- CHC33021 Certificate III in Individual Support: two units remaining, finishing October 2026
- Open licence, own car, insured
When I am free
- Term weekdays
- 9am to 2.30pm, school hours
- One evening a week
- Any weekday, from 6pm
- Weekends
- Sunday daytime
School holidays need two weeks notice to arrange, and I would rather tell you that now than let a shift down later.
Languages
- Arabic and English, both fluent.
What the nine years involved
- Four years as my mother's primary carer after her stroke: personal care, medication prompting, transfers with a walking frame, roughly three appointments a month.
- Nine years running a household of five to a schedule, including a child who needed a school support plan I helped write.
- Three years as canteen convenor at a state school: rosters, food safety, twelve volunteers.
Make it easy to read
A wall of grey text tells us nothing except that nobody could be bothered. You do not need design skills, and you do not need to pay anyone. You need it to be scannable.
- Put your checks and your availability where they can be seen in five seconds, not buried on page two.
- Break it into labelled sections. A reader scanning for one thing should find it without reading the rest.
- Write duties as things you actually did, one line each, and cut every sentence that could apply to anybody.
- Keep one clean layout and stick to it. Two fonts is plenty, and a bit of white space does more than a border.
- Name the file something a stranger can file: your name, the role, the month.
What gets a no from us
Said plainly, because guessing wastes your time more than ours. None of these are about being underqualified. Every one of them is fixable in an afternoon.
- No resume. The form will not send without one, so this is the people who email us instead and forget to attach it.
- Not one word about your screening check, First Aid or licence.
- Copy-paste text that never mentions support work, and sometimes still names another company.
- No phone number, a disconnected number, or a voicemail box that is full.
- Three pages of history with no dates, and gaps left unexplained.
- Passionate about helping people, with nothing concrete anywhere on the page.
- Availability: anytime. Or flexible. We cannot roster either of them.
- A blurry phone photo of a printed page instead of a document we can read.
- We call twice, you never call back.
A personal page puts you streets ahead
Hardly any support worker has one, so the ones who do stand out straight away. It does not need to be clever and it does not need to cost anything. One page in your own words does more in sixty seconds than a resume manages in five minutes, because we can hear how you talk about the work. If you have one, put the link in your resume header.
To be clear: this is a bonus, not a requirement. Not having one is never a mark against you, and plenty of the best people we have hired never had one. If you would rather not publish anything online, write the same couple of paragraphs and send them with your application instead. That counts exactly the same.
marisa-supportwork.example
Example only, not a real person or a real website.
Marisa Delgado, Support Worker, Brisbane
I have been a support worker for four years. I write here about what I am learning, mostly so that I keep thinking about it properly.
18 June 2026
What I got wrong about being helpful
For my first year I was quietly proud of how much I got through in a shift. I have learned that doing a thing for someone can quietly take that thing away from them, and that being efficient is not the same as being useful. Now I ask first, every time, instead of assuming.
2 May 2026
Why I stopped expecting a straight line
Building a skill goes sideways and backwards before it goes forwards. I keep my own notes so I can see the progress a single shift hides, and I have learned to keep my impatience out of somebody else's pace.
- NDIS Worker Screening Check: cleared
- First Aid and CPR: current
- Cert III Individual Support
- NDIS orientation module: done
Build one this week, for nothing
- Use anything free. A one-page site builder, a Google Doc set to view-only, even a proper LinkedIn About section with two posts under it. The tool does not matter to us at all.
- Write who you are and why you do this work, in your own words. Around 200 words is plenty.
- Add your checks and tickets with dates, exactly as they appear on your resume.
- Write two short pieces about what YOU have learned, the way the example does. Not essays. Ten sentences each is enough.
- Never write about a person you support. Not their name, photo, diagnosis or their story, and not a version with the details changed either: a distinctive story gets recognised fast in a city this size. Write about what you learned, never about them.
- Put the link in your resume header, and in the form when you apply.
Look at what is not in that example: not one word about a person she supports. No name, no story, no changed-details version of somebody's life. Everything on it is about her own practice. That is the line, and getting it right on your own page tells us more about your judgement than any qualification does.
That is everything we look for. No guessing games: get these right, and a real person reads your application properly.
Apply nowReady to apply?
Tell us a bit about you.
The role is casual, the pay is $36.81 to $45.28 per hour, and a real person reads every application. You'll hear back within two business days. Send yours through, or pick up the phone for a friendly chat first. No pressure either way.
“Ten years in kitchens taught me to stay calm when everything is happening at once, and that's exactly what this job needs. Every shift is different because every person is different, so you learn to actually listen instead of following a script. It's hard work some days, but it's the first job where I finish a shift and know it actually mattered.”
Not sure yet?
Let's have a chat about it.
Curious but not certain? Call us and we will walk you through what the work is really like, no pressure, no obligation.