About QSSS || QSSS Staff Profiles

 

Louise Lowe
Managing Director

Louise has 30 years experience working in the disability sector, and has qualifications in social & community work, rehabilitation, and management, in training and professional development and in auditing.

Louise has spearheaded & developed several community and disability organisations from the ground up, services which have the reputation for being flexible, innovative and are often directed by people who have a disability.

Prior to moving to Australia Louise was the founder and Director for 10 years, of New Zealand’s largest disability resource centre, followed by a 3-yr term as an elected city councillor.

For 18 years she has worked free-lance as a consultant, trainer & advocate in the disability and community services industry in Queensland. Contracts included an Access project, the restructuring of a number of disability and community organisations, Professional Mentoring, Project Officer for the Qld Disability Quality System, & various teaching & lecturing positions. Louise also works as an advocate or activist for and with people with disabilities.

Louise is fully conversant with Australian discrimination, disability and community services’ legislation and their standards, has sound knowledge of the Disability Quality System and facilitated awareness-raising workshops about the system for service providers throughout Qld. Louise also worked as a contract Auditor for 5 years.

The decision to establish Queensland Support Services & Solutions resulted from this work as she was made acutely aware that many people with disabilities were not happy with their existing service providers and wanted more control over their support services (and lives). It became Louise’s mission to have this as a given not as a privilege for QSSS clients.

Louise has over 50 years personal experience of living with a disability, and is a wheelchair user resulting from Transverse Myelitis; she maintains that she ‘owns’ her disability however sees it as secondary to herself as a person.

As a pragmatist, Louise often uses phrases like “It’s not Rocket Science!” however her favourite expressions is “Happiness is a Decision, Not an Uncontrolled Emotion”!

 

Vanessa Jamieson
Coordination Manager

Vanessa has over 30 years experience working in the human services field. She has worked across aged care, mental health and the disability sectors and has taken pride in every role undertaken.

Vanessa says:

“I have been part of some wonderful initiatives for community inclusion for people with disabilities and love to undertake the big projects that outline fun.”

“I moved across the Tasman with my husband and two sons 10 years ago and have since acquired two dogs; a four year old mini foxy (the boss) and a two year old, 50kg American bull dog (the lap dog).

“I look forward to working with the team at QSSS to provide an excellent service for our customers.”

Michelle Holder
Recruitment Coordinator

Michelle comes to us with great administration and coal-face experience which includes 15 years within the Community Sector, having worked in organisations supporting Clients (both Adults and Children) with Disabilities and Mental Health in both Tasmania and Queensland.  Throughout this time, Michelle has been involved with many favourable outcomes for Clients and strives to achieve the best she can for all involved.

As Michelle’s primary role will be in recruitment, given her previous recruitment experience, she is dedicated to finding the most suitable Support Workers for our Clients.

Michelle also says “I have two handsome boys, and when we are not at the soccer field, we enjoy camping and spending quality time together.

I look forward to a long and rewarding relationship with you all at QSSS”.

 

Erin Christian
Finance and Payroll officer

Erin Christian joined QSSS in December 2015, replacing Joanne Hill in the position of Finance and Payroll Officer.

Erin comes to QSSS with over 18 years experience within finance, payroll, HR and administration – from civil construction to aged care.

Erin Says:

“I thoroughly enjoy working within the QSSS team. It is so nice to be surrounded by people who are passionate and dedicated to assisting others and I look forward to contributing and making a difference within the organisation. I am also a mother to 3 beautiful children and avid horse rider, so when I’m not crunching numbers I’ll be out in the garden with my gorgeous family or on the trail.”

 

Tony Leggett
Media and Promotions Officer

Tony has been involved with disability not-for-profits, in NSW and Queensland, for the last twenty years. He’d like to give a shout out to both Spinal Cord Injuries Australia and ParaQuad NSW – his former stomping grounds prior to moving north of the border.

While he’s always been a bit of a dabbler, it has only been in the last few years he’s taken a more active interest in the bits and bytes that make up a (hopefully) accessible website. When the HTML misbehaves, it is Tony who unleashes the winged monkeys to beat them back into submission.

Please use the contact form to let me know of any glitches on the site. I’ll take all reasonable measures to make sure the site is useable on as many platforms/devices as possible.

It is left as an exercise for the reader to decide whether Tony is a big fan of the colour maroon, colour blind, or both!