We are very excited to announce that Leanne Healey, Director of Everyday Independence has been awarded Occupational Therapist of the Year at the 2018 Australian Allied Health Awards.

Leanne received the award in front of more than 150 Allied Health and Business professionals in Brisbane on Saturday 17 November.

The awards are designed to recognise, inspire, promote innovation and excellence within the Allied Health community.

“With a high calibre of finalists, I am truly honoured to be the recipient of the Occupational Therapist of the Year award”, said Leanne Healey, Director of Everyday Independence. “The award ceremony was a fantastic opportunity for professionals in the sector to come together and celebrate the work we do every day,” said Leanne.

Leanne Healey is an exceptional Occupational Therapist with over 32 years’ experience. She is passionate about bringing a social model of disability to Allied Health, disability and the private sector that never existed before.

Leanne’s dedication to excellence and being a strong advocate for the success of the NDIS has seen her become an industry leader in the disability sector. In her acceptance speech Leanne highlighted the incredible impact that the National Disability Insurance Scheme has had on the sector. 'The NDIS has transformed the work I do' said Leanne. 'When the scheme launched we knew the only way we would have a great impact was to move from a medical and rehab model to a social model of disability, and the way we did that was to become truly person centred.'

Her final thanks was “to all the people and families we have worked with who have shared their hopes and their dreams. They told us the things that were going to work for them in their lives and most importantly what they have taught me is that they are the experts in their lives not us.”

Under Leanne’s leadership, Everyday Independence has grown to be the one of the largest private Allied Health Organisations in Australia. Everyday Independence therapists are supporting over 13,000 people living with a disability and their families. The therapy team consists of more than 100 occupational therapists, speech pathologist and physiotherapists is continuing to grow and has offices in both Victoria and New South Wales. Leanne acknowledged the team during her acceptance speech, saying “I’d like to thank all the team at Everyday Independence who strive for clinical excellence, positive outcomes and do such an impressive job.”

Along with the incredible growth of Everyday Independence Leanne remains foremost a clinician dedicated to evidence-based practice, the ability to scale the organisation through the clinician excellence and best practice.

“I would like to thank the Australian Allied Health Awards managing committee for this opportunity and recognition,” said Leanne.

“It is a privilege to accept this award which acknowledges the work therapists do to support and empower people to enjoy an everyday life,” she said.