Brain injury services

We pay for specialist brain injury support services for Lifetime Care participants and workers in Workers Care.

 If you're interested in any of these services, talk to your icare contact or case manager.

NSW Brain Injury Rehabilitation Program (BIRP)

Many participants and workers in Lifetime Care and Workers Care are treated through the NSW Brain Injury Rehabilitation Program, which includes:

  • Adult inpatient teams
  • Royal Rehabilitation Centre
  • Westmead Hospital
  • Liverpool Hospital.

Paediatric inpatient teams

  • Children's Hospital at Westmead,
  • Sydney Children's Hospital,
  • John Hunter Children's Hospital, Kaleidoscope.

There are also metropolitan and rural and regional brain injury rehabilitation units, including specialist paediatric services.

The BIRP aims to provide best practice care for people with a brain injury to improve their outcomes for recovery from brain injury and participation in their community.

Vocational Intervention Program (VIP)

Return to work following brain injury is an important step in rehabilitation. Successful employment is achieved through good partnerships between employers, people with a brain injury, their families, clinicians and vocational service providers.

VIP was developed to facilitate return to employment following severe brain injury and worked to build networks between the Brain Injury Rehabilitation Program (BIRP) sites and vocational rehabilitation teams as part of this process.

More information on the background of the VIP and the current sustainability phase of this project can be found via our Innovation and Partnerships Vocational Intervention Program page.

Further resources, information and services

TBI Express, TBIconneCT and The Social Brain Toolkit (Sydney University)

The Acquired Brain Injury Communication Lab based at The University of Sydney is focused on improving communication between people with an acquired brain injury, their family members, friends and carers.

A brain injury can result in significant changes for the person as well as for their family and friends. Sometimes these changes can affect how the person communicates.

The Acquired Brain Injury Communication Lab has developed two sets of resources for communication skills training, to help families and friends find the best way to interact with the person with brain injury during everyday conversations.

  • TBI Express is a communication training program for people with traumatic brain injuries, their families, friends and carers.
  • TBIconneCT is a communication training program which may be delivered via Telehealth. TBIconneCT is an adaptation of TBI Express and includes new resources.
  • The Social Brain Toolkit, new online tools to help everyday interactions between people with a brain injury and their communication partners.
    • Interact-ABI-lity, a resource that provides information and strategies to help you interact more successfully with people with a brain injury.
    • Social-ABI-lity, a resource that provides information and strategies to support social media skills and safety after an acquired brain injury (ABI).
    • Convers-ABI-lity, an online portal that will guide a person with brain injury alongside their communication partner to complete a communication skills training program, with guidance from a speech pathologist.

The Assistive Technology Hub for Brain Injury

There is a growing range of mainstream and custom-designed assistive technology available to people with a brain injury. These technologies can improve independence, community participation and rehabilitation while reducing reliance on family, friends, and caregivers. However, understanding what technology is best for each person is difficult, especially with the rapidly increasing number of new technologies.

The Assistive Technology Hub is a new service to help people with brain injuries access and use assistive technology. The support is tailored to individual needs. 

An Assistive Technology Hub clinician can work directly with the person, their family and supports to:

  • help determine which technologies are useful
  • support a technology trial
  • provide tailored product recommendations
  • help with funding applications
  • provide set-up and training.

For more information Contact Assistive Technology Hub on 0475 983 299 or athub@inghaminstitute.org.au

For providers, to make a referral

Step 1: Contact AT Hub on 0475 983 299 or athub@inghaminstitute.org.au

Step 2: They’ll ask you some questions and talk you through how AT Hub can support you

Step 3: If you meet the requirements for the service, complete an intake form available on the AT Hub website 

Step 4: Once the intake form has been processed, your initial appointment will be booked in.

The Adaptive Movement

The Adaptive Movement is a website featuring more than 150 providers of Adaptive Sport and Recreation activities throughout NSW (and ACT) and is a one-stop-shop for everyone who wants to get more active and wants their sport adapted just for them.

Support groups for brain injuries

The main support groups and associations for people living with a brain injury in NSW are:

Both of these not-for-profit organisations provide a range of information and support services.

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