Laura and Jordan O’Reilly have a close bond, forged through their childhood shared with brother Shane, who lived with a disability.
Growing up they also confronted many of the challenges families face when it comes to booking disability support - and vowed to do something about it.
Their brother was among the 34,000 Australians living with cerebral palsy. Those like Shane with quadriplegic cerebral palsy also have both arms and legs affected.
The O’Reillys struggled to find good support, which left Jordan and Laura wanting to more for Shane and 4.5 million others.
“Now and again someone would come into our lives, and open up Shane’s world,” Jordan writes in his book about their online service platform business Hireup.
“We learned that the best way to get great support was to find it ourselves. That, right there, was the genesis of Hireup.”
The online platform now supports 10,000 families, helping to connect participants and support workers who share common interests.
“One of the things that [a Hireup client] might search for is music or sport or visiting the gym.
“Where there's common ground, a shared passion between a support worker and a person with a disability – they really connect.”
In recent years, the online platform has grown exponentially.
“We're on the right path to reach our goal of 25,000 active users by 2025,” Laura explains at their offices in Sydney’s north.
Sadly, their brother Shane isn’t here to watch this profit-for purpose business expand. Shane died suddenly at the age of 21.
“One day in 2011, we woke up and Shane had passed away. And that was an incredibly tough moment for our family and for Laura and I,” Jordan says.
“And we realized that the work that we were going to do in our life was going to be in Shane's memory and in his honour."
The business works closely with the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), which currently has almost 500,000 participants.
Among them, nine-year-old Domenico Agostino whose support worker Alax McGilvray is booked three days a week through Hireup.
“Domenico has complex needs, so the support requirement is pretty high,” the 29-year-old says.
“He needs a lot of physical support and he needs assistance with eating and drinking as well.”
Domenico was diagnosed as a baby with quadriplegic cerebral palsy and epilepsy. Alax has worked with Domenico and his family for seven years.
Over that time, they have formed a close bond, as Alax has become part of the family.
“Domenico's always excited for me to come and visit. Often on a Saturday, I'm the first person he sees when he wakes up. And we love spending time together.”
Domenico's mother Michelle says being able to choose his support workers is crucial.
“Every family has a different situation. So finding that perfect match for you and your family, has been the blessing with Hireup.
“We have control of who comes into the house, who will suit Domenico’s needs and mine as well.”
It is estimated that providing disability support services for Australians living with cerebral palsy costs around $1.47 billion per year, and one third of that cost is borne by families.
Services for all 4.5 million Australians living with a disability are also funded by the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) at a total cost of almost $25 billion this year.
So Jordan and Laura O’Reilly want to help more families make the most of every NDIS dollar.
“We know through our brother Shane's experience, that every dollar needs to stretch.
“That is the overarching aim of all the work that Jordy and I do … it is a calling and for us,” says Laura O’Reilly.
“It is about creating the Australia that our brother deserved to live in and the service models and the opportunities that he deserved to have, that he didn't have.”
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