Welcome to Nest!

Welcome to Nest!

Nest has been almost two years in the making. It all started with a design-led project focussed on the needs of young people living in residential aged care, or nursing homes. Through this project, NI heard carers describe the exhausting process of finding disability accommodation matched to their loved ones needs. We also heard people with disability talk about how distressing it was to phone multiple specialist disability housing providers only to be told time after time that that their support needs weren’t matched to the vacancies available. Their stories were raw and powerful, and they pointed to a gap where innovation could take place.

In response, NI created Nest.

Our vision was to develop a way for people with disability and their carers to easily search, review and choose housing options that they know would meet their needs and wants based a profile they created of their ideal home. We wanted to build a system where people with disability could describe the physical accessibility requirements they needed from a home, as well as the support they may need to live as independently as possible. We also thought it was important for users to be able to specify other features that mattered to them when choosing a home, such as the location, specials features of the house such as a backyard or whether they wanted a pet-friendly place.

At the same time we wanted Nest to be a place where suppliers or providers of SDA (or group homes as they were once known) could provide information about their accommodation vacancies. Just as users could create a profile of their ideal home, we wanted providers to be able outline the accessibility features of their SDA properties, the levels of care and support available at each home through their Supported Independent Living (SIL) provider, and any other amazing features that are important about that home, such as its pool or location overlooking a bushy reserve.

Then with profiles created on the supply and demand side, it made sense to us that Nest could match the two together. Just like an online dating site!

From there, NI was passionate that the control must sit with the person with disability and their family, carers and supports – something that wasn’t available previously. As such, the Nest you see now is a platform that we believe empowers people with disability to explore their housing options based on the best matches for them, choose the home (or homes) they feel best meet their needs and wants, and apply. All in the one spot!

As NI is not a disability service provider, nor a housing provider, we have been able to create a space that is completely provider neutral. This means Nest brings together a large number of SDA providers, so people with disability can have greater control, greater variety and greater choice (there’s that word again).

We are so excited to launch Nest to the disability community. After two years of hard work we can’t wait to open the doors so that people with disability can start to find their new forever homes!

Happy searching!

Sam Frain
Executive Director, Northcott Innovation