Our Story

In 2024 Siblings Australia celebrates 25 years of support and advocacy for siblings of people with disability and chronic illness. We’ve come a long way in those 25 years, from a humble team of one (our founder Kate Strohm) to a busy team of 10+ staff today. We’re as committed as ever to providing relevant programs and supports for siblings of all ages and have some exciting new supports to launch in 2024.

Siblings Australia continues to advocate at both National and State levels for siblings to be included in policy and programs. Family is the foundation of society; and the sibling relationship is often the longest relationship of a person’s life. We need to make sure it is strong and supported.

Siblings Australia was founded in 1999 by Kate Strohm in the Department of Psychological Medicine at the Women’s & Children’s Hospital in Adelaide, becoming an independent entity in 2003. The organisation was created with a focus on support for siblings of children and adults with disability, and since our inception we have built a reputation both nationally and internationally for our work with siblings, their families and professionals.

Over this time, some of our achievements have included:

Conducting over 400 workshops/presentations in Australia for families and professionals
Facilitating national conferences that attracted overseas delegates
Presenting in the US, Canada, UK, Italy
Playing an important role in areas of research and advocacy to inform social policymakers

From our early days, we have been recognised for our approach to supporting siblings. As early as 2004, the Australian Institute of Family Studies reported that:
Siblings Australia clearly taps into a need in our community. It has developed a comprehensive approach to early intervention and support that acknowledges the need to intervene at the individual, family and community level and to do so with services, information, education, resources and policy change– Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2004, pp. 30-31.

Most recently, Siblings Australia received a three year Information Linkages and Capacity Building (ILC) grant through the NDIS, and was recognised as a Disabled Peoples and Families Organisation [DPFO]. This has allowed us to expand what we can provide to both families & professionals.