October Meet-Up (Community of Practice)

Join us for our next Hunter Circles Meet-Up

Our Meet-Ups are relaxed, practical sessions where we come together to share real experiences, learn from each other and explore new ideas.

Every two months, our Meet-Ups bring together people who want to take action on inclusion in the Hunter.

📅 Monday 26 October 2026
🕑 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
📍 437 Hunter Street, Newcastle
🥨 Light snacks will be served

This month: Beyond institutions: What comes next? With Dr Nicolina Newcombe

At our October Meet-Up, Dr Nicolina Newcombe will join us online from New Zealand for the first half of the session.

Nicolina works for the right of people with disability to live full lives in the community, rather than in institutions. This is part of work called deinstitutionalisation.

Nicolina is an Inclusion Advisor in the advocacy team at IHC, New Zealand’s biggest service provider for people with intellectual disability. She is autistic and holds a PhD in Education, where she did inclusive research with people with learning/intellectual disability. She is also passionate about making information easier to understand and has written lots of Easy Read resources.

Moving people out of large institutions was an important step. But it was only part of the change that was needed.

Changing the address was never meant to be the destination.

A good life in the community includes people who know you and care about you — family, friends, peers and other people who are not paid to be there.

This connects with the work of Hunter Circles. We create opportunities for friendship, connection and belonging, including for people who have experienced institutions and deep isolation.

After our conversation with Nicolina, we’ll have time to connect and talk about:

• what’s been happening

• what we’re learning

• what we’re finding difficult

• what we might try next.

Our Meet-Ups are for people already involved in Hunter Circles and people who want to find out more and take action on inclusion in the Hunter.

Come along, meet people, share your ideas and join the conversation. Everyone is welcome.

 
This is about learning together, building real connections, and taking small steps — one relationship at a time.