Date
Wednesday 29 April 2026
Time: 7:30 pm – 8:30 pm (VIC)
Location
This is an online event.
About the event
Talking with your loved ones about friendships, relationships and intimacy can be tricky. As parents, family and friends, we often worry that talking about it can be risky.
This free workshop will help you feel more confident to have these conversations. It will give you ideas about the best topics to cover, tips for talking and opportunities to practice so you can support your loved one to develop knowledge and skills that give them power and control to keep themselves safe, while also having a fulfilling life.
The four modules we’ll cover are:
- Introduction and setting the stage
- Human sexual development
- Tips for talking and teachable moments
- Responding to behaviours.
This workshop will be led by speakers from Melba Support Service, and it is for parents and carers of adults with Down syndrome.
We are also hosting Friendships, relationships and intimacy workshop for adults with Down syndrome. It will be in-person in North Melbourne and take place on Saturday 2 May.
To register
To register, please visit our online registration page.
Presenters from Melba Support Service
Kate Taylor
As a facilitator at Melba Support Services, Kate’s work focuses on inclusive practice, creating safe spaces for conversations that are often overlooked or avoided. Kate has extensive experience designing and delivering workshops on intimacy, relationships, consent, and boundaries for people with disability, families, and their networks, ensuring content is practical, respectful, trauma aware and accessible. Kate supports participants to engage at their own pace and in ways that feel safe and affirming. She is deeply committed to the rights of people with disability to have fulfilling relationships and lives.
David Glazebrook
Dave has worked in the disability sector for over twenty years. He passionately believes in equality and human rights, and has a zero-tolerance approach to VANE. He loves a world that celebrates diversity! Leading workshops comes naturally to Dave: as a qualified secondary school teacher he previously ran a theatre education company in primary and secondary schools across Victoria. Dave is also a parent of two children with disability.
Dr Anneke Jurgens
Anneke is the Head of Practice Innovation and Senior Practitioner at Melba Support Services. With a background in behavioural science and a passion for inclusive service delivery, Anneke oversees the design and continual improvement of Melba’s evidence-informed practice frameworks. Anneke is also a contributor to Melba’s ongoing development of Easy English and accessible resources. With facilitating, Anneke has mostly developed and implemented training programs with disability support workers, but as a registered psychologist and positive behaviour support practitioner she has also worked directly with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (children and adults) in designing strategies and plans, and implementing structured programs and curriculums.
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