How do we make sure we’re doing that?
Data and infographics give us a fraction of the story, but it’s the framework behind the numbers that gives the story purpose.
We believe a good life means something different to everyone. But some things, like being connected, fulfilled, and safe are important to us all.
Our framework seeks to understand what makes a good life and how we measure progress towards it for our community.
Our aim is to see a 3% improvement in clients’ satisfaction with life as a whole after 24+ months on Hireup.
Our results show that clients who have used Hireup for over 2 years have a significantly higher satisfaction with life compared to clients who have used Hireup for less than 6 months - showing how Hireup consistently improves the lives of our clients.
It’s powerful evidence that, as our business grows, so does our impact.
Hireup puts our users at the centre of everything we do and empowers each person to live their life their way.
From choosing a worker to choosing how to engage with Support Office, Hireup gives our users total choice over their supports.
Supports at Hireup meet and exceed our clients’ expectations. We take down barriers to make our clients’ lives easier.
The supports we provide through the operation of our business genuinely improves the quality of life of our users.
We do everything we can to make sure the supports we deliver are safe, high quality and aligned to best practice.
Impact through lived experience
Hireup was born from the lived experience of Laura and Jordan O’Reilly and their brother, Shane.
And as we have grown and evolved over the last 10 years, we continue to be shaped by the lived experience of our team and our community.
As we have evolved and grown over the last 10 years, we continue to be shaped by the lived experience of our community.
They are at the heart of everything we do.
Our Community Advisory Group (CAG) is made up of a diverse group of Hireup clients, account managers and support workers. The group meets monthly and ad hoc to provide input and feedback on Hireup projects, allowing Hireup staff to tap into our advisors’ valuable lived experience.
In addition to supporting Hireup projects, the group is designed to invest in future leaders within the disability community, and gives members new opportunities for learning and professional growth.
At Hireup, we’re proud to prioritise the voice of our community in our every day. We’re thankful to have their experience and support.
We proudly pay our CAG for the indispensable value they provide.
Madeline Greer and valued CAG member, 'V'
“I feel as though I’m contributing to something greater than myself... our community is fairly represented, which results in beneficial changes that improve the lives of people with disabilities.”
Since joining the Community Advisory Group, Hireup client Nidhi has noticed a shift in her confidence and ability to advocate for herself and others.
CAG Member, Nidhi with her Hireup Relationship Manager, Ami
Hireup is deeply committed to proactively minimising barriers and creating pathways to employment for people with disability.
The Employee Advisory Group on Disability is a group of 12 employees with lived experience of disability who meet regularly to provide advice, insights and critical feedback to improve the employee experience.
People with disability are at the centre of our purpose, and the EAGD provides a direct leadership and co-design opportunity for people with disability to shape our employee experience.
Jigsaw is a social enterprise that trains and transitions people with disability into mainstream employment, launched by Hireup Co‑founders, Laura and Jordan O’Reilly with social entrepreneur, Paul Brown.
Together, Jigsaw and Hireup launched the inaugural Hireup Internship Program in May 2023.
Acknowledging that just over half of working aged people with disability participate in the labour force, this program is designed to tap into an underrepresented group and provide targeted skill development opportunities for people with disability in a real workplace setting.
Successful applicants join Hireup’s bi‑monthly Board and committee meetings either in person (Sydney) or virtually and learn not just how Hireup works, but how business, governance, and management all intersect.
Observers have the opportunity to learn the fundamental principles and functions of Boards, their decision‑making processes and what’s involved as it relates to the role of a Board member.
About the Board Observership ProgramAndrew West, affectionately known as 'Westie', has been our rockstar Office Assistant at Hireup for an incredible six years.
Westie is a hugely valuable, vibrant, and essential part of our team, working tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure everything runs smoothly.
“Having worked at Hireup for a while now, everyone knows me. I’m more confident talking to different people.”
‘Westie���, Hireup office assistant
A poem by Shinoo’s son, Aryansh
In each action they do, kindness and care bloom,
In hearts and lives, warmth and care consume,
Through minuscule acts, they weave a brighter thread,
In a tapestry of compassion, where hope and elation are spread.
Every smile shared can start a flame of trust,
Constructing bridges where fear is turned to dust.
In every comforting word and listening ear,
Connection deepens, dispelling doubt and fear.
The radiation of compassion wafts far and wide,
Creating a sense of community where no one has to hide.
With every passing stride of kindness, a cycle starts anew,
Inspiring others to give, to care, and to pursue.
In the dying echoes of their deeds, a legacy takes flight,
Transforming lives, igniting hope and light.
Through shared stories and moments of grace,
They weave a world where every heart finds its place.
It’s through the right connections between clients and like‑minded support workers that enables the pursuit of a good life.
Every feature, every service interaction, and every decision is grounded in one question: what’s right for the people we serve?
Connection through music
Together, they began busking in Circular Quay, with Andrew singing Italian Opera - just as his late Grandfather did.
Check out ABC's story about Andrew and SarahHere’s how we make this possible.
Connects clients with a dedicated, in-person support team leader who can manage supports, routines and living arrangements.
Clients can work with a dedicated Hireup lead support worker who understands their needs - it’s flexible, proactive, and truly personalised.
Learn more about Hireup PLUS
Laura O’Reilly has made it a focus in recent years to ensure Hireup has a workforce that is equipped to provide high-quality, complex support to clients with full choice and control.
We proudly offer a wide range of support types on Hireup - from standard support offerings like meal preparation and transport to more complex, specialised support.
Specialised supports
Amy has been self-managing Luka’s support for many years. But as Luka’s condition progressed into requiring behaviour support and elements of restrictive practice, she needed to find a disability support provider.
Amy and Luka’s story
“No matter what’s happened, my flatmate will always be here, and I’ll be safe.”
“It’s a great, fulfilling role. It’s a pleasure that I’ve met David and that we’ve connected.”
“I find good support workers and it’s easy to use”
‘Hireup is really great at making some really special connections between client and support worker”
From day one, Hireup chose an employment model — not a contractor model.
This decision was made to give both clients and workers safeguards and stronger protections while still providing a platform that gives full choice and control.
It is a priority to attract reliable, career driven, passionate support workers to provide the best possible support to our clients.
Although I’m working, it doesn’t feel like a job. I have even connected with my client’s other support workers, and we’re able to go out and do activities together. It almost feels like I have a community now.
“We know how important it is to provide support workers with foundational knowledge which gives them confidence to provide quality support to our clients. The tools available on Hireup Academy are designed to help support workers build a successful and meaningful career as a support worker with Hireup.”
Hireup Academy is an innovative online learning platform designed to elevate the professional development of our support workers, supporting them to enhance their skills and advance their careers.
Created in partnership with Thrive, an industry training expert, Hireup Academy exemplifies our commitment to fostering a more skilled and compassionate workforce across the industry.
Learn more about Hireup Academy
Hireup’s innovation is possible due to embracing technology in a way that enables better access to support. Like the origin stories of most iconic tech companies, Hireup started in the garage at home.
When it comes to our community, reliability and safety is everything. We're building a system that achieves this by proactively identifying gaps, offering great matches, and reassigning supports quickly when needed.
What started as a basic interface created by our technical Co-founder, Murray Bunton, in his spare time, has evolved into a sophisticated, accessible online platform that allows users to connect with the right people to enable their good life.
Not only do our clients need great workers, they need them quickly and efficiently so they can get on with living their ‘good life’. Hireup’s technology gives clients full choice and control over their supports.
Here’s some of the ways we’re supporting clients through our platform:
The tech to make it happen
Before Booking Requests, clients would have to complete a booking process that could be time consuming: posting a job, shortlisting workers, then creating a booking with the selected worker.
With the introduction of our Booking Requests product feature, clients now have the ability to fill shifts quickly by only posting a job once, but reaching up to 10 workers at a time.
Booking Requests are an innovative feature on our platform that, in real life, means fewer follow ups, no manual chasing, and improved coverage for urgent or hard-to-fill shifts for clients. This enables clients to manage their bookings quickly and efficiently, so they can get on with living the life they choose.
Our workers are the most important people when it comes to providing reliable and trusted support to clients. That’s why we work hard to attract and maintain the best workers in Australia.
Here’s how we’re using our technology to achieve that:
Hireup offers personalised job recommendations to our workers, helping them find the right jobs for them quickly, and with minimal effort.
Instead of searching through and applying for hundreds of jobs, we’ve created a complex recommendations system on our platform.
Hireup’s technology estimates the likelihood that a support worker will fulfil a job based on a number of factors including a worker’s preferences, how they’ve responded to jobs in the past, and information about the current jobs available.
Using these factors, Hireup recommends shifts that are more likely to suit workers, allowing them to pick up more shifts with minimal effort.
We always knew that if Hireup had the resources, we were going to use them to help people. We’re here now. We have a bit of power to do good and impact people’s lives, so we’re going to do it.
In 2022, Hireup launched the Impact Grants program.
It’s a new approach to grant making; with the aim to support both people with disability and Hireup support workers in their pursuit of a good life.
Over the years we’ve received 1000s of nominations from our support workers and clients, and are so proud that in partnership with the Achieve Foundation and HESTA, we’ve given grants to more than 20 deserving recipients so far.
Judy’s grant gave her a “lifeline to be able to communicate and be heard”.
Read the story
From passionate support worker to registered nurse - Samantha’s impact grant made it happen.
Read the storyWe know that not everyone has access to the resources they need to live life to the fullest, and that extra financial assistance can have a significant impact on a person's quality of life. We'd like to thank our partners, The Achieve Foundation and HESTA, for supporting our Impact Grants program over the years.
We’ve also spent time recognising and rewarding the amazing work of our support workers with our Good Life Awards.
The Awards celebrated some of the best support workers in our community - nominated by their clients. The winners received prizes of $500-$1000 each.
Annie and Stew have a strong support connection that revolves around Annie’s ‘exceptional’ and ‘proactive’ support and (more importantly), their mutual love of dogs.
Read their storyIn April 2025, we began a place-based pilot in the regional town of Katanning in WA, to work alongside the community in building stronger, more accessible disability and aged care supports.
Commissioned by the NDIS, the program blends our online platform with face-to-face, culturally safe engagement - listening, learning, and tailoring services to what people here truly need.
In just four months, we’ve welcomed 20 local support workers and eight clients, many connecting with trusted supports for the first time.
By formalising existing care relationships, easing barriers to employment, and offering local training, we’re creating opportunities, strengthening connections, and laying the groundwork for lasting support in regional and remote Australia.
In 2024, we proudly supported and shared the story of artist, Julian Pereira and his work ‘The Thinker’ which encouraged a pause for thought on challenges faced by those with disabilities and questioned the accessibility of the very exhibition site it was featured in.
“I believe artists play a key role in advancing social change, they comment on society and they speak of the issues of their time in a way that hits more viscerally or emotionally as opposed to logically.”
Find out moreHireup has supported older Australians for years, but we’ve recently expanded our services to include clients with Home Care Packages – meaning we can offer personalised support to people as they age right in their own homes, on their own terms.
Hireup Aged Care is again shaped by Laura and Jordan’s own family journey, navigating aged care for their Grandad, Frank.
Led by a team with their own experiences of navigating the changes and challenges of support for ageing loved ones, Hireup Aged Care has been designed to make an impact in the lives of families wanting to stay safely in their own homes as they get older.
We’re delivering aged care support with a genuine understanding of what good, secure in-home aged care should be; using the Hireup model of full choice and control, safe support and peace of mind.
“It’s as easy as winking.”
I lost three of my grandparents in recent years. I just saw that there was such an opportunity for them to have a different experience.
“I love my wife so much. When I see the way Michaela treats my wife that was, for me, some surprise, because I would never expect somebody to look after her the way I do.”
We are proud of our 10 years of impact, but it’s just the beginning.
From an idea and simple website over 10 years ago, to over 21 million hours of support delivered across Australia today… We continue to have the ambition, vision and drive to explore new and innovative ways to enable a good life for everyone.
