PASSING Canberra 2026

An exciting opportunity to deepen your knowledge of SRV and the challenges facing vulnerable groups

Have you ever wondered why some human services seem to support people well, while others struggle?

What must a service provide to best meet the needs of vulnerable people?

Is there a way to assess how well a service supports people and identify what must change to serve them better?

If you are interested in understanding the issues facing human services and creating positive change for vulnerable people who use services, this opportunity is for you!

The five-day PASSING workshop offers families and anyone working in human services an opportunity to:

• learn more about Social Role Valorisation
• better understand the intricacies of supporting vulnerable people to acquire socially valued roles in community life.

What is PASSING?

PASSING is a tool for analysing service quality according to Social Role Valorisation criteria, as developed by Dr Wolf Wolfensberger and Susan Thomas.

A PASSING workshop is a five-day residential workshop in which participants:

• learn how to use PASSING
• visit two human service organisations. In previous PASSING workshops, these have included:
  • aged care facilities
  • special schools
  • day programs
  • supported accommodation services.
• meet and converse with the people receiving the service and those who provide it
• discuss and analyse the impact of the service on the lives of the people receiving the service.

While this is an intense and, at times, challenging workshop, most attendees find it renews their commitment to better supporting devalued people.

Dates

• From Sunday evening, 8 November, to midday Friday, 13 November
• The following is an approximation of the workshop timetable:
  • Arrive at the venue and settle in on Sunday evening, 8 November
  • Registration from 8:00 am on Monday, 9 November
  • Monday: 8:30 am until 7-ish
  • Tuesday and Wednesday: 8:30 am until 9-ish
  • Thursday: 8:30 am until 6-ish
  • Friday: 8:30 am until 1:00 pm

Eligibility

To attend this workshop, you must have previously completed an ASRVA*-approved two or four-day formal SRV theory event with an approved Senior Trainer or Accredited Educator.

You must be able to attend the full five days in residence (there are some late nights).

In preparation, you will be asked to purchase or hire a PASSING manual and read some sections before the event begins.

*Australian Social Role Valorisation Association

Tickets

Please note that a strictly limited number of tickets is available.

Each ticket includes:

• accommodation at Rydges Canberra Sunday – Friday
• breakfast each day
• parking
• morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea each workshop day
• two dinners.

Ticket prices are as follows:

Early-bird (until midnight 10 October)

• Person with disability and their family members – $250
• Professional – $990

Standard (from 11 October)

• Person with disability and their family members – $320
• Professional – $1200

As part of our commitment to developing family leadership, families can request financial support from Imagine More to attend. Please contact Anne at anne@imaginemore.org.au if you would like to discuss such an arrangement.

We were able to subsidise the ticket prices for this workshop with funding from the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability, and Ageing.

Workshop mentors

Sharon Lowe

Sharon is a PASSING Co-leader, an accredited co-teacher of Towards a Better Life – SRV training events and has participated in an SRV 10 Study Group with John Armstrong as the Senior Trainer. She is Secretary of the Management Committee for Capricorn Citizen Advocacy and is an advocate for a teenager.

Sharon has worked with people with disability for over thirty-five years. She is privileged to be a Breastfeeding Counsellor, supporting women in their new role as mothers.

Kane Morgan

Kane Morgan has held a variety of roles serving people with disability and currently works as an independent Behaviour Support Practitioner. He is passionate about Social Role Valorisation (SRV) and its potential to transform people’s lives and safeguard their futures.

In his current role, Kane uses SRV themes to better understand people’s needs, rather than focusing solely on so-called challenging behaviour.

Kane is a PASSING Co-leader, a board member of the Australian Social Role Valorisation Association and a keen student and teacher of SRV.