On behalf of our wonderful team we welcome you to Ideally Home Care.
Thanks for calling in to look at our website – we would love to help you.
First though, you might like to know a little bit more about us –
the founders of Ideally Home Care, Meg Morrison and David Kirkby.
Who Are We?
We are a married couple with five marvellous adult children, three delightful grandchildren, and a lifetime of experience working in services for the community.
For the past 11 years, we have lived in a small village on the Clarence River in Northern NSW while building and managing our Home Care service, which we founded in 2015, starting with a little office in Yamba.
Prior to creating Ideally Home Care we both had varied careers, but the common theme has always been community service.
Meg's first career was as a Registered Nurse, giving her a solid background in health-related issues. She also has a passion for visual arts and retrained as a High School Teacher in the 1980s before taking on the equally hard job of being a full-time mother, with the joy and challenge that brings.
However, there was also the tragic and arduous journey of a son born deeply premature with profound disabilities, who lived to the age of 20.
Overcoming grief, Meg re-entered the workforce in TAFE NSW, initially as a part-time teacher running courses for women and migrants needing skills for employment. From there, she progressed to roles in educational quality assurance, grounded in her health background and further developed through advanced qualifications in Quality Assurance and Lead Auditor training.
After coordinating a statewide project for TAFE, Meg was promoted to a permanent senior management role as Director of Quality Systems and Environmental Sustainability for TAFE in Newcastle, the Hunter and Central Coast. She also served as a member of the Evaluation Team for the Australian National Business Excellence Awards.
Dave spent 13 years living and working in the Northern Territory, starting in a community development and management role for remote Warlpiri Aboriginal communities in the Tanami Desert.
After gaining qualifications in education, he took on a position delivering adult education and training programs for Aboriginal communities across the North, including Arnhem Land and the Kimberleys. He eventually settled in Alice Springs as the Regional Coordinator for training programs across Aboriginal desert communities of Central Australia.
After leaving the NT, Dave returned to NSW to help support his mum who was recovering from breast cancer. He found employment as a manager in TAFE NSW and progressed to the role of Director of Strategic Planning for TAFE in Newcastle, the Hunter and Central Coast.
What Happened Next...
After meeting each other at TAFE in the late 90s we joined our lives and our families in 2001.
During that period we built successful careers, raised our five surviving children, mourned the death of Meg's son Sean, and did what we could to assist both of our mothers. Meg's mum lived through the long progression of Alzheimer's, while Dave's mum fought her way back to health before further illness and then a fatal fall in 2014.
Those experiences gave us a profound insight into the needs and challenges of older Australians and people living with a disability. We saw firsthand what it was like and gained direct experience as carers.
We also saw the bewildering complexity of the systems and funding for care support, and how hard it is for seniors needing help (or their adult children) to navigate the system and find assistance that truly supports independence without "taking over".
Quite simply, we realised that home care could be done better.
One day in late 2014 Meg came up with the idea of making that happen by establishing our own Home Care service. It was a genuine "light bulb" moment and Dave, after his initial astonishment, agreed.
To the amazement and initial concern of family and friends we quit our secure management jobs in TAFE NSW and moved to the Clarence Valley in regional NSW. We wanted this to be a new start in every way and knew that regional and country Australia has the greatest need for improved services.
The first step was to recruit a small team of carers. Qualifications and experience are vital, but the final decision has always been based on two quiet questions we ask ourselves:
Would we have wanted this person to help care for our own mothers?
If one of us fell ill tomorrow and needed help, would we want this person to be that helper?
To be on our team, the answers to both have to be yes.
11 Years of experience
We started with a small office in Yamba under the name Home Care Assistance North Coast, but we closed the office because we were never in it.
We have never expected our clients or prospective clients to visit us. For several years we drove up and down the NSW coast from Taree to Tweed Heads, meeting every new client in their own home. It was arduous but also enjoyable.
As new clients came, our Home Care service grew – mainly through word of mouth. This allowed us to recruit more staff, including excellent Client Care Managers and more wonderful Support Workers. However, we have always remained a family-based service.
The day-to-day management of Ideally Home Care is now in the capable hands of our eldest daughter Andrea and her husband Geoff. We also have our daughter-in-law Emily in a senior role helping us manage the ever-expanding complexity of Commonwealth Government reporting and compliance documentation.
As government-funded home care has changed, we have learned and adapted for over a decade, delivering Home Care Packages and now Support At Home, as well as helping many NDIS clients and private-pay clients who want a bespoke service.
To mark the end of our first decade of operation, and because we are now expanding beyond the North Coast, in 2025 we changed our name to Ideally Home Care.
The Difference
From the very start back in 2015, the most common comments we heard from new clients were:
“Home Care is so complicated!”
“Thank you. No-one else listened or explained.”
Good home care starts with good listening followed by clear explanation.
Our team members all know this. We listen, we explain, and we find support workers who help you or your family member retain independence and enjoyment in life.
Home care should not be about losing control of your life. It should be about maintaining your independence and dignity.
None of us can stop getting older, but our emphasis is on living and enjoying life.
Yes, we are a Commonwealth Government Approved Provider and we are bound by legislation and regulations around aged care and disability care. We take those responsibilities very seriously.
However, we also recognise that every one of our clients is a unique individual with unique needs. We will respect you as an individual and do our very best to help you stay safe, well, and in control of your life.
We ourselves, Meg and Dave, are now officially in the Senior age group. We too want to live well and be valued elders of the community.
We look forward to helping you do the same – Ideally in your own home.