I’m twenty five. I live in my own home with my dog Rocco.

Life got so much better after I moved in

I choose what I do every day. I love the outdoors. I get to do some really cool things like sailing, wheelchair footy and surfing.

There’s so much I can say now with my new communication devices.

I can tell people what I think and want.

My communication has opened so many doors, like work. I work in advisory and self-advocacy groups.  And I sometimes do modelling too.  I like earning my own income.

Having my own place means I can host my family and friends. I love having them over. Picnics, hugs, movies. It’s great.

I speak for me. I control my own life. I make good decisions for myself.

I’m an easy going dude, I live in the moment.
I live with a housemate, it’s a chill place.
I like to have things a certain way
My space, my thoughts.

I get to do what is important to me like hanging out with friends!

And what's life without a bit of adventure?

I love the Freo life! Nature, cafes, nightlife and the music scene!

I have my own business, helping people recruit more efficiently. I like to help others.

I choose my team, the ones I can trust.
It makes all the difference.

Having my own place makes all of this possible.

When I was about 19, it was my dream to get my own place.

I wanted privacy and to go out if I want to.

I had to fight hard to get my own home. It took a long time.

When I first moved in, it felt great!

I decide what time I go to bed, what I eat and what I want to do, when I have a smoke.

I run the house! I like my house neat and tidy.

I choose who works with me.

I am a social person. I have good people around me.

I have a good neighbour and she comes over a lot.

I’m in a relationship. It’s been 10 years.

Michael stays over every week. He’s very cheeky, like me. He makes me laugh.

We have a barbeque on Fridays.

Sometimes I make damper. Its good fun!

My afternoons are just for me.

I like being free to do what I like on my own.

I go to shops, see my friends, and sometimes I get my hair done.

I’m in charge of how I look.

Making my own decisions makes my life better.

I love it!

I’m Ashlea. I just moved here in October and I’m quite new to the area still. My neighbour’s really nice.

Before I moved I also lived on my own. It’s a much better house now. I think it’s perfect for me cause it’s so quiet here and peaceful. I just like living here by myself. I like quiet.

I think I’m a tidy person cause I like everything in the right place and in the right spot. I vacuum quite regularly. I like having the floors clean.

I’m a ballroom dancer. I’ve been dancing for a while now. I compete in dance comps. I’ve won a few awards. I hope to get lots more! I do Latin, Ballroom and New Vogue.

‘Night of the Stars’ is one of the biggest dance comps. Everybody’s dressed up in their nice dresses. I had a nice pretty black and white dress for my ballroom dancing. I’ve got loads of dance dresses. Sparkly ones, lots of colours. My favourite is the pink one!

I like planning things. I’ve been to New Zealand. Hong Kong, New Zealand, Victoria, Tasmania. I’ve travelled lots. I like traveling.

I’d like to study childcare because I like little babies. I think I would be a good childcare worker. It’s cause I’m calm.

I'd like to keep getting better with my dancing. My dancing keeps me confident. I do social dancing on a Friday night. I know a few people there. It’s a big dance family. It is good fun and I love it.

My life is just getting so busy!

Sometimes it’s exhausting, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

My name’s Ryan, but most people call me Woody.

I like to do stuff outdoors, fishing, camping, shooting.

I like to go walking. It makes me feel relaxed.

I like the nature outside.

I like to do Jacob(‘s) stairs. I can go the stairs 15 times up and down on a good day.

I’m outdoors all day. My work is gardening maintenance. It varies, every day a different job.

Rob, myself and Pam live together. On our days off, we cook breakfast. We cook eggs and bacon.

We all do things around the house. I do vacuuming and dusting,washing. I like to stay occupied and keep busy.

I like to play ‘Call of Duty’ and I do like some car racing games.

I go to the gym with Mike a couple of times a week. I like to stay fit.

I like to go golfing, hitting the balls off the driving range. It’s good for coordination. We hit the balls down the field. You can aim for the buggy and the obstacle course.

Since I’ve been here, I’ve met a lot of new people. I do like having people around. Uh, maybe once a week, we have a BBQ. We watch the football and have a beer.

I feel safe where I’m living. I’ve got lots of people around me who care.

I have fun. I do things I like to do.

I’m Nick, I’ve been living independently now for twenty-eight years now.

I love getting the most out of life and having as much fun as I can.

I love my footy! I’m at the footy pretty much every weekend of the winter. Sometimes I go with friends, sometimes I go on my own. It’s just so good to yell and scream and carry on!

I’m a Southie, I love living South of the river. I guess one of the reasons I do love living on the south is because I know the area. I know where I’m safe, I know where I’m not safe that’s for me one of the biggest things about living independently, I’ve been known to go to Fremantle on my own because I know the place.

Independence is important to me, I mean I’ve found easier and quicker ways to prepare food and clean and, with the technology of today, living independently is a lot easier now that’s it’s ever been.

I’m in the process of moving to a new high-rise apartment and I am so excited!

The new place is just gonna have so much more tech, which will make life so much easier, all assistive technology, facial recognition entry, automatic lights, blinds.

I pretty much won’t have to do anything, just live!

I run a consultancy business, I train businesses, councils and university students.

Having my own home office means that I don’t travel, I just go into my office and concentrate on my work, I can just achieve and do so much more.

Homelife for me, is about getting the best out of yourself. I’ve got some of the best people on the planet in my life. Family, friends I’ve known for over thirty-five years, people I’ve just met, politicians to street performers and everyone, they’re all welcome!

I just love having all kinds of people in my life. Having my own space, allows me to have my own life with my partner. And it just allows us to be ‘us’!

Having my own home and my own space has given me the chance to grow as a person. It’s allowed me to explore how I can do things rather than how others expect me to do them. If I wasn’t living independently, I don’t know if I’d have the courage to own my own business, to live my own life and to be my own person. For me, I think the person I’ve become is probably my biggest achievement.

I’m Gareth. I really enjoy people. I’m happiest when I’m with people I know and who know me well.

I’ve attracted an awesome team of people who support me. They’ve been with me a long time.  We have a lot of fun. We often sing together.

In my home, I enjoy ordinary things like long showers, getting my hair washed, and relaxing with a movie.

I feel safe in my home because people are listening to me, and they respond when I need something to happen.

Something I really love to do is give to people. I like to give things from my garden or cakes that I’ve baked.

I often give people gifts of my artwork, too. I do lots of paintings with mixed media like jigsaw puzzle trees, diamond art and mosaic. I even decorated my letterbox.

I also like to give my time at a soup kitchen. They are great people.

It gives me joy to see people receive my gifts and just to share life with them.

Since I’ve moved into my own house, my life has gotten a whole lot bigger and more interesting. I’m the healthiest and the happiest I’ve ever been.

I’m Athena. I’ve got two sons, grown up, grandkids and I’ve always enjoyed

just being myself and doing what I want.

This is my home and I enjoy living here. I’m lucky enough to live in such a terrific place. Mum and my sister live next door, so it’s quite a unique little community we have here. And it’s like living in a Greek little town or something you know like, everyone’s around, everyone’s close by. I love it when they just drop by.

Well I grew up in a very traditional Greek family. The unity of family is so important and how we do stick together. There’s that comfort in knowing that family’s all around and it’s just fun.

The house was built with my ideas in mind and I wanted to live in a Tuscan-style house. It’s me, it’s my personality that’s in this and yeah I’ve accumulated some paintings, I’ve got a few of my own. And I just love collecting other nice pieces of art.

I go to art classes. I go once a week. It’s like another little catchup with friends when I get there. I quite surprised myself that, the fact that I can actually paint with a paintbrush in my mouth.

I love going out and enjoying life. It could be even a pub with friends, it’s going to the movies, concerts, restaurants, just being with friends and I enjoy being with people and just having a good laugh and having a good time. Basically that sums me up you know I just like to do fun things.

The house is nice and quiet. I have a a nice little room where my computer is set up and I’ve got everything there.I like to challenge my brain, and do a good Jigsaw and it’s just nice to relax in a quiet time.

I appreciate the good things in life and it’s sort of part of my DNA, inherited from my mum. I like the best of whatever I’m going to do and have. Aaah, all the good things in life, yeah great coffee, great food, I love flavours on my food, good company.

I appreciate quality. I appreciate beautiful things and like scenery. Flowers inspire me. I enjoy the colour around here.

My home makes me feel safe and yeah, life is beautiful, and life is good, very good!

I’m Robert. I’m a funny guy, I like joking around. I live in my own house. It’s especially built for me.

It’s so roomy. It’s easy to get around the house. I wanted to get out of that hole I used to live in. All my sisters helped me achieve this house. My life is the way I want it now. Life’s more fun.

I’m a thrill seeker. I’ve climbed the QV1 building. I abseiled, I’ve been on boat cruises, I’ve done a lot of traveling.

I like going out. On a nice day, I ride the bike up and down the street. I have a good neighbourhood. Good neighbours.

I sell the Big Issue. I like a job outside, fresh air and people coming by. The same people come every week and buy my paper. I like to keep things friendly and make their day.

I love my house. There’s so much freedom, I can do my own thing. I decorated my house and made it more colourful. I like big pictures. I colour in with textas. I get people to draw for me, my ideas. I’m full of ideas. My pictures is how I see the whole world, full of colour, full of energy. It’s a version of me!

I like a happy house. When people come to see me, they walk in here: “wow!” Their eyes pop out of their head.

I like brightness, coloured t-shirts, tops, dresses. They’re more comfortable. I don’t care what people think. I just love colour. I’m just me! Too many serious people in the world, they need to get out of their box and spread their wings. I’m a free spirit, yeah!

I like the door shut. I value my own space. In the summertime, I walk around naked! I like to be free. Too much clothes on me, it makes me too hot.

I’m very proud of myself and my house, and the way I dress, and the way I do things. I’m happy about my decisions.

I’m Nihal, a Turkish-Australian.

I own my own home here. It’s a small but very cosy little house. I live by myself, but I have my family and friends very close to me.

In our Turkish culture, women are expected to live with their family until they get married. This was very difficult for me. I decided that I actually really wanted to move out and develop my own life skills. It was very important to me and it took a lot of convincing to get my family to accept it, but I was also very lucky that they got around and helped me move out and find my own place and my independence,

The house is in a very convenient location directly across the road from a train station. where I can easily catch the train and go wherever I want. Very easy to get around.

Independence is very important to me. I pay my own mortgage. I have a part time job. I support myself. I go on my holidays. It’s just fantastic for me.

I just wanted my own safe haven where I could invite my friends, my family,I could cook for them and make mess if I needed to.

I love my home. This is where I feel very safe and it’s where I feel relaxed and myself. I can just close the door and be myself.

My home is filled with art works from my travels. They all have a story to tell.Being blind, it doesn’t matter for me what colour they are, but most of them were either made especially for me, or I was present when it was being made. It’s the time and the effort that the artist puts in it that makes it very valuable.

In my own time, I listen to my audio books, do some knitting, crocheting, but the best thing I like isis gardening and producing my own fruits, plants, etc and it just gives me a lot of satisfaction.

(car horn tooting)

My family and friends drop by spontaneously. Sometimes they just drop by, toot the horn and say “hello, how are you?”, which is lovely and then we go out to have coffee together.

A while ago, I established a Turkish choir. I actually wanted my people in Perth to experience our culture through our music and  I opened my home, and we mainly did our practices here.

I love entertaining and hosting people, cooking, serving, as much as I can.I get my family, friends, culturally diverse community all coming here and I’m a bit of a gatherer. I like getting people together.

I love my freedom, being in my own home, having my own friends, it’s just wonderful.

I'm Kyal. I live on my own. I've been living here  since my 20th birthday.

I'm now 32 and I run my own business.

Most of the time I'm out of the house. I like going for bike rides, going for long walks,

going to the gym to keep active.

When I’ve had a busy day, I like to come home and just sit and relax and just sit on the couch and watch TV or do a diamond dot.

I try and make sure that the house is clean,

shopping's done, I got food in the fridge.

I have three fish, Jim, Barry and Susan.

They're easy to look after and clean the tank.

My business is Kyal’s Coffee Cart.

I wanted to own my own business when I was 13 years old.

Now I've done it. It feels like a great achievement.

Kyal’s Coffee Cart goes out and does schools and events and parks.

I have a great team. Lily, Tony and Charlotte.

In the morning there’s a lot of prep to do before we get to the event.

My coffee is really good. All the customers love the taste of my beans that I use.

I have weekly school clients in the mornings. Sometimes I would do three bookings on a day, so it depends on the day. Yeah, so I do get busy, but not busy enough for me to get a big headache.

I work from home and do all the bookings for my business and whatever else needs to be done, like ordering cups and coffee and milk.

It's essential to have this space cause if I didn't have this space, I wouldn't be able to run my business that well.

I get energised around people. I love hosting all my friends at my house. I have parties and be the host of different parties. I love having people around my house.

The most important thing about having my own house is to be independent. I feel proud of what I’ve achieved in life. My life has a great balance with my work, hanging out with my friends and just having that time to myself that I need. Everything’s running the way that I want it.

I'm Kathy. I’m Italian-Australian and I’ve got a dog named Maxi.

I love Maxi. He’s a good boy.(A) Mummy(‘s) boy.

I take Maxi (out for) walks.

Sometimes I take him out to the beach. He loves the beach, and I take him around the block. It’s a good time to do exercise things, and I come home and relax.

I love my own time. I say “Maxi, give me space! You go there, I’ll go there”.

I like to go out and have a cup of coffee. I like my cappuccino there.I like to talk to people. I’m a people person.

I like my house clean. I do cleaning, cook dinner, and my laundry and washing.

I love my garden, (it’s a) nice garden. Sometimes I sweep the leaves and all the leaves come back and I have to go put them in the bins and all that.

I plan my week. I keep things organised, We go shopping (for) yoghurt, dog food, milk, bread.

I choose who comes in my home.I make sure my home is safe.This is my house. I’m in charge here and I’m the boss here.

I got good people around me.

I‘d like to stay forever and I don’t want to move out of this house again.

Home is my sanctuary. I'm surrounded by things that make me happy

where I can be comfy and silly and my dog makes me hairy.

My bed is warm and cosy and my bath is luxurious and soapy.

It is my place of safety. I can hang out with friends and family

over a coffee or a pot of tea, or if I'm in the mood, a glass of bubbly

where I can stay in trackies and have fun with my hobbies

including bonsai, my tiny trees to go with my love of all things Japanese.

My kimono on display, with geta and obi, and cook yummy food: udon, tonkatsu and sushi!

And not wear a bra or shoes and be free.

My home: where I can just be, despite my physical disability.

Most of the time it's just my dog and me.

I'm a Whadjuk (Noongar) woman.

My home changed my life.

Now I can be me and do what I want.

I love being under my own roof,(having) my own space.

I like that it's a big space, it suits me.

I'm free to move around.

My home is clean, nice and organised, how I like it.

I like going out and about.

My car is everything to me. I take good care of it.

I love the open road, going out for drives, cruising, listening to music,

exploring places, especially water.

I (also) love shopping for my house,my garden.

I’m proud of my home.  It’s my safe place.

I am a filmmaker, an artist, a muso, an adventurer, and everything in between.

I own my own house.

My house is very unique and very, very, very me!

My home is my place to relax, have mates over and create.

I need my space for my creative mindset. I have a studio out the back.

I work with Lincoln and make docos and comedies.

We have just made another film called 'Sticky Dates'.

It's about Oscar going on a blind date.

I wrote, acted in it and edited it.

We've just had a premiere and we had 150 people turn up.

We're working on a sequel.

I also have a band that I am the lead singer to.

My best me is whenever I am creating.

My life is so chillaxed.

I go most nights to the pub. I chat to everyone.

I have a 'magnifique' circle of friends.

They look out for me. I look out for them.

My life is how I like it, how I wanted it and how I planned it.

I am just loving life and loving my community.

I have the Rockstar life!

Having your own home is absolutely fundamental to living. It’s your springboard to life.

I’m a mother of two. My eldest has flown the nest and if I didn’t have my own home, I would not be able to have my youngest living with me.

I’m a working mum and a Peer Support Coordinator. We debrief and share our lived experience and also sometimes feedback to government organisations. I get to help people build their capacity to stand up for themselves.  It’s the best job ever.

I have also illustrated some projects at work. And having my own home has allowed me to create a studio, an office space so I can work from home and spend more time with my daughter.

Willow’s a firecracker. I love doing everything with that kid, she’s awesome. Being a mum is my most valued role. For me, the most important part is instilling kindness and understanding and raising a good human being. Willow has developed an ability towards inclusiveness, in a way most nine year olds don’t understand.

Living in my own house means that I am able to create my sanctuary. I love having pets. They keep me centred. It is important for me in making my house feel like a home. I  have chickens out the back, fish in my fishpond for tranquillity and my Edie (the dog) brightens my day.

Support staff who come into my sanctuary need to understand that I don’t live in their workspace, they work in my home. I give them detailed instructions, how I expect things to be done, that align with my values

I live a good life. My ability to control how I live and the choice of who comes into my life is empowering, I’m happy.

I live in my own home. My home is my place to relax.

I love to sit on my couch and watch a bit of TV, and I love watching Gilmore Girls.

I love animals, especially dogs. I have my own dog, Seb. I enjoy giving him a cuddle on the couch and giving him his food and taking him for a walk. I take care of him.

I’m good with computers. I love watching YouTube, especially sport. I love watching soccer and my favourite team is Celtic. I often watch sport with my family. Sometimes I watch my brother play soccer.

I enjoy spending time with my friends and my family. I love jokes and having a laugh, painting, doing arts and crafts and drawing on my paper.

I choose where I want to go. I often visit Officeworks and the newsagency. I love buying paper, pens, stationery, pictures, and I love brochures.

My home is so important to me. I choose what I do, I choose what I eat.

In my home, I choose.

I’m Craig, from New Zealand, a Kiwi and I enjoy my rugby, especially the All Blacks,  because I like supporting winning teams.

I have a son and a daughter and two grandsons living in New Zealand. And I'm planning on getting back there soon for a visit.

I love getting out and mixing with people, hearing their story, going to the shops, the pub occasionally, and my lawn-bowling club. My background in Sales has meant that I have had to talk and listen to people. And I guess that's one of the reasons why enjoy trying to connect with people.

I wanted my own place so that I could have more independence, do what I wanted, when I wanted. I attend my gym on a regular basis to keep fit and keep my strength up.

On a Monday morning, my favourite thing to do is go along to Breathworks which is a form of meditation and an excellent way to relax and rejuvenate your body. And after Breathworks, we generally all meet up for coffee at the kiosk and reflect on our coming day.

Recently I've been thinking of various ways to make some money. I’ve just started a dog-sitting business for small dogs, which is working out really well. My business name is 'Watts Good 4 Dogs' because my surname is 'Watts' so it’s a good play on words.

Lala, my dog, enjoys my dog-sitting business. She enjoys making friends. Having dogs around me in my home is very comforting. They complete my home and make it more homely.

My home is set in an ideal location. Everything I love to do is close by and helps connect me with the fun things I enjoy doing: my meditation, the pub, and a few of the friends that I've met along the way.

I own my own home here in Busselton. I’ve been here for a few years.

My home is made for me. It has everything I want: my own home gym, the swimming pool. I love swimming and I love to challenge myself. I've done the Busselton Jetty Swim.

I also love going out to the gym, working out. When I finish the workout, I feel strong and empowered.

I’m a Personal Trainer. I’ve been training people for a few years and teach technique.

I also run live PT sessions on Instagram. I have a few clients following me. I love running my own business.

At home I also love having other people around. I love to make people feel welcome. I have drinks every Friday with friends.

Living here gives me freedom. I love my lifestyle.