08 8375 2000

Our History

Orana image from the 1960s
Orana business services image from the 1960s
Above head image of Orana business Services employees - 1960s
Orana client with sunflowers, 1997
Two Orana clients dancing, 1997
Orana Business Services employee, 1970s
Orana Client Coach Jess, with clients, Chrissy, June and Graham.
Orana SIL client Shane
Guests at Orana's Night Under the Stars Gala event 2019
Orana Business Services employee measuring labels on oil bottles

We have a long and proud history of supporting people with disability.

Orana has evolved and grown alongside the disability sector over the past seven decades, from its humble beginnings in 1950, when a small group of progressive and visionary parents seeking opportunities for their children with intellectual disability met at a public meeting in Adelaide, to becoming one of SA’s largest and most respected disability service providers.

The Mentally Retarded Children’s Society (now Orana) was formed as a result of that public meeting in Adelaide on August 10, 1950, which was attended by more than 80 parents.

The primary concern at that first meeting was a lack of educational services for children with intellectual disability. Following extensive campaigning and political lobbying by the newly formed Mentally Retarded Children’s Society, South Australia’s first educational and training service was established.

The Kent Town Occupation Centre was established in 1953 to provide special tuition and training for children whose intellectual disability was less than required for entry to the Education Department’s opportunity classes. Even though the centre was run by the Education Department, its establishment was the society’s first major accomplishment and provided much encouragement to members of the inaugural management committee. The children who entered the program ranged from six to sixteen.

Orana expanded its Accommodation Services division in July 2013 by acquiring Life’s for Living, a disability provider.

Further expansion opportunities emerged in February 2019, when Orana merged with Down Syndrome SA, a merger that strengthened Orana’s life education, work skills development, behavioural support, and social activities.

Dedicated to our vision of a society in which people with disability are treated as equal citizens, we have taken an active role in raising awareness and changing the face of disability support in Australia.

On our journey through the evolution of disability support, we shifted our focus from ‘caring for people’ to ‘supporting people’ by empowering them to become more self-sufficient as individuals and members of our community. We now have a clear goal: to “empower people” to live the lives they choose.

We are excited to continue our journey, which is motivated by the vision of a society in which people with disability are fully integrated into society.

Orana now supports over 650 people with disability across metropolitan and regional South Australia.

We are constantly looking for new ways to support people with disability to live and work in their community, achieve their goals, and become valuable and productive members of society.

For more information call us on (08) 8375 2000 or complete our online enquiry form.

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