	{"id":109454,"date":"2025-11-18T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/?p=109454"},"modified":"2025-11-12T23:39:54","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T12:39:54","slug":"disability-service-providers-eye-merger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/disability-service-providers-eye-merger\/","title":{"rendered":"Disability service providers eye merger"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>REGIONAL Victorian disability service providers Lifely and Amicus Community Services are currently in discussions about a potential merger.<\/p>\n<p>Over the coming months, the organisations will complete a due diligence process to discover how each other operates, identify strengths, and explore opportunities for improvement.<\/p>\n<p>They will also conduct an operational review.<\/p>\n<p>Amicus and Lifely believe that by joining forces they can better support regional and rural communities, give the best help to people with disabilities and their families, and keep services strong for the future.<\/p>\n<p>Lifely CEO Janette Martin said now was the right time to look ahead.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The NDIS is evolving quickly, and we want to make sure our participants, and their families continue to get the very best support,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;By bringing our ideas, skills and resources together, we could offer smarter, more flexible services that respond to local needs and help both organisations grow sustainably.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Amicus managing director Stan Liacos said Amicus and Lifely&#8217;s shared history and values make the discussions a natural fit.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Amicus and Lifely both began in Bendigo in the 1980s as grassroots, community-led organisations,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve grown and adapted over the years, but our focus on people has never changed.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This is about building on that legacy, keeping what works, strengthening what we offer and making sure our services remain strong for the future.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Lifely and Amicus will operate independently during the process and services for participants and carers will continue without interruption.<\/p>\n<p>There are no current changes to staffing or roles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>REGIONAL Victorian disability service providers Lifely and Amicus Community Services are currently in discussions about a potential merger. Over the coming months, the organisations will complete a due diligence process to discover how each other operates, identify strengths, and explore opportunities for improvement. They will also conduct an operational review. Amicus and Lifely believe that [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/disability-service-providers-eye-merger\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":187,"featured_media":109456,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-109454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Disability service providers eye merger - Bendigo Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Regional disability providers Lifely and Amicus explore a merger to strengthen NDIS support, enhance services, and secure sustainable growth for the future.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/disability-service-providers-eye-merger\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Disability service providers eye merger - Bendigo Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Regional disability providers Lifely and Amicus explore a merger to strengthen NDIS support, enhance services, and secure sustainable growth for the future.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/disability-service-providers-eye-merger\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Bendigo Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-17T17:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2025\/11\/Untitled-design-37-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Adam Carswell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Adam Carswell\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/disability-service-providers-eye-merger\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/disability-service-providers-eye-merger\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Adam Carswell\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/adf4371b5a9ae0b61f7839c29319f35c\"},\"headline\":\"Disability service providers eye merger\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-17T17:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/disability-service-providers-eye-merger\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":257,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/disability-service-providers-eye-merger\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/24\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/Untitled-design-37-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/disability-service-providers-eye-merger\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/disability-service-providers-eye-merger\\\/\",\"name\":\"Disability service providers eye merger - Bendigo Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/disability-service-providers-eye-merger\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/disability-service-providers-eye-merger\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/24\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/Untitled-design-37-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-17T17:00:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"Regional disability providers Lifely and Amicus explore a merger to strengthen NDIS support, enhance services, and secure sustainable growth for the future.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/disability-service-providers-eye-merger\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/disability-service-providers-eye-merger\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/disability-service-providers-eye-merger\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/24\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/Untitled-design-37-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/24\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/Untitled-design-37-1.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630,\"caption\":\"On board: Lifely CEO Janette Martin and Amicus Community Services managing director Stan Liacos are both keen for the two disability service providers to merge. Photo: SUPPLIED\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/disability-service-providers-eye-merger\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Disability service providers eye merger\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/\",\"name\":\"Bendigo Times\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Bendigo Times\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/24\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/BDT-logo-masthead-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/24\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/BDT-logo-masthead-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":491,\"caption\":\"Bendigo Times\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/adf4371b5a9ae0b61f7839c29319f35c\",\"name\":\"Adam Carswell\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/author\\\/adamcarswell\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Disability service providers eye merger - Bendigo Times","description":"Regional disability providers Lifely and Amicus explore a merger to strengthen NDIS support, enhance services, and secure sustainable growth for the future.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/disability-service-providers-eye-merger\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Disability service providers eye merger - Bendigo Times","og_description":"Regional disability providers Lifely and Amicus explore a merger to strengthen NDIS support, enhance services, and secure sustainable growth for the future.","og_url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/disability-service-providers-eye-merger\/","og_site_name":"Bendigo Times","article_published_time":"2025-11-17T17:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2025\/11\/Untitled-design-37-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Adam Carswell","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Adam Carswell","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/disability-service-providers-eye-merger\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/disability-service-providers-eye-merger\/"},"author":{"name":"Adam Carswell","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#\/schema\/person\/adf4371b5a9ae0b61f7839c29319f35c"},"headline":"Disability service providers eye merger","datePublished":"2025-11-17T17:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/disability-service-providers-eye-merger\/"},"wordCount":257,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/disability-service-providers-eye-merger\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2025\/11\/Untitled-design-37-1.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/disability-service-providers-eye-merger\/","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/disability-service-providers-eye-merger\/","name":"Disability service providers eye merger - Bendigo Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/disability-service-providers-eye-merger\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/disability-service-providers-eye-merger\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2025\/11\/Untitled-design-37-1.jpg","datePublished":"2025-11-17T17:00:00+00:00","description":"Regional disability providers Lifely and Amicus explore a merger to strengthen NDIS support, enhance services, and secure sustainable growth for the future.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/disability-service-providers-eye-merger\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/disability-service-providers-eye-merger\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/disability-service-providers-eye-merger\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2025\/11\/Untitled-design-37-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2025\/11\/Untitled-design-37-1.jpg","width":1200,"height":630,"caption":"On board: Lifely CEO Janette Martin and Amicus Community Services managing director Stan Liacos are both keen for the two disability service providers to merge. Photo: SUPPLIED"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/disability-service-providers-eye-merger\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Disability service providers eye merger"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/","name":"Bendigo Times","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#organization","name":"Bendigo Times","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2021\/02\/BDT-logo-masthead-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2021\/02\/BDT-logo-masthead-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":491,"caption":"Bendigo Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#\/schema\/person\/adf4371b5a9ae0b61f7839c29319f35c","name":"Adam Carswell","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/author\/adamcarswell\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/187"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109454\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109454"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=109454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}