The Queensland-wide rules, including Commission registration, NDIS worker screening, blue cards for work with children and compulsory registration for supported independent living from 1 July 2026, are covered on our Brisbane NDIS provider page. Nothing about them changes in Gladstone, so this section is about the region itself.
For NDIS purposes, Gladstone belongs to the NDIA's Rockhampton service district, alongside Rockhampton, Livingstone, the Central Highlands, Banana Shire and the Central West. Within the Gladstone council area, participant numbers in June 2026 were Clinton – New Auckland 618, Gladstone Hinterland 370, Boyne Island – Tannum Sands 295, the Gladstone statistical area 266, Telina – Toolooa 259, Agnes Water – Miriam Vale 210, West Gladstone 196 and Kin Kora – Sun Valley 160. Telina – Toolooa (up from 169) and Kin Kora – Sun Valley (up from 107) both grew by about half in four years.
The ABS estimated the council area's population at 69,046 in June 2025, up 1.6% over the year, with a median age of 39.6 against 38.4 nationally. The region takes in three former council areas: the old City of Gladstone; the former Calliope Shire, which takes in Boyne Island, Tannum Sands, Calliope, Benaraby, Mount Larcom and Yarwun; and the former Miriam Vale Shire to the south, with Agnes Water, Seventeen Seventy, Miriam Vale, Bororen and Lowmead. People tend to search by those town names, so we use them on the page.
Two Goondoon Street offices handle much of the NDIS entry work. Carers Queensland runs its Gladstone local area coordination office at Shop 8, 190 Goondoon Street, open 8.30 am to 5 pm on weekdays. BUSHkids has its Gladstone service centre at 65–67 Goondoon Street, delivering the early childhood approach to children younger than 6 with developmental delay or younger than 9 with disability, and its Gladstone team also covers Biloela. A referral form that asks who is referring, then shows only the questions that apply, suits referrals from either office, from support coordinators and from families.
Gladstone Regional Council endorsed its Access and Inclusion Action Plan 2024–27 on 18 June 2024, and its access pages point to the region's Changing Places restroom, its Liberty Swing and an accessible tourism guide. If you run community access outings, linking to those pages from your own saves participants a search. We're an Adelaide team and work with Gladstone providers by phone and email, and nothing is paid until you approve the finished draft.