About Us

Westhaven is a registered charity, providing supported employment and accommodation for people with intellectual disabilities.

By purchasing the two sheep™ brand Ugg boot you are helping to support people with intellectual disabilities, assisting them to increase their skills and retain meaningful employment.

Westhaven is governed by a volunteer board of directors comprising a mix of parents of those attending Westhaven and well known business people from around the region. All funds generated by Westhaven Business Services are returned to the Association to continue supporting people with disabilities.

Brief history of Westhaven Association

In the early 1950s a young local medical practitioner Dr. Brian Dickens was seeing many parents with children with intellectual disabilities and was concerned that there was no support structure in place either for the parents or the children. Dr Dickens along with a group of parents and dedicated local people determined that these children, who did not fit within the structures of the conventional education system, needed a special school where they could feel free to exercise their special abilities and to learn at a pace more appropriate to their needs.

With outstanding community support, the Westhaven Association was established in 1957 and the first Westhaven school for children with intellectual disabilities was opened, making Westhaven one of the earliest such facilities in Australia. Interest in the special education school grew and many parents from around the region then wanted to send their children to Westhaven, thus creating a need for a hostel to accommodate children from hundreds of miles away.

As the children progressed into their mid-teens there then emerged a need to find employment for them and so the first Westhaven “sheltered workshop” was established to provide meaningful training and employment support.

Today, Westhaven no longer operates a special education school and the “sheltered workshop” concept has been developed into a multi-faceted Westhaven Business Service, providing supported employment for 65 adults with intellectual disabilities. In 1976, as a part of this employment support service, Westhaven started producing Ugg boots to sell through its shop in Dubbo and has continued to do so ever since.

Westhaven’s hostel has grown and its supported accommodation service now cares for 95 adults with intellectual disabilities, all of whom live in mainstream housing within Dubbo city and enjoy a quality lifestyle within the local community. Some live very independently while others require varying degrees of support around managing their shopping, finances, health and social interactions.

Those participating in supported employment with Westhaven Business Services are employed under a special legal wage system that recognises their ability and productivity. They participate in all the normal activities and employee responsibilities of a conventional large business including having their own staff meetings, training and social functions. They are employed in numerous business activities including landcare and landscaping functions, confidential document shredding, mail-house services, timber products manufacture and the production of our famous sheepskin Ugg boots.

The Ugg story

The origin of the Ugg boot has become a little obscured with time but it is said that the early pilots in the First World War, flying their flimsy planes with open cockpits wore a rough flying boot made from sheepskin. It is also said that similar rough boots were in use in the 1920s in rural Australia by shearers. Whatever the origin the Ugg boot has become a popular and iconic Australian product. We do know that in the early 1960s when the surf craze began in Australia, surfers picked up on a basic sheepskin boot which they wore casually around the sands of Australia’s fantastic surfing beaches.

Westhaven saw an opportunity and in 1976 began production of a limited range of Australian Ugg boots.

Uggs have come a long way since then, now with dozens of different styles and as many different colours, they are seen as a fashion item for many people, while for others they are simply a practical and comfortable way of lounging around and keeping the feet warm.

Amazingly, at a time when most footwear is made in Asia and imported into Australia, Australia has continued to develop a somewhat unique industry, like that at Westhaven in the manufacture and export of quality Australian Ugg boots to many parts of the world.