Tarun Nanda
Chief Executive Officer
CEO and Director of United NT Disability Services, has made a career committed to disability and mental health support. He has strong interest in achieving positive outcomes for people with a disability. Tarun has a background in forensic disability and behaviors support with highly developed change management and leadership qualifications gained through the Government Sector. Tarun strongly believes in positivity, respect, honesty, integrity, compassion, trustworthiness, and accountability.
Born in 1987 he attended university to study a Diploma in Pharmacy. After this Tarun came to Australia to study Community Services at Adelaide University and then moved to Alice Springs where he spent ten years working for an NGO and NTG in roles as a case manager and supervisor in a complex forensic mental health disability unit. He also experienced working in remote communities such as Finke, Santa Teresa and APY Lands.
In 2019 he moved to Darwin and took up a position as a Housing Coordinator and Team Leader looking after SIL houses for an established NDIS service provider with a focus on mental health and complex participants. After working in the NDIS sector for many years and seeing the lack of support and care towards people with disabilities Tarun decided to establish his own NDIS Company, United NT Disability Services in 2020.
Gary Cooper
Operations Manager
A strong leader with over 30 years of management experience working all over the world in the challenging environment of the British and Australian Army. An advocate of justice for everyone and a deep connection to the Indigenous peoples of Australia. Works hard to strive for excellence and holds integrity, honesty, courage, and respect as values to live by.
Born in 1967 and raised in Richmond, North Yorkshire, England. He left school at the age of 16 to enlist in the British Army as an Apprentice Engineer. Spent the next 24 years working all over the world and on operations in Desert Storm, Bosnia, Kosovo, Gulf War (Iraq), and Afghanistan. In 2009 he completed a lateral transfer to the Australian Defence Force in Darwin. Seeing the discord and divide amongst Australian Soldiers to the Indigenous population he left the Army and took up a position as a Housemaster at Kormilda College where he was instrumental in improving the lives of young Indigenous Australians and spent the next seven years as the Assistant Head of the boarding program.
Following this, he spent a brief spell as a corrections officer at Darwin Correctional Centre and left due to the inability to effect change and attitudes of other officers in the way they treated Indigenous prisoners.
As a team Leader for a Darwin-based NDIS provider responsible for 11 SIL houses and 99 staff, his leadership and mentoring skills along with his passion for improving the lives of people with a disability had a positive impact on all. Always looking for the next challenge Gary took up a position as a Team Leader with YMCA at the newly opened drop-in Centre in Palmerston for 10 to 17-year old’s. After spending 6 months developing policy and procedures and training staff, he was invited to take up a position as the Operations Manager with United NT Disability Services.
Joanne Daley
Rostering Coordinator
Joanne is originally from the U.K. and moved to Darwin in November 2014. She feels very fortunate to be able to have maintained her chosen career in Disability and Mental Health Services and has over 25 years’ experience.
She has had the pleasure in meeting and supporting people from many Diverse and Cultural backgrounds. During her career, she has had the opportunity to take many different directions from Support worker in both Community and SIL accommodation services, forensic and supporting people with Mental health diagnosis to Management roles.
She is currently studying a Diploma in Mental Health and strives to empower and promote people living with a disability independence to ensure they have the voice to maintain choice and control of their lives.
Kendall Wilson
HR Coordinator
Kendall started with United NT Disability Services as a Disability Support Worker in March of 2022, then moved into reception and systems administration. She has recently moved into the position of HR Coordinator. She has a Certificate III in Individual Support (Disability) and is currently enrolled in a Certificate IV in Human Resources.
She loves working in the community services industry as she believes that everyone should be able to access the same opportunities in life and loves that she can help people achieve their goals. She prides herself in maintaining client confidentiality, privacy and dignity always.
Lincoln Marrable
Maintenance and Transport Coordinator
Lincoln takes care of the companies’ houses and vehicle maintenance. You might see him working in the garden or altering a bathroom, so our participants can live comfortably in their residences. Another big part of his role at United NT Disability Services is organising the maintenance of our vehicles and machinery. These are just some of the tasks he does daily for United NT Disability Services.
Before he started at United NT Disability Services, he spent many years working in the events industry both here in Australia and in South East Asia, where he enjoyed working with diverse clients from around the world.
His hobbies are Mountain Biking, Hiking, Travelling and Sports.
Sheekat Nepal
Systems and SIL Manager
Sheekat moved to Darwin in 2019 from Sydney, where he completed his Masters degree in Information Technology Strategic Management. Originally from Kathmandu, Nepal, Sheekat came to Australia in 2016 to pursue his master’s degree in IT. He also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems from the USA.
He started his career in the disability sector after moving to Darwin and obtaining a Cert III in Individual Support. After working for 4 years as Projects and Disability Support Officer at a Darwin-based NDIS services provider, he joined United NT Disability Services in January 2023 as a Systems Coordinator.
In his free time, he likes spending time with family and watching basketball. Sheekat strongly believes that the moment you take responsibility for everything in your life, is the moment you can change anything in your life.
Vaishvi Patel
Human Resources and Administration Assistant
Vaishvi is originally from India and has been in Darwin since 2018. She moved to Darwin to pursue her master’s degree, as a student. She began working as a tax agent after obtaining permanent residency status and decided to pursue a career in disability. She has completed her Certificate IV in Disability and and is currently enrolled in a Certificate IV in Human Resources. She was working as an assistant in human resources for an NDIS service provider before she joined United NT Disability Services. She is currently employed with United NT Disability Services as an Administration and Human Resource Assistant.
She loves that she can help to create change in the lives of people with disabilities. She likes to be an asset to any organisation and loves empowering people with disabilities to live better lives.
As a person, she believes that life is an art and she is the artist of her life. She tries to keep it full of colours and as cheerful as possible. You only live once so do want you love and help as much as you can as it gives you more happiness than anything else can.
Dana Clark
Reception and Administration Assistant
With a strong desire to make a difference in the field of psychology, Dana has set her sights on studying forensic psychology in the coming years. As a resident of Darwin, she takes pride in her local community and looks forward to contributing to its growth and development.
Currently working towards starting her Cert III in Business within the next 3 months, Dana is dedicated to expanding her knowledge and skills. She is excited to share her journey and connect with others.