Why SAMMs Exists

SAMMs exists because people inside the system saw the cracks and had the courage to ask for something better. We were invited to step in where traditional counselling, activation and short-term interventions had already failed the people they were meant to help.

The Early WISE Employment Collaboration

In the early years, WISE Employment engaged SAMMs CEO, Sharon Mamo, and Director, Montana Nicoloustopoulos, to assess and respond to a clear service gap within their ex-offender and complex-needs caseloads, an area both organisations recognised as critical to reform.

At WISE’s request, Sharon and Montana provided extensive clinical consultation, program redevelopment, and workforce guidance to help their sites respond safely and effectively to participants facing entrenched psychosocial and neurological barriers.

Building the Framework

Over more than two years, Creating New Pathways self-funded and delivered thousands of professional hours to the sector, including clinical program design, case reviews, staff consultation, and system improvement.

During this time, SAMMs developed a comprehensive model of care that integrated neuroscience, trauma-informed practice, and behavioural regulation principles into employment servicing.

These activities informed the creation of the SAMMs Clinical Framework model owned and governed by Creating New Pathways, and now implemented nationally.

What the Early Results Demonstrated

The early collaboration demonstrated the value of embedding clinicians within employment systems, turning engagement into stability, and crisis into capacity.

Ongoing Employment Partners

We also acknowledge our ongoing partners, SYC, APM, Octec, and Uniting Vic.Tas who continue to work alongside us with the same conviction, embedding SAMMs clinicians within their sites and ensuring participants receive genuine wraparound care.

Together, we’ve proven that when employment and clinical systems work side by side, outcomes become sustainable, ethical, and measurable.

Medical, Academic, and Specialist Partners

Our work wouldn’t stand where it does today without the trust and collaboration of our medical, academic, and specialist partners, including psychiatrists, registrars, professors, and private clinicians across both public and private hospitals, as well as those in addiction recovery, rehabilitation, and forensic services.

Their contribution, through shared clinical supervision, evidence-based guidance, and peer collaboration, has helped SAMMs maintain clinical rigour, ethical oversight, and continuous innovation.

Research and Supervision Pathways

We also extend appreciation to Melbourne University, with whom we are now developing research and supervision partnerships, creating pathways for the next generation of clinicians equipped to work confidently across the intersections of health, justice, and employment.

Government and Sector Recognition

Our thanks also go to the Department of Justice, Department of Health, DEWR, and DSS, whose engagement and recognition of SAMMs’ national impact continue to shape how complex participants are supported across systems.

National Advocacy

And to NESA, whose leadership under Sally Sinclair (2012–2024) provided critical advocacy and gave this work its first national platform, helping re-frame clinical integration as essential, not optional, within Employment Services.

Early Champions

A thank you to Carol Gregson, Media & Events partner, whose early mentorship gave Sharon the space to develop as the leader and influencer she is today. And to the initial face of Employment Service for our CEO Stacey Dutschke, who never underestimated Sharon’s capability to drive reform.

From the beginning, Stacey saw Sharon not as emerging potential but as the powerhouse she already was, a leader whose lived experience, intellect, and clinical insight helped reshape how the industry understands complex care.

A Shared Thank You

To every partner, clinical, academic, operational, or systemic, who has stood beside us: thank you for your integrity, courage, and faith in this work. You’ve shown that real reform doesn’t come from compliance; it comes from connection.

Clinical Governance and Accountability

These partnerships continue to shape how SAMMs operates today, clinically led, ethically grounded, and accountable to the people we serve and the systems we help reform.

Our work is built on trust, integrity, and clinical governance. Every collaboration, every referral, and every appointment carries a shared responsibility to protect participant safety and uphold the professional standards that define this model.

Why the Terms Matter

The following Terms of Service & Clinical Practice Conditions outline the framework that keeps those standards in motion not as red tape, but as the structure that makes real care possible in delicate cases possible.

They exist so no participant falls through the cracks, and so our partners can keep working with confidence that the care being delivered is ethical, lawful, and clinically sound.

These Terms don’t replace partnership, they protect it. They make sure that when we say we’ve got them, we mean it.

What Makes SAMMs Different

That’s what makes SAMMs different: it’s built on humanity, backed by evidence, and protected by governance. Every clause is there to make sure the work continues, safely and without compromise.