The ripple effect of one extraordinary idea

Thirty years ago, Bob and Hannie Biggs saw something that would change the course of countless lives. 

While visiting an Assistance Dog organisation in California, USA, they watched children with physical disabilities meet their newly trained service dogs. One young girl, moving quickly in her wheelchair alongside her dog, reassured her worried mother with a simple declaration: “With this dog, I can do anything!” 

For Hannie, that was the moment. On the flight home, she turned to Bob with a question: could they use their dog-training experience to help Australians with disability? 

From that question, Assistance Dogs Australia was born. 

“It’s always been about giving people independence,” Bob says. “To help people become independent and have the confidence to do things.” 

The early years were far from easy. What began as a small initiative supported by the Biggs family’s dog-training business quickly revealed a much greater need. Demand grew, costs mounted and fundraising was unfamiliar territory. 

“We had no idea about fundraising, none at all,” Bob recalls. “For a number of years, it was pretty tough.” 

Yet it was the people behind every application, placement and graduation that kept Bob and Hannie moving forward. 

“That’s what kept us going,” Bob says. “We saw time and time again… a big change in the lives of people with disability.” 

Three decades on, Assistance Dogs are supporting people with physical disability, autism and PTSD to navigate daily life with greater confidence, connection and freedom. Bob remembers recipients returning to school, starting businesses, pursuing work and rebuilding their sense of possibility. 

For one veteran living with PTSD, an Assistance Dog helped make everyday life feel manageable again. The dog provided reassurance at night, helped him feel safer in public and created opportunities for conversation and connection. Gradually, he began to re-engage with the world around him.