Local area co-ordination originated in Australia and was introduced to Scotland in the form of a recommendation in The same as you? It was initiated in rural Western Australia in 1988. This new programme was created in response to concerns of families whose children had to leave home in order to recieve services. As a result an LAC charter was developed to:

"..build individual family and community self-sufficiency so that individuals with an intellectual disability can choose to live with their families, or in their local community without compromising quality of life (Review of LAC Programme, Western Australia).

Eddie Bartnik who developed this style of working came to Scotland in 1999 to speak about his work. The Scottish Executive were so impressed by these presentations that they decided to implement Local Area Co-ordination as one of the four key recommendations in the 2001 "Same As You document" which resulted from the 2000 Learning Disability Review.