By Sahar Foladi
As Victorians continue to heal from covid effects on the labour market, disability service providers say it’s high time for businesses to start recruiting from the disability workforce pool.
Wallara Disability service CEO and father of a person with intellectual disability, Phil Hayes-Brown is tired of seeing Disability Employment Services (DES) system fail and has taken a dive in the Open Employment program to tackle the profound issue.
“That has caught our attention and we decided to be more active in that space with the people we support.
“We’re really proud to be in supported employment,” Mr Brown said.
The social enterprise, Wallara traditionally specialised in Supported Employment but now with the extra flexibility of the NDIS and the support of a Philanthropic Foundation has begun placing clients into Open Employment
Wallara has started to roll out their clients into the workforce focusing on permanent pathways
Laurence has been with Wallara for a decade now and has moved on to work with Tutt Bryant Equipment based in Dandenong in full award wages.
“I’m happy at the moment with what I’m doing.
“One of the main bosses i was working with he was congratulating me and saying how he was impressed that other people in Wallara is willing to step out from what we do and try to take on something else like open employment,” Laurence said.
Wallara works with more than 150 people in supported employment.
Carolyn Bloch, Open Employment adviser, with four years of experience in DES said there are a number of supported employees.
“We basically started this pathway from scratch in July. Just built it up slowly up to the point where we made enough connections with businesses.”
The Open Employment initiative has seen five different businesses participate in the trial to diversify their workforce by recruiting from Wallara with 20 more who’ve expressed their interest.
“We have a lot of companies that rely on us, trust us and have known us for long time who are seeking to be more inclusive with their hiring,” Mr Brown said.
“They give our guys an opportunity to see if they could work in those organisations so we’re really enjoying seeing some of our workers try that step and make that move.”
Besides Tutt Bryants in Dandenong, Bunorong Memorial Park in Dandenong South, Springvale Botanical Cemetery and Frankston RSL have also partnered with Wallara in Open Employment.
Mr Brown said this could be an ongoing partnership.
“They’re always looking for staff in their hospitality area. We will start at the cafeteria but we see opportunities for some of our clients in the reception or sports bars.
“We’re hearing from a lot of more people with disability.”
Mr Brown said he’s tired of seeing the Disability Employment Services (DES) system fail which is why Wallara has taken the step towards open employment.
“The DES network around Australia hasn’t had any success in shifting the disability participation numbers in the workforce.
“We have been repeatedly told for several years now that over 60 per cent of workers with a disability placed in open employment by DES are not lasting past the 6 month mark,” Mr Brown said.
“That’s really disappointing because there are a lot of people with disability that have a lot to contribute in the work force.”
Mr Brown said this could be due to organisations not having the skills or ongoing support necessary to be able to offer long term employment opportunities for those with additional needs.
The Philanthropic Foundation support that provides the staff resource to coordinate these placements is currently set to end in July 2024 but Wallara is hoping the success of the program will enable it to be continued.
Mr Brown said without the Foundation support, they wouldn’t be able to continue on the open employment pathway.
“If we are paid the same financial payments as DES providers, we could be actively engaged in this.
“We can play a role in this pathway, it would be sustainable for the long term without needing foundations to help,” Mr Brown said.
People with disability make up 18.4 per cent of Victoria’s population who experience profound disadvantage with a labour force participation rate of only 32 per cent.
Meanwhile, unemployment rate in Victoria has reached 3.6 per cent while underemployment is at 6.1 per cent according to Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
“I call for more collaboration between disability service providers and industry to help improve this stagnant participation rate.
“I also hope the government thinks about re-imagining the DES network,” Mr Brown said.
