Skip to content

Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs

Disabilities

Business Service Excellence Awards

The Business Services Excellence Awards recognise, encourage and promote the significant contribution that business services make in improving the lives of people with disability. These awards provide an opportunity to recognise the dual focus of business services: being a viable business while providing high quality employment to people with disability.

On 21 July 2008 the recipients of the Business Services Excellence Awards were announced by the Hon Bill Shorten MP, Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Children's Services, at the National Disability Services Employment Forum in Brisbane. The awards were presented to the recipients by the Queensland Governor, Her Excellency Ms Quentin Bryce AC.

Business Services Excellence Awards were presented to the following organisations:

Innovation Award

Devonfield Enterprises - Small Business

Devonfield received the Innovation Award based on their Doorways Program, 'Opening to Employment Opportunities'. Doorways is a pre-employment training program targeted at people with disability and other groups seeking employment skills. The program combines work placement and intensive skills training, which addresses employability skills and the need for social competencies. The program promotes a highly structured and closely mentored learning model, which integrates real life work experience opportunities. Aside from work experience, the program combined vocational competencies as well as addressing the unique workplace skills necessary when seeking employment.

Bedford Industries (Abilities for All) - Large Business

Bedford Industries received the Innovation Award based on the 'Abilities for All' Program. The program has seen Bedford setting national records for accredited training for its own employees with disability and taking this training to employees of other business services, in partnership with the State Government of South Australia. Lecturers are invited to Bedford workplaces to link training and learning to actual work activities.


Partnership Award

Valmar Support Services (Pinecom Recycling) - Small Business

Pinecom Recycling Service received the Partnership Award based on the long term relationship they have developed with Snowy Work and Services (SWS, a business division of Tumut Shire Council), to collect and sort recyclables in the Tumut Shire. The arrangement is beneficial to both parties in that SWS can maximise its plant operation by collecting Tumut Shire's waste and recyclables. Subsequently Valmar's business service maximises employment options open to people with disability, to provide a high quality service to the partnership.

Endeavour Foundation (Bundaberg Business Service) - Large Business

Endeavour Foundation (Bundaberg Business Service) received the Partnership Award based on their relationship with IGA supermarkets. Endeavour Bundaberg has been offered preferred supplier status based on their service and the implementation of a food safety accreditation program. While the relationship started with the Bundaberg outlet it is now being replicated in Toowoomba, Kingaroy and Cairns business services allowing additional employment opportunities for supported employees at these services. The partnership with IGA provides supported employees with a wide variety of jobs that cater for individual abilities. These include product grading, packaging, weighing, meshing, labelling and palletising packaged product. These activities require gross motor control, literacy and numeracy skills as well as the application and use of batch weighers and forklifts. Job rotation policies ensure that supported employees are provided with an opportunity to receive training enabling them to participate in a variety of activities.

The relationship between IGA and Bundaberg Business Service is a win-win for both organisations, as it enables IGA to pursue their social focus while at the same time receiving quality, service and value. For Bundaberg Business Service it provides sustainable employment opportunities and a real sense of value that eliminates the myth that charitable organisations must rely on charity to survive and prosper.


Achievement Award

S.A. Group Enterprises (Inprint Design) - Small Business

Inprint Design received the Achievement Award as they provide employees with disability:
The ethos of Inprint Design regarding employees with disability is based on four principles:

Australian Red Cross Society Queensland - Large Business

The Australian Red Cross Society Queensland received the Achievement Award as their employees with disability enjoy the same employment conditions, rights and responsibilities as all Red Cross employees. They are recognised, by all stakeholders, as staff of the organisation and not detached as supported employees. Red Cross employees with disability have their wages calculated using the Supported Wage System.


Supported Employees Team Award

Windgap Foundation Limited - Small Business

The Supported Employees Team at Windgap Foundation Limited received this award for their work on packing 95,000 show bags in three and half weeks. The team achieved success on a number of levels:

Barkuma Incorporated - Large Business

The Supported Employees Team at Barkuma Incorporated received this award for their negotiation of their 2007 collective agreement. Four supported employees were selected by their co-workers to represent their interests in the negotiation. The four supported employees worked tirelessly over a fourteen month period to negotiate the agreement and produced a range of communication tools to support the level of understanding of their co-workers. The communication tools developed included a plain English version of the agreement, visual aids for those who were unable to read, the development of a power point presentation, regular meetings with co-workers and making use of communication books to receive information and suggestions.


Support Workers Team Award

Outlook Victoria - Small Business

Outlook Victoria received the Support Workers Team Award for their team at Hampton Park. From the time new supported employees commence a work trial at the service, the team of support workers begins to identify their strengths and weaknesses and which area of recycling is best suited to their abilities.

Activ Business Services (Geraldton) - Large Business

Activ Business Services Geraldton received the Support Workers Team Award based on their support, development and encouragement of employees with disability using various initiatives. These include: