Introduction
The Australian Disability Enterprises Excellence Awards have been established to recognise, encourage and promote the significant contribution that Disability Enterprises make in improving the lives of people with disability. These Awards also provide an opportunity to recognise the dual focus of Disability Enterprises as viable businesses also providing high quality employment to people with disability.
If your Disability Enterprise, or a Disability Enterprise in your community, has made a significant contribution to ensuring that people with disability are encouraged to participate to their full potential in employment, tell us about it by nominating them for the Australian Disability Enterprises Excellence Awards 2009.
There are five Award categories:
- Innovation Award: Disability Enterprises demonstrating new and innovative practices supportive of the development of high quality and sustainable employment for people with disability. This Award acknowledges Disability Enterprises that are focused on building career paths for their supported employees and providing sustainable work through new and profitable business opportunities.
- Partnership Award: Disability Enterprises working in partnerships with other businesses to ensure their employees with disability have sustainable high quality employment. This Award acknowledges Disability Enterprises that have developed robust relationships with purchasers of their products/services, provide strong customer service and utilise the purchaser’s corporate social responsibility to deliver employment outcomes for people with disability.
- Achievement Award: Disability Enterprises that provide the highest quality employment conditions for their employees with disability. This Award acknowledges Disability Enterprises providing, for example, good wage outcomes, safe working conditions, training opportunities and social participation for their employees.
- Supported Employees Team Award: A team of supported employees at a Disability Enterprise that has demonstrated an outstanding contribution to the Disability Enterprises’ success. This Award acknowledges a team of supported employees that has members who have worked well together and with management to ensure that their Disability Enterprise is viable and sustainable.
- Support Workers Team Award: A team of support workers at a Disability Enterprise that has demonstrated a sustained commitment to supporting, developing and encouraging employees with disability in the workplace. This Award acknowledges a team of support workers that has members who have worked closely together over a period of time to provide employees with disability at their Disability Enterprise significant opportunities to improve their social and economic participation.
Within each of these Awards are sub-categories which take into consideration the number of supported employees employed by the nominated Disability Enterprise. These sub-categories are:
- Small – a Disability Enterprise with funded employment capacity of up to 100 employees with disability across all outlets;
- Large – a Disability Enterprise with funded employment capacity of over 100 employees with disability across all outlets.
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Awards Benefits
The recipients of the Awards will be publicised through a media campaign which will focus on the local/regional area of the Award recipients and include a message from the Parliamentary Secretary for Disability and Children’s Services.
A representative (Chief Executive Officer or equivalent) from each Disability Enterprise will have the opportunity to meet the Parliamentary Secretary at the Award presentation ceremony.
The representative will be presented with the Award at the National Disability Services Employment Conference, to be held on 7-9 September 2009, at the Hilton Hotel in Sydney. Award recipients will be presented with an Award individual to their category. One Award will be presented to the Award recipients under the team categories. All supported employees of a winning Disability Enterprise will also receive a memento at a later date which acknowledges their contribution in winning an Award.
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Important Dates and Information
| Nominations close |
Monday 20 July 2009 |
| Nomination Acknowledgements |
Nominations will be acknowledged by email within 10 days of the nomination being received by FaHCSIA. |
| Awards Ceremony |
National Disability Services Employment Conference
7-9
September 2009
Hilton Hotel, Sydney |
| Contact Point/Enquiries |
email excellenceawards@fahcsia.gov.au |
| Nominations to be lodged |
By mail: Disability Participation and Reform Branch
Australian Disability Enterprises Excellence Awards 2009
GPO Box 9820
BRISBANE QLD 4001
By email: excellenceawards@fahcsia.gov.au |
| Checklist |
The checklist must be completed for each nomination |
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Conditions of Entry
To nominate a Disability Enterprise/team, please complete the relevant nomination form in full and attach supporting statements addressing the selection criteria.
If nominating a Disability Enterprise/team for an Award, you will need to make sure that the Disability Enterprise/team you nominate agrees to be nominated and agrees that information contained in the nomination form will be provided to FaHCSIA.
The Chief Executive Officer (or equivalent) of the Disability Enterprise you are nominating must indicate their consent by completing the declaration section of the nomination form.
The team members nominated for a team category must indicate their consent by completing the declaration section of the nomination form.
- Nominations that are sent by post must be received at the Awards postal address no later than 20 July 2009.
- Nominations that are sent by email must be received by FaHCSIA by 5pm (AEST) on 20 July 2009.
- Late nominations will not be considered.
- Nominations are only open to Disability Enterprises that are funded by FaHCSIA only.
- Members of the judging panel and their immediate family cannot nominate a Disability Enterprise for an Award.
- Information submitted may be used in promotion and publicity associated with the Australian Disability Enterprises Excellence Awards or FaHCSIA.
- Finalists will be invited to attend the Australian Disability Enterprises Excellence Awards 2009 ceremony at the Hilton Hotel, Sydney.
- Disability Enterprise nominees and those nominating will be advised in writing of the outcome.
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Nomination Forms
Please download or request the nomination form for the category for which you are nominating
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Selection Criteria
The following is a list of criteria you must address in the nomination.
Nominations for the Innovation Award – including sub-categories.
Disability Enterprises demonstrating new and innovative practices supportive of the development of high quality and sustainable employment for people with disability. This Award acknowledges Disability Enterprises that are focused on building career paths for their supported employees and providing sustainable work through new and profitable business opportunities.
| Criterion A |
Describe one or more of the innovative practice/s that the Disability Enterprise operates. |
| Criterion B |
Describe how the innovative practice/s delivers high quality and sustainable employment
for people with disability. |
| Criterion C |
Describe how the innovative practice/s focuses on building career paths for people with disability. |
| Criterion D |
Describe how the employment of people with disability assists in achieving an innovative edge in
business practices for this Disability Enterprise. |
Nominations for the Partnership Award – including sub-categories.
Disability Enterprises working in partnership with other businesses to ensure their employees with disability have sustainable high quality employment. This Award acknowledges Disability Enterprises that have developed robust relationships with purchasers of their products/services, provide strong customer service and utilise the purchaser’s corporate social responsibility to deliver employment outcomes for people with disability.
| Criterion A |
Describe your partnership arrangements and how these arrangements ensure employees
with disability have sustainable, high quality employment opportunities. |
| Criterion B |
Describe how a robust relationship has been developed with purchaser/s, the Disability Enterprise
is providing strong customer service and the Disability Enterprise engages with the purchaser/s’
sense of corporate social responsibility. |
| Criterion C |
Describe how people with disability have assisted in building this relationship with purchasers. |
Nominations for the Achievement Award – including sub-categories.
Disability Enterprises that provide the highest quality employment conditions for their employees with disability. This Award acknowledges Disability Enterprises providing, for example, good wage outcomes, safe working conditions, training opportunities and social participation for their employees.
| Criterion A |
Demonstrate how the Disability Enterprise is a leader in providing the highest quality employment
conditions for employees with disability. Provide examples. |
| Criterion B |
What evidence do you have that the Disability Enterprise is performing at a high level? |
| Criterion C |
Provide evidence on how the business model delivers social as well as economic participation
(e.g. integrated workforce). |
Nominations for the Supported Employees Team Award – including sub-categories.
A team of supported employees at a Disability Enterprise that has demonstrated an outstanding contribution to the Disability Enterprise’s success. This Award acknowledges a team of supported employees that has members who have worked well together and with management to ensure that their Disability Enterprise is viable and sustainable.
| Criterion A |
Demonstrate how the team of supported employees have contributed to the Disability Enterprise’s success. |
| Criterion B |
Provide evidence that the members of the team of supported employees have worked cohesively. |
| Criterion C |
Provide evidence that the team worked with management to produce tangible outcomes. |
Nominations for the Support Workers Team Award – including sub-categories.
A team of support workers at a Disability Enterprise that has demonstrated a sustained commitment to supporting, developing and encouraging employees with disability in the workplace. This Award acknowledges a team of support workers that has members who have worked closely together over a period of time to provide employees with disability at the Disability Enterprise significant opportunities to improve their social and economic participation.
| Criterion A |
Demonstrate how the team of support workers has supported, developed and encouraged
employees with disability. |
| Criterion B |
Provide evidence that the members of the team of support workers have worked cohesively
together over a period of time. |
| Criterion C |
Provide evidence of the tangible improvements to the social and economic participation of
employees with disability. |
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Correspondence and Assistance
Information to assist completion of the nomination form will be provided on the FaHCSIA website.
Please ensure that your contact details are correctly completed on the nomination form, as this is the information FaHCSIA will use to contact you.
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Judging and Presentation
Nominations will be assessed against the selection criteria included with these Guidelines.
Nominations may be short listed and then referred to the judging panel who will decide the recipients of the Awards.
The Awards will be presented to finalists at the National Disability Services Employment Conference being held on 7-9 September 2009 at the Hilton Hotel, Sydney.
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Privacy and Confidentiality
Information about the Disability Enterprise/team nominated will be used for the assessment process.
Information about the Disability Enterprise/team provided in the nomination form will be used for the purposes of the assessment and judging process and Award announcements, including promotion of the Australian Disability Enterprises Excellence Awards. This may include publishing details on the FaHCSIA website, in media releases announcing finalists and recipients of the Awards, or any other promotional material.
The information provided on the nomination form is collected by FaHCSIA and will be made available to the judging panel.
Any personal information provided in the nomination form is protected under the Privacy Act 1988. It will not be used for any other purpose, or be disclosed to any other person or organisation without your consent, unless authorised by law Entry Check List
Please complete this checklist before forwarding the nomination:
- I have read the Guidelines and understand and agree to abide by the conditions set out in the Guidelines.
- All sections of the nomination form have been completed.
- I have signed the nomination form.
- The Chief Executive Officer (or equivalent) of the Disability Enterprise has signed the form.
- Team members nominated for a team category have signed the form.
- Attachments (if any) have been clearly labelled with the name of the Disability Enterprise/team nominee.
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Entry Check List
Please complete this checklist before forwarding the nomination:
- I have read the Guidelines and understand and agree to abide by the conditions set out in the Guidelines.
- All sections of the nomination form have been completed.
- I have signed the nomination form.
- The Chief Executive Officer of the Disability Enterprise has signed the form.
- Team members nominated for a team category have signed the form.
- Attachments (if any) have been clearly labelled with the name of the Disability Enterprise/team nominee.
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Disclaimer
Neither FaHCSIA nor the judging panel will be responsible for the improper delivery or non-arrival of Awards material.
All submissions received will be acknowledged in writing.
If you do not receive a confirmation notice within 10 days of the closing date, please email excellenceawards@fahcsia.gov.au.