Issue 164
15 December 2010
Seasons greetings and best wishes for a safe and happy festive season.
It has been terrific meeting up again with so many people with disability and service providers since my appointment as Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Carers. I do appreciate the positive approach to the issues that people have expressed.
I would like to convey my sincere gratitude to all service providers for your contribution to improving the lives of people with disability and ensuring they have the same opportunity to fully take part in life as other Australians.
The government has had many achievements for people working in Australian Disability Enterprises over the past twelve months.
One of the key developments throughout the year relates to supported employment. On 16 July 2010, the Australian Government launched a discussion paper, Inclusion for people with disability through sustainable supported employment.
The paper was developed to frame community consultation and help develop the government’s vision for people in supported employment. Feedback from parents, carers and supported workers has given us critical insight into what you want to see in the future for supported employment.
A series of face to face consultations were held across the country to gather feedback as well as written submissions received. Thank you to those who participated in this process. Suggestions and ideas presented will be incorporated in the vision for supported employment which is expected to be released mid next year.
Other achievements include:
The winners:
Achievement Award - Brunswick Industries Association (Victoria)
Business Innovation Award - Bedford (South Australia)
Training Innovations Award - Activ (Western Australia)
The awards recognise the role of Australian Disability Enterprises in providing high quality and sustainable work to people with disability, also including innovations in training and business practices. This year, Rio Tinto generously donated $10,000 to be shared equally amongst the three prize winners.
While much has been achieved in the last year, there is so much more work to do. We are working hard to deliver our election commitments, including:
I look forward to continuing to work with people with disability, their families and carers and organisations providing support to them in the coming year.
Best wishes for the festive season and Happy New Year to all.
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Disability and Carers Programs would like to wish you and your families a very happy and safe festive season.
FaHCSIA offices will be closed over the Christmas and New Year period from midday Friday 24 December 2010, re-opening on Tuesday 4 January 2011. The first issue of disAbility e-news for the New Year will be distributed on Monday 24 January 2011.
We look forward to keeping you informed about disability issues in the New Year.
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The ABC, with the support of FaHCSIA, has launched a new website to ramp up the conversation about disability in Australia. The ABC Ramp Up website is a place for people with disabilities to have a say, no matter what part of the country they are in.
The site will host plenty of discussion and debate on a range of disabilities and experiences, and visitors to the site are encouraged to join in. You can comment on the opinion pieces, follow the site on Twitter and keep up with the latest news in disability from across the ABC.
Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Carers, Senator Jan McLucas, and Mark Scott, ABC Managing Director, celebrated the launch of the website on International Day of People with Disability, Friday 3 December, at HELP Enterprises in Brisbane.
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The AusTender website provides centralised publication of government business opportunities, annual procurement plans, multi-use lists and contracts awarded. Australian Disability Enterprises are encouraged to register on the AusTender website. By registering your area of business interest in your AusTender profile, you will receive free automatic notification via email of the latest opportunities as they are published.
There are some steps you can take to make sure you better understand the requirements of selling to government. A useful website and tool is Selling to the Australian Government – A Guide for Business which can be found on the Department of Finance and Deregulation website. In addition, Issue 160 of disAbility e-news provided tips on how to provide successful quotes and tenders for Government jobs.
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The Case Based Funding Helpdesk will be closing for the Christmas - New Year period from 12 noon on 24 December to Tuesday 4 January 2011.
Case Based Funding payments for the period 23 to 31 December 2010 will be brought forward and payments run on 23 December 2010. High Cost Worker Payments will run on 22 December. Other payments such as Intake Payments for new cases, Work Based Personal Assistance and Australian Apprenticeship Payments processed after 22 December will not be selected for payment until 4 January 2011.
If you have any queries regarding CBF payments over the Christmas - New Year period, please contact the Case Based Funding Helpdesk on 1800 034 887.
The Case Based Funding Team wishes you all a happy and safe Christmas and New Year.
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Sometimes the smallest things create the biggest problems.
When the South Australian Government Department for Families and Communities (DFC) reviewed its laundry tender, the DFC wanted to know if a commercial laundry supplier could manage the everyday household issue of 'where is that missing sock' and provide a highly efficient commercial laundry operation.
In response, Minda Laundry Service collaborated with International Linen to service the DFC laundry contract. Minda picks up the various items of personal linen - launders them, sorts them and returns them to the International Linen facility.
"This is a great example of how two organisations focused on delivering the best in customer service can deliver not only the best commercial outcome but also an outstanding social outcome. Organisations so often look for great partnerships in business and having only recently joined Minda, this is as good an example as I have seen anywhere," said Andrew Ramsey, Manager, Minda Commercial Enterprises.
Minda's commercial laundry operations employ a total of 58 employees, 42 of these being people with disability working in various supported employment roles. Greg Evers is a supported employee working in the area of logistics. "I enjoy going to the Julia Farr Site and picking up the laundry bags, which helps out the laundry," he said.
Regina Jalosjos, a supported employee at the Minda laundry, said: "I feel proud to be a valuable member of the team that is relied upon to complete the tasks that are required."
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Housing SA is helping iconic local Australian Disability Enterprise, Bedford, provide sustainable employment opportunities for people with disability thanks to a long-term horticultural contract.
The current Housing SA contract was awarded following a rigorous competitive public tendering process. It involves grounds maintenance and landscaping in Housing SA units and multiple dwelling group sites, ensuring gardens and verges of communal landscaped areas are always maintained, maintaining irrigation systems and establishing landscaping treatments to reduce garden maintenance and water conservation.
APG, Bedford's horticultural business, has been providing its services to Housing SA sites across metropolitan Adelaide for 25 years - and more recently to the mid-north, Port Lincoln and Limestone Coast.
APG currently employs 153 people with disability with 39 employees involved in the Housing SA contract.
Bedford's Chief Operating Officer Steve Jones said Housing SA was a long-term Bedford supporter and had contributed greatly to the lives of people with disability in South Australia.
"We have a long waiting list of people seeking employment with Bedford and these contracts ensure that jobs are not just available - they're sustainable - and they're very important to us," he said.
For APG employee David Brooks, the Housing SA contract has enabled him to gain new skills and a real sense of belief in his abilities - while enjoying work in a safe and rewarding environment.
"I really enjoy working outside and since working on the Housing SA contract I have been able to gain a lot of new skills - including using the victa vac, motorised hedge trimmers and becoming a team leader," David said.
For further information on APG please visit the Bedford website.
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Endeavour Foundation’s newly established Endeavour Business College is offering its nationally-recognised tailored training courses to improve the skills and abilities of staff across the disability sector.
Staff of Edmen Community Staffing Solutions, who provide Endeavour Foundation with its agency support workers, have started Endeavour Business College’s Certificate III in Disability and PART (Predict Assess And Respond To challenging or aggressive behaviour) training. About 100 students from Edmen will be trained through the fee-based College over the next year.
They will be the first of a growing number of students who are not Endeavour Foundation staff.
Endeavour Business College was started this year to provide Endeavour Foundation staff tailor-made training and qualifications. The initiative was to enable staff to be the best trained and most skilled, in order to provide the best outcomes for people with disability.
“Offering sector-specific courses to external students will increase the capabilities of the whole disability sector,” said Organisation and Employee Development Manager Ed Madigan. Endeavour Business College partnered with the Sunshine Coast Institute of TAFE (SCIT) to develop disability sector-specific training courses in management, business skills, retail operations and disability service provision. The College is jointly funded by the Federal Government, the State Government and Endeavour Foundation. Endeavour Business College will soon offer a Certificate IV in Frontline Management to external students.
Those interested can call Endeavour Business College on (07) 3900 5400.
The announcement of providing training to staff outside of the organisation comes as Endeavour Foundation launches its 60th anniversary.
Email disAbility e-news if you'd like more information on a particular issue or program in disAbility e-news or to let us know what you think of the newsletter.
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Your contributions to disAbility e-news are welcome. Do you want to let others know about your successes? Or how you engage with local businesses to create employment opportunities for people with disabilities? Email your story idea to disAbility e-news.
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