Opening the door to employment for people with disability

April is Autism Awareness Month, raising awareness, acceptance and inclusion of people with autism, and highlighting the need to provide them with meaningful opportunities, including opportunities to find and maintain paid employment.

According to Australia’s Department of Social Services, 47 per cent of people with disability who are of working age are not in the labour force. It’s a statistic that has barely changed in the past 25 years, but one that for-purpose organisation VMCH is determined to help shift.

Thanks to VMCH’s Employment Pathways program, Cody, 23, is one step closer to realising his dream of working in the IT industry.

For the past eight months, Cody has worked at the Puckapunyal Army Base with hospitality contractor Ventia, supporting kitchen staff with meal preparation and service.

‘I struggled to find a job before this,’ Cody says. ‘I was a bit nervous when I first started, but I’m definitely more comfortable now. I like making the soldiers happy and giving them the food that they like. Working with others is definitely a good experience and has helped me build skills.’

Cody is one of seven VMCH clients currently working at Puckapunyal through Ventia and resource management contractor Veolia.

Harley Dalgleish, senior manager for Group Programs and Employment at VMCH, says the organisation, which also runs its own social enterprise businesses, has set itself a target to support 100 people with a disability to find and sustain meaningful employment by 2025.

By normalising the employment of people with disability in a range of roles and industries, we reduce the anxiety of businesses to embrace this fantastic opportunity.

‘We’re committed not only to supporting people with disability to find employment but to breaking down barriers for businesses to employ them.

‘We work closely with our clients and their employers to ensure the relationship is working for both of them. Often businesses may feel it’s too daunting or there’s too much red tape to employ a person with disability, but it’s just not the case,’ Harley says.

‘By normalising the employment of people with disability in a range of roles and industries, we reduce the anxiety of businesses to embrace this fantastic opportunity.’

Tammy Steve, operations manager at Ventia, says the partnership with VMCH made the process of employing people with disability an easy one.

When Cody first arrived, he was very shy and found it hard to interact. To see him now—laughing, smiling and confident—is amazing.

‘We’re a big company and on occasion can be limited on time. Having that introduction with VMCH disability support staff to work on employee’s individual needs and plans has been great. Ventia is really proud of the work we do in the disability sector, and our partnership with VMCH has been great. Their support on site supporting our staff makes our job easier.’

Tammy adds that the benefits of employing people with disability has also extended to fellow employees.

‘I’ve seen great personal growth in my team, as well as the people we employ through VMCH,’ she says.

‘When Cody first arrived, he was very shy and found it hard to interact. To see him now—laughing, smiling and confident—is amazing. That’s also thanks to our Army client, whose staff are great at relationship-building and bringing out the best in people.”

Cody’s supervisor, ‘Macca’ (Sharon McMenenmin), who has worked at the base for 39 years, says she loves ‘everything about working with Cody’.

‘Because it was his first time in hospitality, he blew me away at how quickly he picked it up. You just tell him something once and he was right to get on with it. His confidence and communication skills have bloomed. The whole experience has been very rewarding to witness.’