IncludeAbility Illawarra Employment Pilot

IncludeAbility’s place based employment pilots projects aim to increase the confidence and capacity of employers to recruit, retain and advance employees with disability.

IncludeAbility has been collaborating with The Disability Trust for the IncludeAbility Illawarra Employment Pilot.

The IncludeAbility Illawarra video

IncludeAbility Illawarra Employment Pilot from The Disability Trust on Vimeo.

IncludeAbility Illawarra involved

Employers committing to offering employment to at least one participant for a minimum of 13 weeks at a minimum of 15 hours per week.
The Disability Trust providing a talent pool of eligible job seekers and providing ongoing support to employers and address any concerns as they arise.
Employers accessing IncludeAbility’s web portal and resources for employers which support employers to create meaningful employment opportunities for people with disability and accessible and inclusive workplaces for everyone. The web portal includes fact sheets and an eLearn on Building a culture of accessibility and inclusion.
The opportunity for interested employers to participate in IncludeAbility’s online monthly feedback sessions with IncludeAbility Ambassador Dr Dinesh Palipana OAM which were an opportunity to share learnings and respond to any systemic issues that arose.
Participation in a project evaluation and data collection framework.

The Disability Trust showed great leadership by employing several participants. Other pilot participants were employed by the University of Wollongong, UOW College, Illawarra ITeC and Kmart.

IncludeAbility facilitated disability confidence training sessions for over 30 Kmart managers from the Kmart Figtree, Shellharbour and Nowra stores.

Image of Kmart employees and trainers from AHRC and the Disability Trust standing outside of the Disability Trust office smiling

Employers participated in IncludeAbility’s online monthly feedback sessions with IncludeAbility Ambassador Dr Dinesh Palipana OAM which were an opportunity to share learnings and respond to any systemic issues that arose.

Online meeting shot. A variety of people's headshots as they discuss various items.

Hear from pilot participants and employers:

“Personally, I’ve had a very good experience with the program through finding the job, applying for the job, interviewing for the job, actually getting the job. And now that I’m here and working, I found the support along the way has been immense during my time working here.” – John Algie, Website Support Officer UOW College Australia

Some of the learnings include:

“We’ve learned how to adjust our recruitment processes and how we employ individuals to be able to tap into those talents.”- Niribi Mathews, Marketing Manager UOW College Australia
“It’s less about inclusion specifically and more around recognising people’s individual strengths and its about adapting, you know, the environment and your practices to support that person”- Ali Anderson Chief Executive Officer ITeC

Some other quotes from the video:

“What I’ve really enjoyed most about it, is the support it provides after recruitment. You know, you might come up against a few different challenges, and you know the way in which includability staff have help us to scaffold. Those are really good.” - Ali Anderson Chief Executive Officer ITeC

“The website that is available is extremely helpful. There’s so much information based on changing the physical environment to emotional support. No matter what the concern I had, there was always someone to ask.”- Niribi Mathews, Marketing Manager UOW College Australia

Launch Event

A launch event was held for IncludeAbility Illawarra on Friday 18 November 2022. Then Disability Discrimination Commissioner Dr Ben Gauntlett spoke at the launch about ways to successfully and sustainably employ people with disability and how to create accessible and inclusive workspaces.

Footage of the event and the flyer distributed in November 2022 can be found below.