About Nova

Welcome to NOVA Employment & Training Inc. NOVA is a Disability Employment Agency (DEA), funded by the Australian Government's Department of Employment & Workplace Relations (DEWR).

We are a supported employment program that offers specialist job seeking assistance and post placement support. We find jobs in the general community, at award wage. Primarily, we work with young people who have an Intellectual Disability and are likely to require on-going help to stay in work. However, staff from our Campbelltown office also support people who are deaf or hearing impaired.

NOVA is an 'open employment' program. We find our jobseekers work in the general community, with the same working conditions as people who do not have a disability.

NOVA is not a sheltered workshop, or 'business service'

History of Nova - by Martin Wren, Nova CEO

In 1988 I began working for Peter Barlow. Until his retirement Peter was the TAFE's Western Sydney Region consultant for students with an intellectual disability. I couldn't have more respect for Peter, he's a man with endless patience, heaps of skill and a genuine interest in people.

Peter introduced me to a group of people who had similar interests. Heather Gwilliam, Sue Taylor, Alan Cullen, Christine Bennett and Ken Ford stand out amongst a group in which I was very much the baby. Without their support and the help of many other dedicated individuals NOVA would never have become the organisation it is today.

In 1990 we received a small grant ($120,000) and it was my privilege to be chosen to lead the paid staff. I was joined by Michelle Fisher and Janel Collins. Wise leaders surround themselves with people who are smarter than they are. In Michelle and Janel I was fortunate enough to have two people that are just that, yet generous enough not to remind me too often.

Twenty years later NOVA has grown to a large organisation with 26 offices. DEWR now give us more than $14m every year to do the thing we love most - helping people with a disability get the career they want.