I was delighted to hear from the Ministers office that the DES Transition process is moving smoothly ahead. Come Monday, all will be well.
So the following story must be fictional:
Fred is an indigenous job seeker with a disability. Fred loves physical activity and he has energy to burn – his interests focus around sport and things sporting. For more than 6 months “AVON” his specialist employment service has been negotiating a traineeship with the Areas leading gym
A job match made in heaven. His new ‘to-be employer loves Fred and are keen to get him on board – this is an award wage, full time position.
Fred is transitioning to a new service provider with AVON having lost the local contract after 15 years outstanding service delivery. AVON has been replaced by services, ‘better able to demonstrate they meet the needs of the job seekers” (sounds good rhetoric that is totally divorced from the reality of conditions on the ground).
Most of the AVON staff have moved on, leaving the industry with their experience and local knowledge – however the remaining workers were called by the training organisation who were to work with Fred, his employer and new DES provider to complete the academic part of his traineeship. They wanted to know if Fred was cooling off, they could not get in contact with him.
Fred receives mentorship support from a local Indigenous service (it’s well delivered). This service also holds a Job Services Australia contract (JSA). The new disability employment ‘specialist’ also holds a JSA contract.
They (the Indigenous Employment Service and new DES provider) are therefore ‘competitors’.
Apparently, the new DES manager has stated she will not work with this competitor.
We’ve tried, the RTO have tried and now Fred’s family are trying to get these fools to work together. Fred needs the support of the Indigenous Mentor Program and he needs the on-going workplace support of a DES. Without these things he will fail in his traineeship - with them he will succeed.
That's not going to happen.
The truth is that the new provider should never have been given the opportunity to so effectively ruin lives. This is not a place where such a chance comes twice.
Because I know that this blog gets read by some who can make change I am happy to supply names, dates, time and place and CRN so you can see for yourselves the tip of this tragic iceberg . This is not smooth transition.
Would you like a face-to-face meeting with Martin via Skype? Click the button below to make an appointment
Subscribe to this Blog - blog.novaemployment.com.au Copy the link above and paste it into your favourite Reader to subscribe to an RSS feed of this blog. To watch a short video explanation of RSS and how it helps you save time reading the web click here
Your Comments There are currently no comments on this article
Previous Posts
Making a tough job tougher!
Making a tough job tougher
It isnt easy to get a decent job and its harder to do so if you have a disability.
NOVA employs around 190 people, an effective and experienced team who are able to draw upon a staff of highly skilled trainers and a support program honed over almost 30 years and tens of thousands of participants....
Your Work There was never any doubt in my mind that I would work. My dad told me I would work and there wasn't ever a suggestion that my future held an alternative option....
Not so bad! Taken from: Today's Guardian at 4.09pm Tuesday 7th November 2017:
www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2016/jun/23/russia-and-the-us-have-the-worst-employment-gaps-for-disabled-people
In a world full of discouragement there’s always a space for good news....
Informed Choice
The NDIS mantra is 'choice and control'
To be valuable, choice needs to be informed.
Since 2010:
Average Sydney Disability Employment Services placement rates are 34....
Hard Job
It's voting time at "Focusonability" - with a record number of films entered, a tremendous effort by more than 100 High Schools and 19 countries competing in the International section it was always going to be a hard job to pick a winner....
Choice & Control
The NDIS slogans around choice and control demonstrate the importance of consumer involvement in both the choice and control of supports they need.
However, in order to be valuable, choice needs to be informed by accurate data such is this: http://www....
Belfast
Last week (14-16) it was my privilege to attend the 1st World Supported Employment Conference in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
"Employment for All - A Global Perspective" brought workers from around the globe (primarily Europe) to discuss best practice in supported employment....
Quality and the Stars Quality and the Stars
There have probably been few people more openly critical of the Disability Employment Service (DES) Star Ratings than me.
The Stars, ranging from 1 to 5 are supposed to give some insight into whether a service is a poor or high performing program....
DEA Forum
Attended the Disability Employment Australia (DEA) forum in Canberra. THis is a regular get together that offers disability employment services tha chance to be kept up to date from our funding body and also listed to expert speakers on topics associated with the goal of seeing as many people as possible find and keep suitable employment....
Greatest Asset
NOVAs greatest asset is its staff. I suspect you would struggle to find the CEO of any organisation state their staff are not vital and at the core of business reputation and results....
A corner turned?
We are presently holding events to promote employment for people with disability - nor surprise there, that's our job.
What has been a surprise is the willingness of employers to come along and listen and more importantly, to consider adopting inclusive employment practices across their organisations....
Say No to Quotas!
The pernicious idea that 'quota's' might be the solution for disability employment continue:
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/comment/how-china-trumps-australia-when-it-comes-to-supporting-disabled-workers-20170103-gtl7bh....
Percentages
Faced with the daunting task of improving the number of employment outcomes with out sacrificing the quality of service delivered to people with disability how have we fared (sort of Year in Review II)?
The number of placements made has seriously improved - up 31% in 2015 and a further 14% in 2016, NOVA operates at at rate of placement better than 150% over 2014!
Whats really exciting is that this has been achieved without compromising on the level of disability that can be supported by NOVA's teams (if anything this has risen)....
Famous last words!
O.K. - sorry that you need to cut and paste: http://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace-relations/100-million-payday-for-1anhour-staff-with-disabilities-20161216-gtcius....
Last Post
Not sure if this will be my last blog post for 2016 but just in case, a quick look back at 2016:
Best ever year for total number of placements
Best ever year for long term employment outcomes
Best ever year for Apprenticeships and Traineeships
Best ever year for Transition to Work outcomes
Best ever year for media coverage
Best ever year for 'Focusonability'
Best ever year for Transition to Work (TTW)
How about 2017?
Looking good, so stay in touch and have a terrific holiday, be safe and hopefully Santa will bring you all that you wish for....
Choice
Choice is only of value when it's informed (written about this here previously)
I have the numbers for disability employment services (DES-ESS) up till 30th June this year and I am delighted to see that NOVA is responsible for almost 25% of all employment lasting 6 months or more (28 providers) and almost as many as next 2 providers combined....
Oh Dear
Oh Dear!!
The NDIS held out hope and promise to people with a disability, the opportunity to exercise choice and control and was heralded as the answer to the prayers of our most disadvantaged and vulnerable citizens....
Latest 'Stars' The effectiveness of Australian Disability Employment Services is recognised through a system called the 'Star Ratings'.
6 years ago NOVA was amongst the lower performing providers in Sydney, at least as measured through the Star's,
Regular readers will be aware of my unhappiness with things that I think are important to people with disability - stuff like, wages earned, hours worked etc....
Best Show on TV Morning All
Sorry you need to cut and paste: http://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/video/802326595536/focus-on-ability-film-festival-2016
Best show on TV - bar none and, if you want to skip my bit I get off at 3:10 and you can get straight to some of the truly terrific films from this year's "Focusonability" short film festival....
Reform There is a review of Disability Employment Services and presently consideration is being given to what might best replace the current program.
See: https://engage....
Subscribe to this Blog