Some of Our Parts

Why Disability Employment is the Answer to Australia’s Skills Shortage

A free webinar for employers hosted by JobAccess

A slowdown in regional and international talent mobility has seen employers access an increasingly limited pool, as one in five Australian businesses faces skills shortages.

But what if you were able to build a steady, sustainable pipeline of diverse candidates to fill your vacancies? Register here to find out how.

People with disability are reliable, safe and productive employees and yet are overlooked by businesses when hiring.

Nearly 50% of people with disability of working age are looking for work and can be a great resource for industries facing skills gaps.

Progressive organisations are tapping into the diverse skills people with disability have to offer. In doing so, they are reaping the long-term benefits of higher productivity, staff retention and market innovation*.

Register Now for This Online Event

How do they do it? Register for our free online event to hear from disability-confident organisations who will join Paralympian Katrina Webb OAM to share how they broadened their talent pool by attracting and employing people with disability.

*You might recognise Katrina as part of Channel Seven’s Tokyo Paralympics 2020 commentator team.

You will have the opportunity to:

• Learn first-hand a wide range of strategies and good practice to make your recruitment and employment processes more inclusive.
• Interact with a panel of disability-confident employers who will share their learnings and experiences in supporting employees with disability, including mental health conditions.
• Explore the free, sustainable supports and resources available to employ people with disability within your organisation.

When:  Thursday, 7 October 2021

Time:    1.00 pm to 2.15 pm – ACT, NSW, VIC and TAS
12.30 pm to 1.45 pm – SA
12.00 pm to 1.15 pm – QLD
11.30 am to 12.45 pm – NT
10.00 am to 11.15 am – WA

Where: Register to attend the webinar

RSVP:  Monday, 4 October 2021

• Access: This event will have live transcribing. You will be asked to provide any access requirements during the registration process. Interpreters and electronic copies of presentation are available on request.
• For more information or if you have any questions or require assistance, please contact us at JobAccess@workfocus.com.

Kickstart Your Business with This Free 2-Day Workshop

This 2-day workshop is made for people living with disability.

This workshop will give you the confidence to explore starting up your own business or taking your business to the next level with expert facilitators.

IgniteAbility Small Business Start-Ups Program

The IgniteAbility® Small Business Start-Ups program started in 2016 to support people living with a disability to explore, start or grow a small business in Australia.

In the last 5 years businesses like Carly’s Coffee Couriers and MB Disability Consultancy have been supported to gain the knowledge, skills and capacity they required to make their dream a reality.

5 things you will take away from your workshop:

1. Ability to pitch your business idea to anyone.
2. Identify gaps in your business knowledge from product development to compliance management.
3. Understand the importance of a support network to grow your business.
4. Complete a business map for your business.
5. Opportunity to refer into our IgniteAbility® Small Business Start-Ups program.

This program provides free and ongoing business support with an expert facilitator.

FAQ

• How do I know if it is right for me?

Once you register, the team will reach out to help you answer the questions you might have.

• Does this cost me anything?

No. The workshop is completely free.

• What happens after I register?

You will be contacted with information about the best workshop for you and your needs.

Register Now for this 2-day online workshop!

Here are the dates:

• Group 1: 13 & 15 September – 10am – 2:30pm
• Group 2: 14 & 16 September – 10am – 2:30pm
• Group 3: 20 & 22 September – 10am – 2:30pm
• Group 4: 27 & 29 September – 10am – 2:30pm
• Group 5: 28 & 30 September – 10am – 2:30pm
• Group 6: 04 & 06 October – 10am – 2:30pm
• Group 7: 11 & 13 October – 10am – 2:30pm
• Group 8: 12 & 14 October – 10am – 2:30pm
• Group 9: 18 & 20 October – 10am – 2:30pm

Click on this link to REGISTER NOW!

Mentoring at Monash LinkedIn Page and Group

There is a new Mentoring at Monash LinkedIn page, alongside our new Mentoring at Monash LinkedIn group.

Mentoring at Monash would like to invite you to follow the page and join the group as part of our Monash mentoring community!

Mentoring Tips, Advice, and Professional Development

The Mentoring at Monash LinkedIn page and group will be host to mentoring stories, tips and advice, professional development, mentoring opportunities and more.

The group in particular will be a great place for the mentoring community and even those new to mentoring to get involved, share your mentoring experiences and help other members with advice.

We look forward to welcoming you all to our new Mentoring at Monash LinkedIn.

• If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us at mentoring@monash.edu.

Best Mates Apply Monash Commerce Skills to Build Successful Disability Support Service

David Bookman and Ryan Kagan

Meet David and Ryan

*Meet David and Ryan and the team when they hold an exclusive session for Monash students where they will explain what disability support work is, how their service works and how to get involved with their business.

• Date: 22 September 2021
• Time: 11.00 – 12.00

*Register Now: bit.ly/ButtonsSupportServices

David Bookman and Ryan Kagan are best friends and business partners, using the skills and knowledge they have gained at Monash Business School to help improve the lives of people with disabilities.

The two Bachelor of Commerce students have launched Buttons Support Services, a thriving start-up matching support workers with people with disabilities through the NDIS.

They have come a long way since their final year of high school, when their top priorities outside studying were “footy and socialising”.

On the cusp of the pandemic in early 2020, the pair took a risk to launch Buttons Support after identifying what they saw as a gap in the market.

Buttons Support Services

Buttons Support Services aims to positively impact the lives of people with disabilities, and encourage young people to work in the sector as support workers.

The service’s ethos is to match children and adults with disabilities to age- appropriate, personality-specific support workers, which aims to build good, sustainable relationships and allow both parties to thrive.

The pair said since launching, Buttons Support Services rates had paid a collective $50,000 above industry award rates, to the support workers on their books.

“For far too long people with a disability and their families have yearned for relatable, authentic and reliable people to support them,” David says.

“Through Buttons, young adults are delivering this support, while injecting a new energy into the sector.

“Our aim is to make the support work role as accessible and comfortable as possible for young adults. If we can do a good job in supporting more young support workers to transition into this role, we as a community will be better for it.”

Desire to Make a Difference in Disability Support

For both students, the desire to make a difference in the disability support sector manifested during their school years.

After finishing VCE, David and Ryan both volunteered with Flying Fox Camps, a youth-led recreational camp network for special-needs kids, gaining their first experience of disabled advocacy.

Taking a gap year in 2016 before beginning their Bachelor of Commerce degrees, they also took up paid employment with Flying Fox, the camp network’s parent organisation which gives young people with disabilities positive social interactions and life-changing experiences.

Throughout their studies they balanced work in the disability sector with study commitments, before striking out on their own venture.

“When David and Ryan saw a problem in the disability sector they actively worked to solve it”
David says Flying Fox taught them “commerce/business and social change can be one and the same”.

“In-terms of learning opportunities, experience and personal fulfilment, I felt that starting our own business really ticked all those boxes,” David says.

“We constantly have to teach ourselves new skills, confront new challenges – which is extremely beneficial for a young professional.”

Ryan, who studied marketing as part of his degree, described launching a new venture in 2020 on the cusp of the pandemic as “an interesting environment”.

“(But) we kept our goal really simple: Validate the service. I think we have done that, and our focus now is scaling and creating new initiatives that cater to the needs of the industry,” he says.

“To have studied both finance and marketing has certainly enhanced my ability to create and grow a professional service, driven by passion and social change.”

Associate Professor Nicholas McGuigan, Director of Monash Business School’s Equity, Diversity and Social Inclusion portfolio, said the Business School celebrated initiatives such as Buttons.

“We are interested in advancing positive change across industries and we go out of our way to facilitate that type of development across our programs,” Associate Professor McGuigan said.

“When David and Ryan saw a problem in the disability sector they actively worked to solve it, launching Buttons Support Services as a dynamic, engaging organisation that partners with its young support workers and clients to bring about authentic relationships and reliable support to those in need.”

Register Now

• Date: 22 September 2021
• Time: 11.00 – 12.00
• Register Now: bit.ly/ButtonsSupportServices
• For more information go to the Button Support Services website, including how they contract Support Workers

You’re Invited to The 2021 Students with a Disability Super Fair

Your big break starts here!

TUESDAY, 28TH SEPTEMBER 2021

• 2:00PM to 4:00PM in NSW, QLD, ACT, VIC & TAS
• 1:30PM to 3:30PM in SA & NT
• 12:00PM to 2:00PM in WA

Who is this for?

The Students with a Disability Super Fair is for all students studying any degrees wanting to discover employers who have either a dedicated graduate program for students with a disability or offer otherwise attractive and inclusive opportunities.

Register Now!

How does it work?

This is an interactive virtual career fair designed to help you learn about graduate job and internship opportunities you can apply for. The fair is conducted via video conference and split into two parts.

First 30 minutes: Panel Sessions

Begin the fair by joining one of several Focus Sessions. These concurrent sessions will give you an opportunity to find out about the sector and collect some insider tips on how to succeed.

Next 1.5 hours: Exhibitor Sessions

For the remainder of the fair, you can meet employers live in their booth. This session is broken into three half an hour blocks. During each block, exhibitors may present on a topic, run speed interviews, or have open Q&A.

Who Will You Meet?

We’ve invited some of Australia’s best graduate employers to meet with you and share what a future working with them looks like.

Find out which Employers will be at the Fair!

Why Should You Attend?

Applying for graduate jobs is a bit like sitting your final exams; the lecturer usually gives away some handy tips in the final class!

Don’t Make the Mistake of Submitting Job Applications Without Being Prepared

Attend this event to meet the employers you already know about, discover new ones, and find out what recruiters are looking for in your job applications.

• This event is part of the Prosple Super Career Fair series.
• This series of virtual career events are being run collaboratively between Prosple, GradAustralia, participating Australian universities, and employers.
• These fairs are completely free for students. By attending these fairs, you give permission for Prosple to share your contact and attendance details with employers wanting to hire you and with your university.

DCJ  – Supporting Their Employees Mental Health

Australian Network on Disability (AND) is sharing the way in which organisations are supporting employees mental health and rising to the challenge.

In a recent article, the NSW Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) explore their robust mental health support system and why it’s so crucial.

Making Mental Health Important

Staff at DCJ work in challenging environments, with some of the most vulnerable communities – making mental health very important.

“Mental health is a significant issue in the community and for our staff at DCJ,” says Norma Kaddour, Manager Workers Compensation & Injury Management. “The impact of COVID-19, bushfires, drought and flooding in NSW in recent years have also contributed to mental health issues in the community.”

DCJ offers a variety of ways to support mental health, including mental health first aid training.

But mental health first aid training isn’t the only kind of support available at DCJ.

Because of the scope of the work within the department, divisions in DCJ also offer their own localised mental health support, including:

• Welfare officers, drug and alcohol counselling for Corrective Services Staff
• Development of programs and services by business areas
• Peer Support Programs
• The Employee Assistance Program
• Targeted campaigns for mental health support like the Push Up Challenge, R U OK Day and Mental Health Month.

Find out more at AND.

2021 Internship Program with Cummins South Pacific for HR, Business and Marketing Undergraduates

Penultimate year students can apply now to gain 12 months paid real-world experience with leading global company Cummins South Pacific.

• Gain valuable career-relevant work experience
• Learn new skills
• Grow your knowledge of your chosen industry
• Develop networking and social skills
• Support provided throughout the program

Key Information

• Applicants must be studying Marketing, Business, HR, Commerce, Communications or Sales
• Applicants must have 1-8 study units left of their degree at the time of internship commencement (January 2022)
• Interns are expected to pause their studies to undertake the 12 month internship
• Applicants must have Australian Citizenship or Permanent Residency
• The positions are located in Scoresby, Melbourne but may proceed in a ‘work-from-home’ capacity

Click here to read the 4 position descriptions.

Applications close midnight Sunday 15th August 2021

These internships are facilitated through the Stepping Into Internship program and are exclusively available to students with disbility. This includes anyone with a mental health condition, injury, chronic illness, sensory impairment, learning disability, neurological condition or immunological condition.

• For more information contact the Australian Network on Disability at applications@and.org.au or 02 8270 9200.

Find Out More About Stepping Into Internships

“What I gained from the experience was more than what you gain from a job – I gained confidence. It’s something I now carry through my daily life and will throughout the rest of my career. Confidence to own my disability and talk about it. I can have conversations to create opportunities for myself and other people with disability” – Devni, Stepping Into intern at Arup

Read more about Devni’s internship experience here

About the Stepping Into Program:

Stepping Into is a paid work experience program for university students with disability. The Australian Network on Disability partners with leading Australian employers to provide meaningful work experience opportunities for students before they graduate.

Read more here!

Resources for Students with Disability

Australian Network on Disabilty has so many resources and opportunities for students with disability!

• PACE Mentoring – Free industry mentoring for students and jobseekers with disability.
• Jobseeker Toolkit – A variety of resources and factsheets to help you feel confident applying for jobs and attending interviews!
• How to Discuss Disability Management in the Workplace – When and how to bring up adjustment requests at different stages of the recruitment process.
• AND’s Employability Series Recordings – Hear from HR Professionals, LinkedIn Pros and Stepping Into Alumni in live recordings!

Applications to NAB’s 2022 Summer Intern Program are now open!

Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance Kickstarting Interns’ Careers

The Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance (DTF) are accelerating career trajectories for talented Stepping Into interns.

The process aims to place interns into permanent positions and expose them to opportunities across the department.

All the while, the department is building up their disability confidence and creating an inclusive and diverse workplace culture – providing benefits for all participating in the Stepping Into program.

With AND’s support, DTF kicked off the Stepping Into program and established multiple processes to assist interns participating in the program.

• Read more about the DTF’s support of people with disability on the AND website.

Professional Development Workshops for Young Deaf and Disabled People

Arts Access Victoria is offering free professional development workshops for young Deaf and Disabled people, aged 18-26, from early August 2021. 

The program is called Nexus – full details are on the website here (www.artsaccess.com.au/whats-on/nexus_2021/), and attached program flyer.

It’s designed for young Victorian-based Deaf and Disabled people with, or interested to pursue, a career or practice within the arts.