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Employment Services
Ability WA provides a range of individualised employment services across the Perth metropolitan area.
Our services include finding and keeping a job, supports in employment, customised employment, Disability Employment Services and school leaver employment supports.
Our focus is to empower people with disability to achieve their employment goals and aspirations by providing opportunities for work, work experience, training and skill development in professional environments across a range of workplace settings.
We endorse the National Disability Insurance Scheme and Disability Employment Service (DES) expectation of inclusive workplaces that offer practical and productive environments with access to career pathways.
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Our professional employment services team has worked with thousands of jobseekers to find fulfilling, long term employment for over 30 years
True to our value Achieve together’ we are passionate about supporting people achieve their employment goals and being there the whole way through.
We ensure our support is tailored to best meet each individual, to achieve the best experience for our jobseekers. This may range from discovering what your talents are, training and skills development, through to resume writing and selection criteria to help you get the right job.
At Ability WA, we work together with our jobseekers to find your job, settle into the job and provide on-the-job support in your workplace, for a long as is required.
FAQs
To be eligible for the DES program you need to:- have a disability, injury or health condition;
- are aged at least 14 years but have not yet attained the Age Pension qualifying age;
- are at or above the minimum legal working age in their state or territory;
- have a future work capacity with intervention of at least eight hours per week;
- are an Australian resident;
- are not studying full time, unless the job seeker is an ESL; and
- are not working at or above their Employment Benchmark hours (not applicable for Work Assist Participants, supported employment undertaken by National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) participants, and/or participants in the Disability Employment Continuity of Support program).
Additionally, from 1 July 2021 you must:
- have a future work capacity with intervention of less than 30 hours per week; and
- be in receipt of an income support payment, except where the job seeker is:
- ESAt/JCA exempt (Eligible School Leaver, Special Class Client or Work Assist);
- a current NDIS participant;
- a Pre-Release Prisoner; or undertaking a DES program to satisfy Program of Support requirements
If I am working can I get support from a DES?
Yes you can, the service is called ‘Work Assist’. To eligible for Work Assist your Employer must be of the view that their employee is having difficulties fulfilling the essential requirements of their job, due to the impact of their injury, disability or health condition*, and the employee must:- be currently Employed
- have been working in that job for a at least eight hours per week on average over a consecutive 13 week period or there is an expectation that the Employment will last for at least 13 weeks with an average of eight hours per week being worked over the 13 week period.
- be confirmed by the DES Provider as having difficulty carrying out the essential requirements of their particular job, require the assistance available through DES to maintain their Employment, and is likely to require Ongoing Support.
- additional eligibility conditions may apply
How do I register with a DES?
Ability WA is a government funded service, so firstly Services Australia need to check if you are eligible. To do this they will do an Employment Services Assessment to see if the DES program is right for youIf you are you can register with any provider of your choice.
For more information please contact us on 1300 106 106 or email: info@abilitywa.com.au
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As part of our NDIS employment support service we offer a range of workplace opportunities at our employment worksites.
Ability WA Social Enterprises
Goodwill Engineering is a unique business specialising in a wide range of building hardware that services both housing and commercial construction. With over 50 years of experience in the building industry we provide quality products to the community. Learn more about Goodwill Engineering by clicking here.
Containers For Change is a WA recycling initiative which is tasked to reduce the amount of drink containers that end up as landfill.
Employment opportunities might include following positions: Recycling attendants; warehousing and logistics; packaging and machine operation; admin and data management; kitchen hand; cleaning crew; customer service. Learn more about Containers for Change by clicking here.
WORK-BASED TRAINING
All our social enterprises are intentional learning environments in which employees are provided with onsite support and ongoing training to build capacity in their employability skills with the long-term goal of exploring employment opportunities with alternative companies and/or self-employment. We provide training in both group and individual settings depending upon needs, choices and NDIS funding.
The learning opportunities will focus on:- Teamwork
- Planning and organising
- Decision making and problem solving
- Communication and personal boundaries
- Self-management and general work readiness skills
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We aim to provide our customers with greater choice and control in the use of their NDIS employment supports to enable individualised employment approaches, including the settings in which they occur. For an increasing number of people this will include open employment.
Customised Employment aims to assist people with complex barriers to employment to find a long-term, secure job with an inclusive employer, that’s customised to the person’s individual needs and backed up with the supports they need to help them succeed.
Customised Employment is different from other disability employment programs. It’s less about finding any job you can do, and more about building your self-determination and confidence so you can find a job which fits your skills and interests, so you can thrive in open employment.
An example of a job that has been modified to suit an employee’s individual needs and is in line with their employment goals:
Mark has been working at Goodwill Engineering in the packing area. Mark has stated that he would like to work as a car wash attendant. Mark does not drive and does not have a car licence. His Employment Support Officer discussed with Mark what a car wash attendant role entails. They come to the conclusion that Mark is able to do most aspects of the role besides moving cars in and out of the car wash bay. The Employment Support Officer makes some contacts with local car wash businesses and locates an employer who can accommodate to have Mark work for them and is able to arrange for another employee of theirs to move cars Mark washes in and out of the car washing bay. This way Mark is able to do the job he likes and it has been customised to suit his needs.
Should you consider Customised Employment? We believe everyone has a skill or passion they can contribute to the workforce. Customised Employment is a great alternative to the Disability Employment Services (DES) system, particularly if you have more complex needs or multiple disabilities.
It could be a good fit if you:
- Want to work and are seeking long-term employment
- Want personalised support to find and stay in the right role
- Have employment goals and supports in employment funding in your NDIS plan
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School Leaver Employment Supports
The purpose of the NDIS funded Life after School service is to build work readiness and life skills for young people with a disability. The service takes a strengths based approach and builds individualised options for those individuals who participate. Life After School has specifically been co-designed with young people with a disability to ensure that it captures the needs and demands of young people and addresses specific barriers.
The service is a NDIS support available to students in secondary school or early school leavers who may not be ready to start looking for a job right away or who need help to understand the right sort of job for them.
It is intended to assist with building individual’s ability and confidence and explore best options whether that is open employment, supports in employment or study. Each person’s supports will be different, however the following can often help build employment readiness:
- Money handling skills
- Time management skills
- Communication skills
- Discovery activities
- Extended work experience
- Learning how to take instruction at work
- Travel skills
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Our school work experience program is designed to provide school students with disability to graduate with real workplace experiences and skills to start a career with confidence. Please contact us/your school to discuss the student work experience program opportunities.
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Our highly experienced therapy team can assess each person to identify the individual supports they require in a workplace including modifications to assist them with achieving their employment goals.
Our Locations
You can find our Disability Employment Services at the following locations across Perth:
- The Garden Office Park, Level 2, Building C/355 Scarborough Beach Rd, Osborne Park WA 6017
- 70 Davidson Terrace, Joondalup WA 6027 (Suite 9 in Joondalup Lotteries House)
- Lvl 1/38 Main St, Ellenbrook WA 6069 (Inside Sister Project)
- Ability WA - 106 Bradford St, Coolbinia WA 6050
- Goodwill Engineering - 337 Victoria Rd, Malaga WA 6090
- Y hub - 1/128 Yanchep Beach Rd, Yanchep WA 6035
Contact Us
Ability WA has been providing employment supports to individuals with barriers to employment for over 30 years.
If you’d like more information about any one of our employment services listed above, or if you’d like to chat to a member of our Employment Services team, please contact us today on 1300 106 106.
