Opening the door to employment for people with disability

28 March 2024

28 Mar 2024

Did you know that 47% of people with disability who are of working age are not in a labour force?* It’s a statistic that has barely changed in the past 25 years, and one that VMCH is determined to help shift.

In summary:

April 2 is World Autism Awareness Day
Cody is one of seven VMCH clients working at Puckapunyal base
VMCH aims to assist 100 people with disability find meaningful employment by 2025
For more on VMCH Employment Pathways, visit Job Skills

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I struggled to find a job before this. I was a bit nervous when I first started, but I’m definitely more comfortable now. I like making the soldiers happy and giving them the food that they like.
– Cody

April 2 is World Autism Awareness Day, recognising and celebrating the rights of people on the autism spectrum. It’s also a day to highlight the need to help improve the quality of life of people with autism so they can lead full and meaningful lives – including finding and maintaining paid employment.

Cody, aged 23, is one step closer to realising his dream of working in the I.T industry thanks to VMCH’s Employment Pathways program.

For the past eight months, Cody has worked at Puckapunyal Australian Defence Force base with hospitality contractor Ventia, supporting kitchen staff with meal prep and service.

“Working with others is definitely a good experience and has helped me build skills. Eventually I’d like to work in computers. This is helping me find the confidence to do it.”

Cody is one of seven VMCH clients currently working at Puckapunyal through Ventia, and resource management contractor Veolia.

VMCH Senior Manager Group Programs and Employment Harley Dalgleish says the organisation, which also runs its own social enterprise businesses, has set itself a target to support 100 people with a disability to find and sustain meaningful employment by 2025.

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“Working with others is definitely a good experience and has helped me build skills. Eventually I’d like to work in computers. This is helping me find the confidence to do it.”

Cody is one of seven VMCH clients currently working at Puckapunyal through Ventia, and resource management contractor Veolia.

VMCH Senior Manager Group Programs and Employment Harley Dalgleish says the organisation, which also runs its own social enterprise businesses, has set itself a target to support 100 people with a disability to find and sustain meaningful employment by 2025.

“By normalising the employment of people with disability in a range of roles and industries, we reduce the anxiety of businesses to embrace this fantastic opportunity.”

Tammy Steve, Operations Manager at Ventia, says the partnership with VMCH made the process of employing people with disability an easy one.

Tammy added the benefits of employing people with disability also extended to fellow employees.

“I’ve seen great personal growth in my team, as well as the people we employ through VMCH,” she says.

“When Cody first arrived, he was very shy and found it hard to interact. To see him now; laughing, smiling and confident, is amazing. That’s also thanks to our Army client, whose staff are great at relationship building and bringing out the best in people.”

Cody’s supervisor, Macca (Sharon McMenenmin), who has worked at the base for 39 years, says she loves “everything about working with Cody”.

We’re committed to not only to supporting people with disability find employment but breaking down barriers for businesses to employ them. We work closely with our clients and their employers to ensure the relationship is working for both of them. Often businesses may feel it’s too daunting or there’s too much red tape to employ a person with disability, but it’s just not the case.
– Harley

Would you like more information?

For more information on VMCH’s Employment Pathways program, head to the Job Skills page.

View Job Skills

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Acknowledgement of Country

We here at VMCH respectfully acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands on which we gather, and we would like to take a moment to honour the fact that we live on the lands of the oldest civilisation in the world. We acknowledge the stories, traditions and wisdom of Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander peoples, and pay our respects to their elders past, present and emerging.