Activ to cease employment service for people with disability in Albany

The State’s biggest disability support provider will stop offering its site-based employment services for people with disability in Albany from the end of this month — a decision described as “devastating” by the mother of one of 26 local employees. Starting as an education group for children with disability in Albany in 1961, Activ says its Albany branch became the only local provider offering the combination of accommodation, community and employment services. Activ executive manager operations south Amanda Lovelock said the organisation would replace its site-based employment services with “alternate support options” from July 31. Activ Albany’s accommodation and community services would continue as normal, she said. “Activ regularly reviews its services to ensure they are sustainable and provide genuine, high- quality independence outcomes for our customers,” she said. “Since the introduction of the (National Disability Insurance Scheme), there has been a steady decline in demand for site-based employment services in Albany. “Many of our existing and new customers in Albany are asking for more innovative and modern employment support options. We have listened to this feedback.” Activ Albany has 26 supported employees on its books. A mother of one of the Activ Albany employees, who asked not to be named, said the announcement was “very upsetting” for the entire family. Two days a week for more than five years, her daughter would get ready and go to work with Activ, where she had made friends and met her boyfriend. “She loved it, she was happy,” the mother said. “When she used to have holidays or was sick, she always wanted to go back to work. It was some stability, it gave her purpose. “She enjoyed going there and learning skills and doing something she wouldn’t get to do elsewhere.” She now fears her daughter will lose those important connections and struggle to find new employment. “They will have different lives and go different places and she might never see some of those people again,” she said. “It is very devastating for her. “She was very upset. “It means we have to use more funding and have people go and help her try and find another job. “Activ said that it would be easy, but I know it won’t be.” The mother said she was worried that because many businesses were not wheelchair-friendly, it would limit the job opportunities for Activ’s employees. She said the family were not consulted about the decision before being told about the changes by Activ last week. “Nobody was consulted. We were just told it was shutting and that was it,” she said. Ms Lovelock said staff were working closely with each customer and their families to ensure a smooth transition to other employment or community supports, based on each customer’s individual needs and goals. “Adopting a person-centred approach to supporting people with disability to explore their employment options, develop the necessary skills and find employment within the community is more in line with our independence strategy and with what our customers want,” she said. “Activ will continue to support our customers who want to work with employment supports, such as career coaching, to enable them to obtain more meaningful work in the community. “Other employment-related options include exploring the possibility of transitioning individuals to working directly for the businesses we currently service, supporting individuals to set up their own business, or supporting people to get the skills they require so they can get a job in open employment.”