Government green thumbs tested by Intework supported employees

Intework supported employees put the gardening skills of Department of Finance representatives to the test this week.

Fifteen government staff worked alongside three Intework teams to complete gardening and horticultural work at Settler’s Townsite on Burlington Road, Baldivis, as part of Intework’s contract with Lochness Landscape Services and the City of Mandurah.

Intework CEO Fiona Beermier said the not-for-profit organisation was approached by the
Department to host their staff as a way to increase their awareness of the Australian Disability Enterprise (ADE) program.

“The gardening day with the Department of Finance was an excellent opportunity to demonstrate our ability to provide meaningful work for our supported employees, and we’re so thrilled that such a large number of staff were eager to take part in the experience,” Ms Beermier said.

“From instruction on how to safely use equipment such as hedgers and blower-vacs to
demonstrations as to the best way to remove dead vegetation from the bushes, the visitors were put through their paces by our supported employees.

“We work closely with State Government, assisted by the Department of Finance, as part of our commitment to provide employment opportunities for people with disability in WA, so we hope this experience will help the visitors to spread the word about our excellent employment program to other government departments.”

Department of Finance Assistant Director Andrew Davy, who was involved in the day, said the experience provided the team with a great appreciation of the work that Intework do.

“It really highlighted how capable the ADEs are that deliver on these government contracts and the overall benefits of the ADE program to the community,” Mr Davy said.

“The work is meaningful and clearly provides the workers with a range of different tasks and opportunities to develop new skills.
“All in all, we had a great day integrating with Intework, learning about the business, working with the employees and gaining some gardening skills too.”

Fact file

• Intework’s Australian Disability Enterprise (ADE) provides meaningful employment options in supported work environments, meaning assistance is given, where necessary,to help a supported employee to complete their work.
• Intework ADE (Peel region) is subcontracted by Lochness Landscape Services tocomplete contractual work for the City of Mandurah.
• The Department of Finance and Intework work alongside WA’s seven other ADEprograms as part of the Western Australian Disability Enterprise alliance.
• Intework ADE is uniquely based on the concept of small work teams of up to foursupported employees and one supervisor, as opposed to larger-scale enclaves.

For more information contact
Melanie Dunn, Marketing and Communications Officer, Intework
(08) 6241 6615, 0407 303 542
melanied@intework.org