Employment and Businesses Services
The Koomarri Employment & Business Services is funded by the Australian Government Departments of Family and Community Services & Indigenous Affairs (Business Services) and Employment and Work Place Relations (Open Employment Services).
Open Employment Services:
- The Koomarri Employment Service (DEN)
Koomarri provides a range of employment services to people with disabilities in the ACT including support to obtain and maintain a job in the open labour market. This Service is sometimes referred to as Open Employment. This Service is part of the Disability Employment Network (DEN).
This employment service works with individuals to obtain a job with government departments or with private enterprise. It offers Job seekers support whilst they work. Support which ensures the Job Seeker remains motivated and working to their capacities.
The goals of this employment service is to support individuals with disabilities to have the opportunity to work in a job that is more challenging; a job that is compatible with their likes and dislikes; jobs that are on the path to realising great careers in the open labour market.
- Individual Supported Jobs are Koomarri clients who are employed in mainstream employment. These clients work independently and are supported occasionally by a Koomarri support worker. Most of these clients are paid directly by their employer.
- Pre Employment is a service for new clients which assesses a client's employment wants, needs and capabilities and then identifies suitable work for the individual. This can be in either a Koomarri Business service or through open employment.
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The Business Services run by Koomarri have a dual focus: The provision of supported employment for the disabled employees and the operation of commercially viable businesses. The Koomarri businesses are:
Business Services:
- Office Support Agency is the collective name for six working groups located within various public and private departments around Canberra. The Office Support Agency model is highly successful with small groups of people with disabilities undertaking various office tasks while being supported by a support worker within the workforce. There are 48 clients employed in Office Support Agencies.
- Garden Maintenance has been in operation since 1989. Garden Maintenance provides paid employment for people with disabilities in a variety of garden and grounds maintenance jobs for the public and private sector. Koomarri Garden Maintenance consists of:
- Ainslie Depot - four gardening teams working out of Ainslie Depot. Work undertaken is mainly contracted gardening work with a small number of private customers.
- Parks and Places - three gardening crews are contracted to the ACT Government TAMS Department, Parks and Places division, located at Calwell and Belconnen. Work includes maintenance of nature strips, underpasses, bus shelters and grounds pavilions.
- Yarralumla Nursery - a team of gardeners is contracted to the ACT Government TAMS Department located at Yarralumla Nursery. Work undertaken here includes propagation of plants, potting of plants for wholesale and inclusion at the annual Floriade event.
- Ezi Iron was established in 1990 as a professional ironing service and provides employment for 11 people with a disability. Ezi Iron has a large number of private customers while also providing a tablecloth ironing service to local restaurants as well as being an agent for dry cleaning.
- The Cut Cloth Shop uses discarded clothes and materials, which are cut up and sold to Canberra businesses that can re-use these products. Customers of The Cut Cloth Shop include cleaning, printing and motor vehicle businesses.
- Pack 'N' Post is a packaging and mail out business located in Belconnen. Work undertaken includes collation and construction of folders and show bags, labelling, packaging and mail outs.
- Contract Solutions is a collation and mail out service located in Woden. Work undertaken includes the construction of folders for Defence Housing Authority and show bags for Questacon. Contract solutions also provides labour under subcontract to other Koomarri businesses.
- Koomarri Queanbeyan is the Koomarri flower business providing single stem flower vases to local small businesses, whilst also providing bouquets to businesses, service stations and to the general public. In addition Koomarri Queanbeyan has a contract with Alpha Flight Services to provide sealed cutlery packs and first class cutlery rolls to Qantas.
- Koomarri Unitronics assembles electrical circuit boards for insertion into street lighting and commercial electrical purposes.
Contact: Mr Daryl Weiss – dweiss@koomarri.asn.au
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