My daughter Ellie is 24 and loves being at Koomarri, an ADE in Canberra where she works three days a week. Koomarri operates in six locations around the ACT and Queanbeyan, with activities such as renewing and repacking passenger headsets for Qantas, Pack ‘N’ Post, office services (for example, stuffing envelopes) and garden maintenance. Before she started there, Ellie tried open employment, doing menial tasks at a takeaway chain, but she didn’t find the environment supportive and in fact there was some bullying going on. She was referred to Koomarri through Valmar Support Services in Queanbeyan. It’s ideal for her – she’s very attached to her coworkers and her social life is based around her attendance there.
Ellie’s mother and I are good income earners and we’re financially secure, so the money she earns is really secondary to her engagement in employment and her wellbeing. She’s so happy and settled where she is, and if Koomarri and other ADEs were no longer there, it would be extremely detrimental to her and so many others in a similar situation.