Rob Fraser is a 27 year old who commenced employment at Sunnyfield Chatswood in November 2008.
When Rob first started he was a quiet employee requiring some assistance on the production line as he found some of the tasks challenging and didn’t have much of a social circle and was often seen on his own.
However in the past two years a big change has occurred with Rob, now becoming a very confident man who works consistently on a large variety of tasks throughout each day. Robbie requires very little to no supervision when working and is able to ensure his work is completed correctly before sending it down the conveyor line.
Rob has formed a great social network at work and is always seen high fiving other employees, laughing in the group conversations and dancing and singing at lunch time to the music being played in the canteen.
Rob’s transformation in the past two years has been amazing to witness, and at the 2013 end of year Christmas party, Rob was provided with the Most Improved Award which he was very excited to receive in front of his family and friends who are very proud of him.
Rob has developed a great work commitment during the past year and works hard every day on tasks he has been allocated. Robbie comes to work each day with a huge smile on his face and ready to work, learn new skills and see all his friends at Sunnyfield.
Rob stated “I Like coming to work and seeing all my friends”, “I like the wax job”.

My daughter has an intellectual disability and has been working at Gunnedah Workshop Enterprises for 20 years. She is happy to go to work every day and like most of the workers there has an amazing work ethic. The staff are brilliant and caring. I worry that the money designated to individuals will end up being used up by consultants or the like. Who is going to decide what is best for our guys who have no family to look out for them. People with physical disabilities may be able to decide what they want to do but intellectual disabled people can easily have their resources squandered. The ADE in Gunnedah works really well with great town support. Please listen to the people who are involved in working and caring for these people NOT the so called experts who sit on offices and make decisions that may not work in practice.

My name is Adam and I have had a psychiatric disability for over twenty years. Before I came to Marriott Support Services to work in Marriott Enviro Services I was haveing a lot of trouble with my life and could have ended up with a custodial sentence hanging over me. I have a perminant and continuous disability with anxiety issues on a daily basis, which means I have been unsecsessful in open employment on many occations. Marriott Enviro Services has given me fantastic support over many years, were I have a good job, working four days per week on a wage that is good for me. I enjoy the social contact of my fellow workers as we are on the same wave length, allowing me to have contact with them out of work hours in our private time. My whole world has been given security and comfort that I had not experianced before comming to Marriott's. If the ADE part of Marriott was to close down I don't know what I would do but I may do something that would be very detrimental to my well being. I can't tell you how important my job in supported employment is to me. Regards Adam.

GSI has made a life for my son, Ted. Without GSI Ted would not have a life, he would have sat at home doing nothing. In the early days Ted tried to work in the open workforce but he could not compete against the general public. GSI gave Ted a purpose in life. I cannot speak highly enough about GSI, they are marvellous. Ted received a lot of support from everyone at GSI over his 50 years of employment. As Ted has been ill over recent years and need a lot of time off work we always knew Ted would have a job to come back to when he was better. Ted has been on many holidays some overseas and this has been possible because Ted works for GSI. Ted became confident because he worked at GSI and for many years Ted has and still is the scorer for the local cricket club something I don’t think Ted could have achieved if it was not for GSI. Ted is very independent and likes to do his own thing and this has been encouraged by GSI.
If Ted had not worked he would now be a retired bloke with nothing to do. Because of GSI Ted is looking forward to accessing his superannuation and going on a few holidays. Since Ted has retired he has been to the shop a couple of times to catch up with his work mates.

We contracted … Good Samaritan Industries to place neck tags on our olive oil. The job required the staff to open the box without damaging the shelf-ready functionality, place different neck tags on the corresponding olive oil and then reseal the box, ensuring that it remained in good condition. From the beginning …
Good Samaritan Industries have been a pleasure to deal with. They have been reliable and efficient. My other colleagues who have been responsible for the logistics aspect have also spoken highly of Good Samaritan Industries, especially with their efficiency and clear communication. I would highly recommend Good Samaritan Industries to any company requiring complex product reworking and other intensive labour jobs as I have experienced first hand their superior ability and dedication to their work. We will definitely be using them in the future.

I don’t know what I would have done with my life if I had not worked at GSI. I was never bored at work and I learnt lots over the last 50 years. Everyone at GSI helped and assisted me in my work. I met lots of nice people and had lots of nice boss’s. I still catch up with some of the people I used to work with many years ago. Now I have retired I like to pop into the Dianella Store to say hello to everyone and I have also been to the new Morley Store to say hello and check it out.
I am always made to feel welcome. I was very sick a few years ago and had 4 months of work. It made me happy when a lot of the people I work with came to visit me at my home. Because of working I have been able to afford to go on many holidays within Australia and overseas. One of my holidays was an organised tour to America. The confidence I gained from working at GSI gave me the courage to go on this holiday by myself. I’m enjoying retirement now and looking forward to spending my superannuation on some more holidays.

Having a job at GSI makes me happy, confident and relaxed. I have achieved and learnt a lot. Some of the things I have learnt at work have also helped me outside of work. I can catch the bus to the local shopping centre where I see my friends for coffee or go to the movies and go shopping. The things I have learnt at work also help me at home… learning how to keep the Good Sammy store neat, clean and tidy has helped me with my house cleaning at home. Working and earning money has meant I can go on organised outings and holidays and be able to do what everyone else does in the community. I have made lots of friends at GSI and we regularly go out together. One of my co-workers put me in contact with a recreation organisation. Because of this I now have friends outside of GSI too.
My family are very proud of me and what I have achieved at work, especially winning the Employee of the Month award. I have a lot of support from the staff at GSI to help me do my best at work. If I did not work I would probably just stay at home be bored and have no money to do all the things I like to do.

Working with Australian Disability Enterprise Karingal Kommercial opened a door for aspiring chef Aimee Hovey, who is continuing to dream big. Aimee was working as a supported employee with Karingal Kommercial helping prepare food for hungry workers at Shell when she was offered the chef’s apprenticeship just over two years ago. “I’d wanted to work in hospitality for a long time, but found it hard to get more than dishwashing work,” Aimee said. “An apprenticeship was exactly what I wanted to do, so it’s pretty cool to be doing it at Karingal Kommercial. “It’s definitely made me happy to be able to go to work and have a job – it’s awesome that it’s something I like doing.” By May 2015 Aimee will be a fully qualified chef and is looking forward to seeing where her new qualification will take her.
“I am working towards becoming a chef in a restaurant and I definitely want to use my skills to travel more and maybe even work overseas,” she said. “The best parts about working at Karingal are the opportunities I have been given and the people I have worked with along the way. There is pressure in the kitchen and it’s fast-paced, but I don’t find it stressful at all – we just do what we do and it’s been great.” These days Aimee splits her time between classes at The Gordon TAFE and getting hands-on experience under qualified chefs in the industrial kitchen at Karingal’s new ADE operations in North Geelong.

Karingal employees blossom thanks to Spade and Barrow Each time Spade and Barrow chief executive officer Katy Barfield visits Karingal Kommercial, a wave of positivity washes over her. The genuine nature of the supported employees is inspiring – a word which can also be used to describe Spade and Barrow. The not-for-profit organisation assists Australian farmers by purchasing their fresh produce which was previously being wasted because it wasn’t the right shape or size for bigger buyers. Now, the farmers send it to Karingal Kommercial where it is processed in the organisation’s state-of-the-art fully accessible North Geelong ADE facility. Supported employees have been trained to hand cut the produce, which is then distributed to cafes and restaurants. Employees work off a template and manually check the size of each piece, which Katy said is cut to perfection. “It’s been faultless,” she said.
“With a machine there are lots of inconsistencies but when there’s a human, there is quality control.” Katy highly recommended working with an Australian Disability Enterprise, saying it was a mutually beneficial partnership.
“We were looking for a like-minded social enterprise and Karingal fits the bill,” she said. “I can’t say enough amazing things about them. “I always leave feeling really good about the work we’re doing and that we’re providing people with a disability with an opportunity for employment.”

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.