Support service helping young disabled Victorians gain jobs

A Geelong-based service provider says education for employers to hire people with disabilities is unfunded.

Thalia Baulch after purchasing her new unit. Picture: Supplied

A lack of knowledge among employers is hindering job opportunities for young people with disabilities, according to a local service.

Clare Amies, chief executive of genU, said employers don’t have the confidence or the knowledge on how or what inclusive employment means for people with disabilities and said education for these employers was unfunded.

The organisation, which provides a variety of disability support, believes a lack of inclusive practices being rolled out in workplaces across the country means there aren’t many places for people with disabilities to go.

Jaime-Lee Demmer, director of employment services at genU, said it was extremely important for people with disabilities to gain employment.

“We know people with disabilities often have a lot of skills and talents they can take into a workplace,” she said.

“It’s just about supporting those people and looking at what barriers they may have and how we can overcome those barriers so they are successful in gaining employment and maintaining employment.”

Ms Demmer said one of the reasons it was difficult for people with disabilities to gain employment was because of a lack of employer confidence.

“Often we are able to support businesses to hire a person with a disability, however, they don’t always know how to go about that or they don’t know who could support them,” she said.

Thalia Baulch. Picture: Supplied

Colac woman Thalia Baulch has a severe cognitive disability, but has been able to expand her horizons with help from genU.

Ms Baulch’s father, Raymond, said he couldn’t be more proud of his daughter.

Ms Baulch, who is now 24, currently works at KFC, has a driver’s licence, and her own apartment in Colac

Mr Baulch said his daughter has been able to learn valuable lessons and push her boundaries by developing social skills as a result of employment pathways through genU.

“She doesn’t view herself as being anybody different,” he said.

“She has goals, the same as everybody else.

“She has proven that where she is now, and the things she has achieved now are all above and beyond what I thought she was capable of.

“To see her develop from cleaning tables to taking orders with the headset, I am confident to say given the right time and support, she can achieve pretty much anything.”

Ms Demmer said people with disabilities have many skills and talents they can take into a workplace and people just need to be given an opportunity to be shown that.

Originally published as Support service helping young disabled Victorians gain jobs