After 53 years, this disability work program is shutting down

An organisation which provides jobs to disabled residents in the Burdekin has made the decision to shut its program down after struggling to remain viable after a ‘difficult’ transition to NDIS.

Employees sort documents at the Endeavour Foundation's new location in Ayr. Seven employees with disabilities will be out of a job when the program closes in September.

An organisation which provides jobs to disabled residents in Ayr and Home Hill has made the decision to shut its program down after struggling to remain viable after a “difficult” transition to NDIS.

The Endeavour Foundation is an independent organisation which supports more than 500 people with disabilities to live independently across Australia.

Endeavour Foundation acting executive general manager Greg McCluand told the Townsville Bulletin the group has been facing two major challenges in Ayr.

“Firstly, the transition to the NDIS has not worked well for our disability social enterprise in Ayr,” Mr McCluand said.

“Secondly, while there are some great thriving businesses in Ayr, we haven’t been able to find commercial partners to provide enough work for our valued employees with a disability.”

Greg McCluand on the Sunshine Coast.

Burdekin Shire Mayor Pierina Dalle Cort was informed of the closure by letter in June.

Endeavour Foundation’s chief corporate relations officer Kirrily Boulton wrote that despite trying many different things over the years, the Ayr employment program continued to struggle with viability.

“Sadly, this means from 30 September 2025 we are no longer able to keep running Disability Social Enterprise in Ayr,” Ms Boulton wrote.

The Endeavour Foundation is not a non-profit, but a public company. In 2024 it’s total revenue was reported to be $357m, while its expenses were $363m - a $6m deficit.

Mayor Dalle Cort said she was very sorry to see the jobs program go.

“The possibility of employing these people at Council has been brought up and our HR is looking into it,” Mayor Dalle Cort said.

“NDIS has been a large talking point. The NDIS has been lauded by providers, but the people who actually need it aren’t getting much.”

“At the end of the way people want a purpose, and these workers love what they do and they are excited to go to work each day. It would be a shame for our community to lose them.”

Burdekin Mayor Pierina Dalle Cort

The Endeavour Foundation’s supported employment program began on a farm outside Home Hill in the ‘70s, where people with disabilities could work packing mangoes and growing tomatoes to earn a wage.

The farm expanded into a commercial nursery that sold seedlings to farmers across the region, then opened up workshops where staff could assemble trailers, flatpack furniture, painting stakes, learn to drive trucks, get forklift licenses, and become qualified welders.

Eventually the farm closed and the facility was moved to Home Hill, and later, in 2023, to the “state-of-the-art” Ayr Business Solutions centre.

In Ayr the employees worked processing industrial cleaning clothes, refurbishing headphones for Qantas, assembling cane bin clips, and sorting archive boxes for document destruction.

Ms Boulton said the foundation had “carefully explored all possible options” before deciding to close the program, and said she understood the news would impact the seven workers with disabilities currently employed by the foundation.

“We are now looking for opportunities for our talented employees to work for other organisations and businesses, or perhaps within the Burdekin Shire Council,” Ms Boulton said.

The closure of the employment program does not impact on the Endeavour Foundation’s other independent living or lifestyle support services in the Burdekin.

Originally published as After 53 years, this disability work program is shutting down