BuyAbility Social Enterprises employ people with disability in a supported working environment. They employ around 17,000 Australians with varying degrees of disabilities who are not currently able to work without support. Employees have access to work in a diverse range of roles – from gardeners to store people, screen printers, recyclers and cooks.
The work and job roles that many employees undertake is often conducted in a range of mainstream work settings involving community interaction including cafes, ground crews, coffee carts, delivery driving, logistics, packaging, nurseries and customer service.
Employees are supported to work, develop new skills and participate in their communities. Many find the training provided in BuyAbility Social Enterprises supports them to transition into to open employment. BuyAbility Social Enterprises invest their profits into social outcomes.
Funding for Supported Employment
Supported employees receive funding through their NDIS plan (known as “supports in employment”) for day-to-day assistance in the workplace to maintain their employment. This funding can be used by BuyAbility Social Enterprises to support employment of NDIS participants in a wider range of employment options and settings than the traditional supported employment model.
Employee Wages and Benefits
Following a review of the Supported Employment Service (SES) Award, the Fair Work Commission varied the Award in 2022 to remove all previous wage assessment tools, introduce a new classification structure and mandate the Supported Wage System as the sole wage assessment tool.
Consequently, supported employees’ wages are identified in the SES Award’s new classification structure and a Supported Wage System assessment can also be applied where required, but is not mandatory.
There is ongoing public discussion about supported employee wages and the level of government contributions required to ensure fair wages for people with disability and the commercial viability of BuyAbility Social Enterprises.
Most supported employees receive a Disability Support Pension (DSP) as well as their wage. Some employees may also receive additional benefits, such as travel allowance and subsidised housing, depending on their disability and personal circumstances. When considering both wages and benefits, most supported employees receive close to or above the minimum wage.
Benefits of Supported Employment for employees
People with disability have the right to lead normal lives like others in the community. Supported employment allows people with disability to participate in work and make meaningful contributions to the workforce like their families and neighbours.
Many people with disability also enjoy the social interaction of the workplace. Research and case studies show that supported employment can lead to beneficial health and wellbeing outcomes for people with disability.
BuyAbility Social Enterprises offer a diverse range of roles which provide opportunities to develop new skills and to form professional networks. Some employees are also able to build on the skills and networks they develop through supported employment to form lasting non-supported careers in open employment.
Benefits of supported employment for the economy
Each year, supported employment saves taxpayers and government billions of dollars. BuyAbility Social Enterprises make significant social and economic contributions to their local communities.
BuyAbility Social Enterprises reduce the need for full-time support workers and day programs. They also provide family members and other carers with time outside of caring duties, including participating in the labour force.
A study conducted by National Disability Services estimated that over 200,000 people with disability want to work and have the capacity to do so if provided with the right support. Enhancing access to supported employment will result in more employment opportunities for people with disability and allow them to lead a normal life while saving taxpayers and the government billions of dollars. BuyAbility has developed a social and economic measurement tool, the BuyAbility Tool that measures this beneficial impact to Australian society.
The future of supported employment
Enhancing the delivery of supported employment can create more work opportunities for people with disability and ensure the sustainability of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. As the disability policy landscape develops, it is paramount that people with disability retain the option of working in supported employment as well as a wide range of other employment options increasingly provided by BuyAbility Social Enterprises.
