More youth in the disability workforce

Gemma commenced work as a teacher’s aide, straight out of Secondary College after completing her Certificate 3 in Education Support. This position enabled her to engage with students with autism and other disabilities. Following this pathway, Gemma then commenced her teaching degree.

Gemma’s partner was employed as a security guard at one of the Kirinari houses and mentioned he thought she would enjoy the work. Needing to earn some part time income, Gemma started working in the disability sector for Kirinari at 18 years of age.

Gemma loved working for Kirinari and thoroughly enjoyed the hands-on experience of working in the houses. After a time, through her skill set and passion, she realised the opportunity to move into the corporate office as a rostering assistant. This is a position she continues to enjoy immensely.
This new role has provided her with a completely different perspective on how both the houses and business operate and she is learning and developing constantly.

Her previous experience of the clients and working in Kirinari houses has enabled her to be extremely effective in her current role as she understands the needs of the clients and can better judge the right staff member to match them with.

Getting the right employee for the right customer is a major component of the job satisfaction Gemma gets from her role and seeing photos that come through of the events and activities staff and clients engage in gives her genuine pleasure and fulfilment which ensures she loves coming to work every day.

Gemma’s aspirations don’t stop with her current role. She sees a genuine career pathway for herself within the Kirinari culture of always creating opportunities and seeing the potential in it staff which has resulted in her aspiration to move into a People and Culture Leader role in the coming years.

Kirsty owned a retail business before moving into the Disability Sector in search of more satisfying work experiences.  This search for fulfilment in her career led her to study her Certificate IV in Disability and saw her working for a couple of different organisations.

Encouraged to move over to Kirinari by her now mentor with a permanent offer of part time work as a Key Worker was all the incentive Kirsty needed.  The move into a Team Leader role across two of the houses came soon after and this was followed by her transition into the corporate office as a rostering assistant.   

This was both a more difficult and challenging role and Kirsty thrived on the opportunity it presented to better know and understand both her client and her staff needs, likes and aspirations to facilitate a great match between them. 

Having ‘walked the walk and talked the talk’ of working her way through the Kirinari business Kirsty was a natural to take on a People and Culture Leader role.  It helped knowing her experiences of first-hand disability work would support her to be a more empathetic Manager.

Today Kirsty oversees 12 group homes, 50 staff and 30 different customers. No two days are ever the same be it working in houses one day and meeting with National Disability Services representatives and some of her staff the next. 

Variety and challenge are all part of the immense job satisfaction she gets out of her work 

Mitch was working in retail and studying IT when his then housemate and friend suggested Kirinari as a potential employer. 

With a parent working in the corporate side of the business and another parent with a disability Mitch had some exposure and understanding of what might be involved in working in the sector. Despite this lived experience Mitch was still somewhat taken aback by the sheer diversity of disability that existed but it didn’t take him long to adjust. 

He spent his first 6 months working across Kirinari Houses and the Day Program.  This gave him a real sense of the variety of work involved.  His natural curiosity led to him expressing an interest in the management of risk across the behaviours spectrum.  Kirinari recognised his potential and offered him a Key Worker role with Complex Behaviours for a couple of their clients. His interest in compliance ensured Kirinari had the right opportunity for him. 

Mitch loves the problem-solving aspect of his role.  Particularly identifying behaviours and then delving into what triggers and motivates them.  He gets tremendous satisfaction from sitting down with a team of staff involved in an incident and them brainstorming and mind mapping the issues and resolving to learn from them moving forward. 

Attending a conference in Melbourne as a support worker for a week around the issues of kids in foster care opened his eyes to the range and diversity of opportunities within the sector.  He really appreciated being able to have this learning opportunity and on full pay.

Mitch commenced his Certificate IV online last year but has it on the back burner as he takes on a new challenge within the sector with The Personnel Group. 

Sam used his last years of school to follow is dream of becoming a Heavy Diesel Plant Mechanic under a traineeship working in a mine. By the time he undertook his second trade as a Heavy Diesel Road Transport Mechanic he was starting to come to the realisation that his career progression opportunities were limited and he felt burnt out.

He started working in a bar but wasn’t getting anywhere near enough hours. Meanwhile he was applying for jobs but was not hearing anything back. He had applied for 70 with no job outcomes he was rightly becoming frustrated.

In a final attempt to secure something that would lead to work, he took three copies of his resumes to local businesses, one of which was a Disability Services Provider. They got right back to him and although he didn’t have experience, they saw his potential and offered him the break he needed.

His very first shift was ice skating with a client in a wheelchair and as he hung on and glided over the ice, he couldn’t believe he was getting paid to do this. “It was a great ice breaker” he said.

When his partner received a teaching job offer in Albury, Sam was also offered an opportunity to work in the school environment as a teacher’s aide working with students with disability.

One of the teachers mentioned he played footy with someone who had involvement within the disability sector. He was surprised when he learned she was actually the CEO of Kirinari and decided to call her. Sam had the most laid-back interview in the coolest office he’d ever seen and was sold on the chance.

Although he had applied for a casual job, Kirinari had already noted his potential and offered him a Team Leader role within their day program. Leading a team of middle-aged women was a challenge he took on with a mix of nervousness and great gusto. His mentor Jody has been a great support to him.

Sam loves to understand what makes people tick and this had led to his interest in Behaviour Support. He would love to pursue his career in that area of disability. He recently applied to undertake his Certificate IV but was too late in applying for this year’s intake so has instead applied for the Kirinari Leadership Program along with Key Word Sign and Auslan training.

When doing Community Access work Sam encountered a client with an interest in mechanics and with his background, he was able to share his experience of this type of work by finding peoples cars that needed servicing and taking his client through the process of what was involved. Seeing the absolute pleasure on the face of a guy after jacking up a car and changing a tyre gave Sam the warm fuzzy feeling that heightened his appreciation for his new career and the opportunities for satisfying work it delivered on.

With experience of the School Leavers Employment Support (SLES) program from his first role in the sector back in Bathurst, Sam is using his initiative and aspiring to initiate SLES in the current Day Program he’s leading and is looking forward to the challenge this will generate for him.

Sara is in her third year of a Nursing degree and has been working with Kirinari since May 2019.  She had mentioned to her local hockey coach that she was looking for part time work to support her studies, after her experiences of hospitality left her unsatisfied.

Although she had undertaken placements in Aged Care and Acute settings, Sara had no specific disability experience but came with plenty of passion and a curiosity to better understand the sector

She was nervous at her interview but was immediately made to feel comfortable by the office environment and people in it.  She was invited to start work as a volunteer but immediately got rostered on some buddy shifts and then was straight into work and she hasn’t looked back.

Sara can see synergies between her nursing studies and disability work. She was really surprised during her recent nursing placement in a hospital setting that qualified health professionals had limited to no experience of engaging with someone with an intellectual disability or autism.  She can see real opportunity for those working in health to learn and better understand the experience of disability and how to best engage with those people who have disability but come into regular contact with health services.

Sara’s own disability awareness has increased significantly during her time with Kirinari and her job satisfaction is immense. She absolutely loves her work and gets a real kick out of hearing what her clients did in Day Program and in taking them out for Community Access. 

She sees a real opportunity ahead for herself to link her disability experience with her nursing studies.

Makayla has lived experience of disability through the care of two younger siblings with Autism and her own Autism diagnosis. This has led to a true passion for disability work and working in the sector since July 2019 has certainly expanded and increased her own knowledge and understanding,

Having undertaken her Certificate 3 in Early Child Care whilst completing secondary college. Makayla didn’t particularly enjoy working in the sector so committed to her Certificate IV in Disability work at the same time that her friend sent her the Kirinari Seek advertisement. 

Hearing back within a week of applying gave her confidence and the laidback interview approach of Kirinari staff left her feeling great about the opportunity. 

With extensive experience with high-risk behaviours from caring for her siblings, Makayla has proven a natural talent working across two Kirinari houses.  She is thoroughly enjoying getting to know and better understand her clients and their experiences of Independent living. 

Having gained a lot of support from her peers, and despite being the youngest staff member Kirinari has identified her potential and Makayla has just last week started a Team Leader role covering someone on maternity leave and is thriving in the opportunity to learn and develop her skills. 

One of her most fulfilling experiences is helping to set up a brand-new house with a client with challenging behaviours.

Makayla loves working in disability and particularly with Kirinari as she grows in her understanding of what goes on behind the scenes in making the life of someone with a disability as rewarding as possible. 

With a long-term goal of studying social work operating in the youth, mental health and social services space, she is confident she is gaining the right sort of experience to help her along that path. Meanwhile she loves nothing more than going to work and taking clients for coffee or to the movies and watching and supporting them to live their best lives.

Kasey has been working in disability with Kirinari for 4 months having engaged with them through their newly introduced group interview process.

Year 12 was a struggle for her as she battled ill health and failed to get the support of her teachers.

With her mother a Team Leader with the organisation, Kasey has quickly gained a solid understanding of how things are done. 

Kasey is currently working across two Kirinari houses, one with behavioural issues and one independent living client.  She is gaining new insights into the requirements of support in very different environments.

She loves seeing the enjoyment her clients express when she takes them to their Day Program and then share the experience of new and exciting things with her. 

Her Team Leader has really supported Kasey in her development and is teaching her new things and new ways to do things which is adding extensively to her high level of job satisfaction. 

With a long-term goal of working in paediatric nursing, Kasey sees herself working in the sector for the foreseeable future and would love the opportunity to develop herself to become a Team Leader and she feels confident that Kirinari will support her to achieve this goal.