What is Supported Employment? Kickstart Your Career

Supported Employment is a rewarding job pathway for people with disability. We reveal what it is and how it works.

Are you keen to enter the workforce?

Then, Supported Employment could be an option for you.

This career pathway for people with disability is one filled with positives.

But what is Supported Employment exactly? And how do you get started?

In this insightful article, we detail everything you need to know about Supported Employment.

What is Supported Employment?

Supported Employment is a career pathway that allows people with disability to work in a commercial business with the help of onsite employment coaches and production team leaders.

This assistance extends beyond support that is typically available to employees in a traditional workplace and is provided to ensure participants can:

• Adequately perform their role
• Learn and develop new skills
• Work towards their employment goals

A wide variety of jobs are available via the Supported Employment pathway, which is a common stepping stone to Supported Hosted Employment and Mainstream Employment.

What are the Benefits of Supported Employment?

Supported Employment has loads of advantages. Among them are opportunities to earn an income, learn new skills, build self-confidence, create friendships and enjoy job satisfaction.

Is Supported Employment Funded by the NDIS?

Yes. Supported Employment is funded by the NDIS as part of the NDIS employment supports.

Do Supported Employees Get Paid?

Yes, Supported Employment is paid work.

It is paid from day one and supplemented by your Disability Support Pension (DSP).

This means that as a supported employee, you will often still receive the DSP.

Who Offers Supported Employment?

One notable avenue to Supported Employment is via an Australian Disability Enterprise (ADE).

ADEs are businesses that have a distinct focus on employing people with disability to make their products or provide services. They are typically run by non-profit organisations.

Endeavour Foundation’s various Business Solutions sites are excellent examples of ADEs.

These sites are dotted all over Queensland and are also found in New South Wales and Victoria. They offer the likes of document destruction services, packaging solutions and cross arm manufacturing.

How Do I Get a Job as a Supported Employee?

Here are four key steps that people with disability generally take to become a supported employee:

1. Obtain NDIS Funding

To be a supported employee, you must have NDIS funding for employment supports.

You can receive this funding by talking to your NDIS planner about your desire to find a job, including the type of roles that interest you.

2. Chat to a Provider

Determine which organisations offer Supported Employment in your area and reach out to them.

If you have a support coordinator, they will be able to help you with this task.

As Australia’s largest employer of people with intellectual disability, Endeavour Foundation regularly has Supported Employment vacancies.

Contact us to explore current vacancies.

3. Book a Site Tour

If you find something that suits you, the next step is to organise a site tour.

A site tour is an excellent way to become familiar with the workplace and meet your potential workmates and managers.

4. Start a Trial

Following a site tour, a trial period allows you to better assess whether Supported Employment is suitable for you.

Supported Employment – A Rewarding Pathway

What do employees think of Supported Employment?

The video below features some of the talented employees from our Mount Druitt Business Solutions site in Sydney, who reveal what their jobs mean to them.