When I tell people where I work, some people say, “Where?”

Most people in Wagga Wagga know about Kurrajong Waratah as it’s the largest not-for-profit organisation in the area, but generally, people haven’t heard of Skills Options. It’s not until I talk about some of the activities we do that people raise their eyebrows – I mean, in what other job can you go to a music concert, lunch in the park and have an art session in the afternoon. People are genuinely interested in the work I do and they ask a lot of questions. People enquire about the hours, job description and training.

I tell them that our Manager usually employs casual staff to fill rosters as it gives them a chance to see if they like working with people with disability. Some of the casual staff now have permanent positions.

Once, a woman said to me that I must be a “special type of person” to work with adults with disability. I think she was referring to having lots of patience and being very understanding. However, I don’t believe that you need to be “special” to work with people with disability; it’s an enjoyable, rewarding job! Of course, it’s handy to have a great sense of humour!

The staff at Skills Options come from all areas of the community, and are all different types of people. I think this is why our service works. Although reactions to my work are mixed, attitudes in the community are changing as people learn more about the disability and community care sector. If you want to know more, ask someone you know who works with people with disability, or get in touch with the carecareers Careers Centre.

"I moved to Wagga Wagga in NSW around 3 years ago to support my partner in a career progression opportunity and to be closer to family. For me, this meant starting again with finding new employment.

"I got a transfer to Woolworths in Wagga and then tried telemarketing, which was not for me. I picked up our local newspaper one day and read a job advertisement for support workers. The thing that caught my eye was the heading 'Do you have life experiences?' I rang the contact number, discussed the position and applied for the job.

"As I had no idea what the role was going to be I researched 'community support worker' on the web and thought, hey I can do this! Until I started my training I didn’t realise how many hats a support worker has. It was overwhelming at first and it was a lot to take in, but after I settled in I realised that being a support worker was something that I really enjoyed..."

Read Ann's full carecareers story or learn more about frontline support roles in the disability and community care sector.

Media release: 18 February 2011

The disability and community care sector is set to grow rapidly in regional centres across New South Wales, including Wagga Wagga in the next five years.

Kurrajong Waratah and the state-wide carecareers employment campaign has organised a forum today for more than 40 local residents and service providers to learn about how they could transition into a rewarding job in the disability and community care sector.

“The disability and community care sector is looking to recruit 40,000 people across NSW in the next five years because the number of people using these services is expected to rise to 350,000,” says Dr Kate More, State Manager of National Disability Services (NDS), NSW.

More than 110 local positions - based in Wagga Wagga and the Riverina have been advertised through carecareers since its launch 12 months ago.

carecareers is a NSW government-funded initiative launched to help carer job seekers connect with the thousands of opportunities in the sector.

Read the full media release (pdf)

Kurrajong Waratah is a local community organisation providing a broad range of services to babies, children and adults with disabilities, and their Kurrajong Early Childhood Intervention Service (KEIS) in Wagga Wagga is a leading edge Early Childhood Intervention Service with an outstanding reputation for excellence in the provision of family centred service delivery.

The KEIS team provides a support and therapy service to families and their children (birth to school age) with disabilities and/or developmental delays. They are currently seeking a Speech Pathologist to work in Wagga Wagga.

Essential criteria

• Degree in Speech Pathology
• Current driver’s licence

Desirable criteria

• Understanding of developmental delay/disability and the effects on family
• Previous experience working with children with developmental delay/disability and their families
• Ability to work as part of a team and liaise with other service providers
• Excellent verbal and written skills
• Experience in working in a multidisciplinary or transdisciplinary team

Learn more about the Speech Pathologist role at KEIS or search for more Speech Pathologist roles.

Last year I finished my Certificate III in Disability and obtained a statement of attainment. This year, I'm looking forward to finishing my Certificate IV as I only have a few modules left, which I’ll hopefully finish before the end of February. I really enjoy the extra work and the knowledge I am gaining, so I think the next step will be a diploma.

I’ve always liked studying but somehow I enjoy it more when studying with colleagues. Ideas are bounced around the room and because we all work in the field of disability, it seems easier.
 
I have always liked to challenge myself at work too so I’ve developed a few goals this year.

For a long time I've wanted to teach a few staff members how to work our papermaking machine and to do bookbinding. I think it's a great idea to share skills and knowledge at work - everyone benefits. Staff members can learn a new skill for themselves and they can then teach it to our clients.

We have our planning days at work soon. At these planning days we usually work through the aims and goals of our clients and discuss procedures too. This year, I've also been given the opportunity to teach some of my skills to other staff members, in some training sessions.

I will also learn how to screen print in another training session, which I've wanted to learn how to do for a while as I'd like to show our clients how to make different designs for Skills Options' annual Christmas cards.

My manager has come up with a great idea that will incorporate our handmade paper with a print for our Christmas cards this year, and while I know it sounds wrong to be talking about next Christmas already it usually takes a whole year to get the artwork ready for our art exhibition and cards!