MatchWorks expands national Disability Employment Services delivery
Leading employment services organisation MatchWorks is set to become one of Australia’s largest providers of Disability Employment Services (DES) from July 2018, and will connect people to jobs from an additional 80 locations.
Following a successful submission to the recent Federal Government DES open tender, MatchWorks will expand its current DES footprint to a total of 37 Employment Service Areas across Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, New South Wales, ACT and Queensland.
Executive Director Renae Lowry said she was thrilled with the growth in the new contract, and excited that MatchWorks would have more opportunities to help people with disability find meaningful employment right across Australia.
“This is a fantastic result, and a testament to the hard work and outstanding outcomes our staff have achieved for job seekers with disability. We’re excited to take on this challenge, and we will continue to work closely with job seekers, employers and other community organisations to help people change their lives through employment,” Renae said.
There will also be changes to the DES program, with job seekers given more choice and control over who they receive services from and how they receive those services.
Matchworks DES job seeker Mat (middle) with his employment consultants.
These changes include:
- Choosing a DES provider in a location that is convenient to you
- Switching to a different provider if you are not happy with your current provider
- Working with your provider to develop a job plan, which sets out the support you will get from your provider to give you the best chance of getting a job.
- Agreeing with your provider about how you want to meet after an initial face-to-face meeting.
MatchWorks delivers jobactive and DES contracts on behalf of the Federal Government Department of Employment and Department of Social Services, and has successfully connected 155,000 people with employment since 1998. Come July, MatchWorks will have more than 150 sites across Australia.
MatchWorks is a division of not-for-profit disability services organisation genU Karingal St Laurence, which has been assisting people with disability to live the life they choose since 1952.