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September 2011

Direct Employment Services

In this issue:

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General Managers

Report

Directions - Board of

Directors Chairman's

Report

Marketing Report

Woomera Kymel

New Staff Profiles

Our Programs

Good news Stories

General Managers Report

Welcome to all readers to a delightful part of the year in Cairns, Springtime! Spring is obviously the time of year for beautiful weather, spring cleaning at home and the regeneration of our natural flora and fauna. It is also a great time to be looking for work. To me, spring brings about positive feelings and attitudes and one that seems to be supported well by most employers. With the lead up to Xmas, many businesses and in particular retailers and hospitality, there is a boost to the local employment market. This has also been supported recently with the big drop in unemployment numbers within the region. August 2011 recorded an official rate of 6.2% down from 8.2% in July and also down from over 13% back in February 2011 which is a massive drop and now comparable to the Qld State average, definitely a positive sign for the Cairns region. The job market is somewhat stronger and more confident most recently and one that DES aims to capitalize on. As part of the support that Direct Employment Services provides, for a limited time, we are now providing employers with an added wage incentive of up to $1,500 on top of other wage incentives currently being offered. Incentives can now total up to over $8,000 depending on the client and if combined with an Apprenticeship or Traineeship, this can climb to over $12,000. It’s definitely a good time to look at recruiting a DES client! The staff at Direct Employment Services have been very active over the past couple of months with a lot of support provided to clients and employers. The end result should see a lot of clients secure independence in their employment and assist the organization to achieve goals and targets that can be utilized throughout contract negotiations with our primary contractor, the Department of Education Employment and Workplace Relations. The organization has received a contract extension until March 2013 with future business post this date determined by performance levels achieved as at March 2012. Happy job hunting Robert Friskin

UPDATE FROM THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Dear Employer̶The Directors are passionate about customer service! Did you know that DES guarantees the service it delivers 100% - and we pride ourselves on our professional approach and skills and on the quality assured system we operate. If at any time the employer is dissatisfied with the delivery of the DES service or any other issues they are encouraged to contact DES who will make every effort to resolve any issues. The Board is currently undertaking a Strategic Planning process which includes staff and management engagement into shaping the direction for our future. Of some concern are the ‘shifting sands’ of Government policy in regard to Disability Employment Services funding criteria. The Directors are placing a high importance on ‘sustainability’ and ‘people’ for the long term. Some other areas of focus include Service Value, Business Opportunities, Alliances, and community. We look forward to sharing our vision with you soon. Our Annual General Meeting date is set for the 17th of October 2011, we cordially invite all members, staff and interested people to join us to celebrate our successes and meet our Board members for the next 12 month period. Through our experience with the National Green Jobs Corps program, DES was approached and is currently being negotiated to place 33 jobseekers into post cyclone cleanup activities. This is a massive project and a great program for the team at DES to coordinate. Did you know that Direct Employment Services offer a specialised and culturally aware employment service designed to cater to the specific needs of Indigenous Jobseekers with a disability ‒ Woomera Kymel. The Woomera Kymel program is part of the Direct Employment Services (DES) system and is dedicated to developing successful and long lasting employment opportunities for indigenous Australians with a disability. Woomera Kymel utilises specifically trained Employment and Training Consultants, themselves with an indigenous background to deliver a culturally aware program that understands the issues of indigenous people and endeavours to meet their individual needs in a least restrictive way. If you would like to contact the Directors of DES please feel free to drop us a line at boardmembers@des.org.au Thank you for your continued support. Regards Roger Millroy

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Phone: (07) 4031 4816

Fax: (07) 4031 4827

TTY: (07) 4031 6690

Skype: direct.employment.services

Email: des@des.org.au

Address: 218 McLeod Street

PO Box 461N

North Cairns QLD 4870

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A word from our Marketing Consultant

It’s been a busy quarter at DES. August hosted the very popular Cairns Chamber of

Commerce Golf Day at Half Moon Bay Golf Course. DES sponsored a hole and

entered a Team in the competition. A huge thank you to Wayne Reynolds of Deaf

Services QLD, Col Keily of Mulgrave Central Mill and Mike Sorenson of Skill 360 who,

together with our General Manager Rob Friskin, finished with a team result of -7

(seven under). An excellent result for any Golfer!

The day saw DES create several more contacts for our ever increasing network of

employers, clients and stakeholders.

As competitors tee’d off at Hole 16, the objective was to get the ball as close to the

Hole as they could, if not in. Pretty standard objective in Golf… Until they were wearing

‘disability’ glasses. Each competitor chose a pair of glasses to wear while they tee’d

off. The glasses represented vision impairments for various illnesses or disabilities.

Quite a challenge in itself! With many missed swings and divots left in the ground,

competitors experienced for a small moment what it may be like to live with a vision

impairment.

Then, on September 8th DES hosted their annual Open Day at the DES McLeod Street

Office. The innovative function saw a twist to our usual Open Day experienced over the

past few years. Local employers were invited to scheduled information sessions that

delivered strategic opportunities for recruitment in their business. Jobseekers attended

and proved their skills through various activities such as Barista, food preparation,

administration, art and graphics The day proved a success with many local employers

attending and meeting with job seekers. Community organisations were also invited to

learn more about how DES can assist their clients enter the workforce.

The Open Day was the key event in our Recruitment Drive 2011 campaign . More

details on this campaign can be found on Page 9.

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With a very busy last quarter behind us, all the staff at Direct Employment Services & Woomera-Kymel wish to thank you for your patience. In past weeks, some of you may have had a change in Consultants and we understand your concerns with those changes; but there “is a light at the end of the tunnel” and things are starting to settle. We apologise for any inconvenience it may have caused, but as a part of continuous improvement, our organisation needs to review its services to help our customers ‒ YOU On behalf of Woomera-Kymel, I want to take this opportunity and encourage all our Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander clients to consider what your options are; your ETC can assist you to achieve your goals in getting a job. At the end of the day, we are an EMPLOYMENT SERVICE ‒ we can provide you with the tools, assistance and support to get you to the interview stage ̃ but only you can secure the job. Sam, Simone and Chrissy are focussing on assisting and supporting Indigenous clients to get into work quicker, but there are things that YOU can to do to help them. Below is a check list which will help you identify whether you are “JOB READY”.

Completed training/study and gained a Certificate II or III, less than 6 months Recently completed an Unpaid Work Trial , less than 3 months Participated in DES’ Job Club, actively applying for jobs with/without assistance I have a current Resume with at least 2 work related references Just recently finished casual or part time work and need another job Not getting enough work in my current job and need help to get more hours Applied for a job; got an interview less than 1 month ago but I haven’t heard back I am actively looking for work and apply for more than 2 jobs per fortnight I prefer to apply for my own jobs with assistance from my ETC Registered my details & resume online and have a profile with some/all of the jobsites e.g www.careerone.com.au; www.seek.com.au; www.linkme.com.au

If you have ticked four (4) or more boxes, you need to talk to your ETC about preparing yourself for work. Stay focussed, motivated and most importantly - never give up. “It’s not always the JOB that’s important, but how a job helps you to make changes in your life.” -- Anonymous

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Belinda Verheesen

I have 11 years experience in Employment Services in mainstream business in Cairns

&Whitsunday and most recently Remote Job Services & DES in Cape York and Torres

strait. I have managed a variety of different employment contracts ranging from Job

Services, Job Network, DES & DEN contracts , Youth programs, Work for the Dole

programmes, & three different Steppers programmes along with assisting in other

affiliated business. I am currently on a three month contract with Direct Employment

Services and look forward to contributing towards this exciting and rewarding

business.

On a personal note I have three children aged 2, 14 and 22 and two grandchildren

aged 1 &3.

Penny Ison

I have Lived in Cairns for twenty years, love sailing and believe that if you surrender to

the wind, you can ride it. I have worked within the employment, education and training

sector for a number of years and understand that in order to succeed in life, you need

three things: a wishbone, a backbone and a funnybone.

I have been employed as an Employment Consultant with DES and look forward to

helping businesses to become “Disability Confident” and customising the employment

relationship between a job seeker and an employer in ways that meet the needs of

both.

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Before commencing work here at Direct Employment Services as an Employment and

Training Consultant, I just completed my Social Science Degree and was working for

Arc Disability Services as a Support Worker. I held that position for 4.5 years, before

that I had a sales background. Working as the Assistant Manager at Sydney H Turner

Retravision, I worked for Retravision for 14 years. I am a local cairns girl who attended

Balaclava State School and Cairns State High School. I have two children, Shantelle

who is 19 and Liam who is 14. I am looking forward to my future with Direct

Employment Services.

I Moved to the tropical paradise of Cairns last October and loving every minute of it! I’m

married and we have 6 children as well as 4 grandchildren. I’ve been working in not

for profit employment and training organisations in the Central Coast Region of NSW

(halfway between Sydney and Newcastle) for over 20 years and I still enjoy the

challenges which come with the industry ‒ don’t think I could say I’ve ever been bored

as every day is different. I am thoroughly Looking forward to continuing the success of

the Access Program at Direct Employment Services and gaining lots of contacts in

FNQ.

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Working closely with Cassowary Coast Regional Council, NGJC is a solution the locals in

the area were waiting for when Cyclone Yasi tore through the quite region some months

ago, destroying the native environment with ease as she expelled her bad mood on the

surrendering towns. Although there was a slow start to the NGJC project in Tully, the group

is now progressing well. Works commenced throughout Innisfail, Tully and Mission Beach

in June, with majority of works being conducted on Marcs Park in Mission Beach

A group of 10 Indigenous participants and 1 Team Leader set out to help return the Tully-

Innisfail area back to the lush, strong environment it was before Yasi decided to stop by for

a quick visit in February this year. On a daily basis, they fight their way through fallen trees,

overgrown weeds, and whatever nature in this part of the World offers them. All the while

they are equipped with only steel cap boots, long trousers and shirts, straw hats, gloves,

brush cutters, machete’s and shovels.

A Certificate II in Conservation and Land Management, hands on skills and the support of a

dedicated team are not the only factors that motivate the participants to attend each day.

Having the responsibility of removing any evidence of a Cyclone and returning their region

to the standard it was pre-Yasi, is giving our participants a sense of pride that will continue

to build as they move from site to site, job to job.

Marcs Park is the local venue in Mission Beach for Markets. Once a month locals and

visitors stroll through the variety of stalls looking for that bargain or rare find. The park

consists of a large open plan shelter surrounded by expansive bush land. Picnic tables are

scattered throughout the open paddock allowing families and tourists to spread out and

enjoy the tropical weather of FNQ.

The works completed so far by our participants is creating attractive surroundings that

makes visitors question “what cyclone?”

The project is expected to run through until 2012, continuing to beautify various areas from

Tully to Innisfail.

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Four Access Courses have been completed since March ‒ Business Administration in

Cairns and Kuranda and Construction in Cairns and Innisfail. The Innisfail course was

the most successful with several participants gaining work on the re-construction effort.

DES is currently developing another 2 Access Programs commencing early November.

One program will be conducted with the aim of placing participants in Traineeships

across several industry areas such as hotel accommodation room attendants,

commercial cleaning, institutional cleaning (hospitals, aged care etc). Training will be

as practical as possible to ensure that hands-on skills are developed along with

theoretical knowledge and employability skills. We will be holding an information

session for major employers prior to the commencement of the program on Wednesday

12th October. The second program is yet to be determined however Retail is one area

where we feel there may be opportunities with the extension of Mt Sheridan Plaza and

the proposed Woolworths Master Store.

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Ricardo Pacheco-Toro Ricardo Pacheco-Toro is working as a cleaner for Adorn Cleaning Services for over

12months. Ricardo has recently completed his Certificate II Asset Maintenance

Cleaning Operations with Strategix Training. Ricardo has gained an accredited

qualification that can take him further in his career path. Ricardo has benefited from

gaining accreditation, with more confidence and skills in his field of work as well as

providing his employer with a qualified employee. Overall by participating in this

activity, Ricardo was able to make contacts and connections within the cleaning

industry, creating more opportunities into the future.

Recruitment Drive 2011: Twenty

Jobs in 11 Weeks A DES initiative to help raise awareness on our services and the diverse abilities of our clients

commenced in August. Recruitment Drive 2011 kicked off with intensive radio advertising on

99.5 Sea FM and an Open Day held at the DES McLeod Street Office.

The 3-month campaign is set to place 20 clients in to new ongoing employment in 11 weeks.

With financial assistance from the Department of Communities, the campaign attracts local

employers and jobseekers to achieve our aim of assisting people with a disability to become

more involved in the workforce and the community.

Recruitment Drive 2011 will continue throughout September and October.

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Receive your newsletter and surveys by email

In order to save paper as an environmentally conscious organisation we have decided

to provide you with electronic versions of our newsletter and surveys.

Compliments, Complaints or Suggestions

As a Disability Employment Service provider funded by the Department of

Education Employment and Workplace Relations, all clients are entitled to a high level

of service from Direct Employment Services. All complaints will be treated seriously

and with due diligence. All people have the right to be treated fairly and with respect to

any issues that may arise and with no prejudice. If you wish to lodge a compliment

and/or complaint, it may be lodged by letter, phone, email, in person or by fax. Contact

details are listed below:

Postal: PO Box 461N, Cairns North QLD 4870

Fax: (07) 4031 4827

Phone: (07) 4031 4816

Email: des@des.org.au

In Person: 218 McLeod St, Cairns North QLD 4870

Customer Service Feedback forms are available at Reception at DES and placed in

the Compliments and/or Complaints box once filled out. A copy of the Compliments or

Complaints Procedure may be obtained upon request.

Have your say

If you would like to advertise or be a feature article in the newsletter, please contact

Ashleigh or Karen at Direct Employment Services on 4031 4816. Return to the

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