Speaker Biographies Welcome to Country Agnes Shea, Elder of The

Speaker Biographies

Monday, 30 May

Welcome to Country Agnes Shea, Elder of the Ngunnawal people Agnes Shea is a highly respected elder of the Ngunnawal people of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and its region. She is a foundation member of the United Ngunnawal Elders’ Council and a member of the ACT Heritage Council. Throughout her life Agnes has worked towards building a better understanding of Aboriginal culture among other Australians and is known for her traditional Ngunnawal ‘Welcome to Country’ ceremonies in the ACT.

In 2001, Agnes received the Centenary Medal for her contribution to reconciliation and the community. Agnes OAM was the first person to receive the Chief Minister’s Award in 2003 and was awarded the Order of Australia Medal in 2004 for her service to the Ngunnawal people and the wider Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community of the ACT.

Welcome and Opening Joan McKenna Kerr, President of National Disability Services Joan McKenna Kerr is Chief Executive Officer of the Autism Association of Western Australia and has spent the last 25 years working in the field of disability at a State and national level. She is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin from where she gained a Moderatorship in Sociology. She is also a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Ms. McKenna Kerr is Chair and National President of NDS and Deputy Chair of NDS WA. She is a current member of the NDIS Independent Advisory Council; and a Director and Vice-President of the Australian Advisory Board on Autism Spectrum Disorders. Ms. McKenna Kerr has also recently been appointed to serve on the West Australian South West Native Title Settlement Pre-Qualification Committee.

What’s next for disability employment? The Hon. Jane Prentice MP, Assistant Minister for Disability Services The Hon Jane Prentice MP, Assistant Minister for Disability Services.

Jane Prentice was elected to the House of Representatives for the Federal Seat of Ryan as the Liberal National Party Candidate on 21 August 2010. She was appointed Assistant Minister for Disability Services in February 2016.Prior to her election to Federal Parliament, Jane served for 10 years as Councillor for the Brisbane City Council ward of Walter Taylor. In Council, Jane was a member of Civic Cabinet, with the portfolio of Public and Active Transport and Economic Development Committee. Disability Excellence Award The Hon. Jane Prentice MP, Assistant Minister for Disability Services The Hon Jane Prentice MP, Assistant Minister for Disability Services.

Developing a desire to work Darren Coppin, Esher House

Darren specialises in the analysis of behavioural change in the unemployed and the impact of resilience upon job outcomes.

Darren oversees operations in Australia and Europe implementing academically- validated behavioural and psychological interventions drawing on direct input from some of the most esteemed experts in their field.

Darren will speak on how to develop a desire to work among people with barriers to employment.

Let’s join the dots – can we see the picture? Ken Baker, Chief Executive, National Disability Services

Ken Baker is the Chief Executive of National Disability Services (NDS), the peak association for non-government disability service organisations. In that role, he provides information, representation and policy advice.

Ken has worked in social policy and public affairs for 30 years. Based in Canberra, he is currently a member of the NDIS Independent Advisory Council and other committees advising on disability policy.

With a membership of around 1100 non-government organisations, NDS promotes and improves services which support people with disability to participate in all domains of life, including employment.

PANEL: How can we drive employment opportunities for people with disability?

Ken Baker, NDS

Maryanne Diamond, NDIA

Maryanne is the General Manager Media, Communications and Engagement at the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA). She is the chair of the International Disability Alliance (IDA) and the Immediate Past President of the World Blind Union (WBU).

Maryanne has held a range of roles in Australia and at the global level for more than 25 years. She was the inaugural CEO of the Australian Federation of Disability Organisations and most recently was the General Manager Advocacy and Engagement at Vision Australia until November 2015.

Maryanne’s most significant achievement was leading the WBU delegation during the negotiations and diplomatic conference with The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) that led to the adoption of the Marrakesh treaty to Facilitate Access to Information for persons who are Blind, Visually Impaired or otherwise Print Disabled in June 2013.

In June 2015 Maryanne was awarded an Officer in the Order of Australia.

Sean Fitzgerald, C3 Solutions

In mid-2007 Sean started working for Hartley Lifecare, a local accommodation and support service, to start up and manage their Accenture sponsored Assistive Technology program. This allowed him to continue his passion in matching technology to a disabled person’s needs and capabilities. He started focusing his energies on a "Technology to Work" program aiming at using technology, training and employer/employee disability awareness to help people get meaningful work.

Sean left Hartley's assistive technology program in late 2009 and now runs his own technology, training and awareness business for people with a disability, C3 Solutions.

It is Sean's advocacy and technology work that brought him closer to the wider disability community and acutely aware of individual and families need for a peer to give them a voice with politicians, government and in the media. Eventually this led Sean to be a campaigner with the "Every Australian Counts" campaign for a National Disability Insurance Scheme. His involvement with the campaign has seen him joining other campaigners at Parliament house lobbying our politicians for a fully funded NDIS. Sean considers the NDIS a vital initiative for Australia's future as it will help people and their families be engaging and productive members of society as a whole.

Marlene Krasovitsky, Australian Human Rights Commission

Marlene Krasovitsky is currently the Director of Willing to Work, the National Inquiry into Employment Discrimination Against Older Australians and Australians with Disability with the Australian Human Rights Commission. This Inquiry is being led by The Hon. Susan Ryan AO, Age and Disability Discrimination Commissioner.

The Inquiry has held over 120 consultations in metropolitan, regional and remote locations to speak with older people and people with disability about their experiences of employment discrimination and their ideas for change. In addition, over 340 written submissions have been received by the Inquiry.

Marlene has worked in Commonwealth and State Government in a range of policy and operational roles as well as a number of major public inquires including the Review of the Treatment of Women in the Australian Defence Force and the Special Commission of Inquiry into Child Protection Services in NSW.

Marlene is currently undertaking PhD studies with the School of Government, University of Sydney. Marlene holds an Executive Masters of Public Administration (ANZSOG), a Masters of Business Administration (University of Technology, Sydney) and is a registered psychologist.

OE – Innovation Right support, right job, works everywhere Olivia Sorre, MJP Employment Services Olivia has a long history working within the Disability and Employment Services sector across all levels of service delivery.

Manager MJP Employment Services she leads a team of highly dedicated people working with local communities and businesses to make a difference in daily lives of people with intellectual disabilities accessing the service. She has a strong record in Leadership, Change Management, Business Development and Building Team Capacity.

She is a member of Disability Employment Australia, Edwardstown Region Business Association and Community Centres SA.

Olivia holds a Diploma in Management and a Bachelor in Behavioural Science.

Opportunities for innovation: bringing the policy drivers together Chris Gration, CoAct Chris is the General Manager Growth at CoAct, a network of not for profits that believe in the power of sustainable, fulfilling work to transform lives and communities. He’s interested in how we put people and their communities at the centre of our effort as markets are unleashed across human and disability services. Before CoAct, Chris led the National Respite Association working with small services on transition in the NDIS, community aged care, mental health and carer support. He has a background in social policy and government; financial services and strategy; and the not for profit sector.

Peer work in action Damien Becker, Ability Links North West Alliance Damien Becker has worked in community development for twenty years, specialising in developing innovative community-led projects and supporting leadership and voice within marginalised communities. He is passionate about people living with disability taking leadership roles in the design and implementation of policies and programs that affect them directly. Damien has a Masters in Community Development and lived experience of disability, having been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at birth and last year receiving a double-lung transplant. He currently works with Ability Links NSW for Northern Rivers Social Development Council, lead agency of the North West Alliance.

Prue McCarthy, Ability Links North West Alliance Prue McCarthy has cerebal palsy from birth, and is an active campaigner for social inclusion. From an early age she has been a pioneer in accessing the mainstream education system, and in 1987 won the Orange Junior Citizen of the Year. Prue is currently working with Ability Links NSW for CareWest, a partner in the North West Alliance, and is also active on a range of board committees such as Central Tablelands Housing. As part of her Peer Linker role Prue coordinates a Disability Awareness Program called ‘Different on the Outside but Same on the Inside’ which has delivered strong results to a range of primary schools across the Central West of NSW. Prue loves to travel, and will shortly add China to her extensive list which includes Europe, UK and South East Asia.

Valerie Thompson, Ability Links North West Alliance Valerie Thompson is the Program Manager of North West Alliance Ability Links and coordinates the implementation and delivery of the service across the Northern and Western regions of NSW. Valerie has a diverse background in strategic planning and policy development across state and local government as well as the non- government sector.

OE – Business Challenges The impact of star ratings on service provision Ann Nevile, ANU Dr Ann Nevile is an experienced Australian social policy researcher who has spent many years evaluating the impact of funding and performance management frameworks on third sector service delivery agencies and their clients, most recently in the area of disability employment where she has been Lead Chief Investigator and sole Chief Investigator in two Australian Research Council Linkage projects.

Today Dr Nevile will be presenting results from the second of these research projects.

Partnerships deliver results Justin Brown, Castle Personnel Justin Brown is the General Manager of Castle Personnel Services.

Having commenced with Castle in 2015, Justin is responsible for the overall operations and achievements of the business, both DES and NDIS operations. Always looking for new ideas and innovation in the way a business operates; he is focused on Castle developing new models of service and the achievement of great outcomes for the participants.

Justin describes his key responsibility as leveraging the past successes of Castle to ensure the organisation is capable of succeeding through the significant environment of change that exists today.

Business initiatives in the current DES environment Bill Gamack, Epic Assist As the CEO of EPIC Assist (EPIC), I am responsible for developing EPIC’s business globally. I have worked in the recruitment industry since 2006. My career has taken me from working at a major Chartered Accountancy firm in both Australia and England, to senior management positions in a range of industries, including seven years in the Middle East. I joined EPIC because I’m passionate about helping people obtain meaningful work and aspiring to their greatest potential. As a disability employment organisation, EPIC was particularly relevant since in my family I have a lived experience of disability. At EPIC we provide a personalised service to assist people with disability or disadvantage to achieve success. We stay with them on their journey until we are no longer needed. We place people into meaningful jobs, deliver education and training and provide services under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

SE – Innovation New approaches to supporting people with disability in employment Lisa Browne, Kalianna Enterprises Lisa Browne is the Business Services Manager for Kalianna Enterprises ADE. From the beginning Lisa knew that she wanted the ADE to be a vibrant, challenging, and forward thinking environment. First up was to allow ADE staff to step up, staff to run it and staff to own it. Allowing ADE staff to fully participate has resulted in increased profit, less absenteeism, increased opportunities and a greater level of positive talk. The flow on effects to the entire business has been outstanding and marks for a positive future.

Lisa holds a Bachelor of Health Science (Leisure & Health), Graduate Certificate (Leisure & Health) and a Masters in Gerontology from Charles Sturt University.

Transitioning from supported employment to a social enterprise Cathy Miller, Minda In May 2010 Cathy accepted the role of Chief Executive Officer, Minda Incorporated, a non-government organisation and a leader within the disability sector. Services to over 1,700 people with intellectual disability include residential, commercial enterprises, aged care, day options and respite care. A turnover of over $85 million, 1,400 staff and over $110 million in assets. Minda has entered the retirement living sector with a $265 million development. At the end of eight years there will be 288 beachside retirement apartments at Brighton.

Cathy Miller was Chief Executive Officer, Southern Adelaide Health Service (SAHS) from July 2007 – May 2009. SAHS had a catchment population in excess of 330,000 people, employs more than 7,000 staff and has a budget of in excess of $700 million. Services include Flinders Medical Centre, Noarlunga Health Service, Drug and Alcohol Services SA, Repatriation General Hospital, Southern Mental Health and Southern Population and Primary Health Care.

New ways to solve old problems: innovation through social enterprise Fiona Beermier, Intework Fiona Beermier is the Chief Executive Officer for Intework, one of Western Australia’s leading Disability Organisations. Intework provides opportunities for people to participate in employment, education, social and cultural activities both within Intework and the community. Prior to her appointment at Intework, Fiona spent seven years as the Chief Operating Officer at Youth Care where she was instrumental in leading the organisation through a period of cultural and structural change. With over 30 years’ experience in health, community and social services she is passionate about leaving a positive legacy in the not-for-profit sector. Fiona is a member of the WA NDS state committee and advocates strongly for employment opportunities for people with disability.

SE – Business Challenges On the road to sustainability – Wallara Logistic’s journey Warren Kemp, Axial Enterprises Warren Kemp is an experienced business development professional who has been working with ADE’s to transition their businesses for over 10 years. He works on the principle that ADE sustainability and enhanced employment opportunity provision have to be driven by commercial principles. He tasks himself and ADE management with answering the question ‘Where do I want this organization to be in five years and how can we get there? He is currently working with a number of ADE’s in Melbourne to plan, implement and consolidate business strategies that establish the foundations for sustained business growth.

Garry Baker, Wallara Logistics Garry Baker is a highly experienced business executive who has extensive commercial business management experience spanning over 35 years.

Garry has worked in commercial enterprise in Senior Management and CEO roles across a diverse range of businesses, including Direct Marketing, Logistics, Manufacturing and Oil & Gas industries. Garry has both the experience and capacity to analyse and develop new opportunities, implement processes to drive business growth, and obtain buy-in from all levels from the Boardroom to the shop floor.

Recruited to Wallara Industries in the capacity as General Manager almost 6 years ago, Garry has driven change management of the entire operation and grown the business by in excess of 400% in that time.

Ongoing employment & business development Steve Beard, The Accounting Professionals Steve started his career as a Chartered Accountant providing business services advice to a broad range of small business clients. He then moved into his own successful commercial printing business, a business that was awarded the Illawarra Business of the Year in 2002.

Steve sold his printing business to The Flagstaff Group in 2004 and went on to become the Group’s CEO for six years. Steve was also the CEO of Greenacres Disability Services and over the last three years has been consulting to a broad range of disability services in his role as a Disability Sector Consultant at the Accounting Professionals.

The interaction between employment and community participation Liz Neville, NDS Liz has 20 years’ experience working in the human services sector including in service delivery, regulatory compliance, policy implementation and advisory roles. Prior to joining National Disability Services as a National Manager of Sector Development, Liz worked as a Senior Manager at KPMG where she undertook program evaluations, organisation reviews and business performance improvement activities across the health and community services. In her current role, Liz is leading a program of work around provider readiness for the NDIS including promoting models of support that allow people with disability to experience more active participation in their community.

Tony Fitzgerald, Outlook Tony has extensive and varied management experience in the non-government sector. His background includes overseeing the development of community accommodation options in the 1980’s for people with disability as part of the Victorian State Government deinstitutionalisation program. Prior to this Tony managed a state wide community development initiative for the Brotherhood of Saint Laurence establishing cooperatives for people on low incomes as an alternative to dependence on traditional charity handouts. Tony’s interest and belief in the role that Social Enterprises could play as a powerful social justice tool was sparked as a result of his work with the Brotherhood.

Productivity Bootcamp Paul Breen, Productivity Bootcamp Paul Breen has been in the construction industry for over 20 years and after selling his company in 2013, Paul decided to pursue his vision of building a training company that taps into the younger generation. This style of training not only meets the learning needs of young people, but is directly linked to the needs of industry. In February 2015 he launched Productivity Bootcamp followed by the launch of Productivity Force in May that same year. Many young people with diagnosed disabilties have entered Paul's program and successfully gained employment upon completion. Paul believes that if you tap in to young people in the right way - they could be the best generation to hit the workforce

Tuesday 31st May Welcome Rohan Braddy, NDS Board Member

Rohan is the CEO of Mambourin Enterprises Ltd, an innovative and highly regarded company empowering people to live great lives. Rohan has been on the NDS Board since 2010 and also assists with sector development through a number of representative roles.

What’s next for disability employment? The Hon. Jenny Macklin MP, Shadow Minister for Disability Reform Jenny Macklin is the Member for Jagajaga and Shadow Minister for Families and Payments and Disability Reform.

Jenny was elected to Federal Parliament in 1996 as the Member for Jagajaga.

Upon the election of the Rudd Labor Government in 2007, Jenny was appointed the Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. In this role Jenny oversaw the historic apologies to the Stolen Generations and the Forgotten Generation. Jenny was also responsible for the most significant reforms to Australia's pension system in its 100 year history. These reforms delivered pension increases, a new pension supplement, a pension Work Bonus and a new indexation system.

In 2011 Jenny added Disability Reform to her portfolio reflecting Jenny's strong personal commitment to reforming the disability services sector in Australia. In this role Jenny oversaw the introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) in 2013.

Bridging the Gap

James Murphy, KereKere

James Murphy is an entrepreneurial social worker that brings together his passions for giving, community and innovation. James is the founder of KereKere, a coffee shop that seeks to foster a spirit of generosity within our community. KereKere started out as a coffee cart at The University of Melbourne in 2007. By 2010, it had evolved into a purpose built kiosk, in 2012 KereKere South opened at Boyd Community Hub and in 2014, KereKere Green opened in the Fitzroy Gardens Visitors Centre. James holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Social Work from The University of Melbourne. He has worked at Child Protection and in Family Service along with Business Development positions with Jesuit Social Services and Social Firms Australia. James is currently working on the development of Oswald + Co, a specialist consulting service helping organisations do good business.

Career creation – the Micro Enterprise Project

Jayne Barrett, Community Living Project

Jayne has been a strong advocate for families who have a son or daughter with disability. As a parent Jayne was involved in initiating many community based services in the southern areas of Adelaide during the 1980's. Amanda, the eldest of Jayne’s three daughters lived with severe and multiple disabilities until she was 27 years of age, she died in December 2000. Jayne continues to have a deep personal commitment to work at inspiring people to think that a better life is possible for people with disabilities. This passion has given her opportunities to travel and work with families locally, interstate, and overseas, in Ireland, New Zealand and Canada.

The Community Living Project Inc.(CLP) - an agency that facilitates highly individualised community living opportunities for people with disabilities - has been Jayne’s employer since 1984. The work of CLP is to work collaboratively with families to find the best ways to serve and individually support people with disabilities to be included in their own homes and community life. In her current role Jayne has worked on designing and trialling a new project, CLP’s Micro Enterprise Project which assists people to have their own small business as an alternative to attend day programmes.

Open Employment

1.1 Redesigning DES Peter Broadhead, Department of Social Services

Peter Broadhead is the manager of the Disability Employment Services (DES) Branch in the Department of Social Services. This follows consolidation of the previous DES Programmes and DES Policy and Performance branches in mid- February this year. The branch also has responsibility for building on the work of the Disability Employment Taskforce, to provide advice to government on options for DES beyond the expiry of the current arrangements in March 2018, and any related initiatives to address increased employment opportunities for people with disability in the open labour market.

Peter has only recently arrived in this role, having commenced as the manager of the DES Policy and Performance Branch in late August last year. He has worked in departments of health and social policy in 2 states and the Commonwealth for about 30 years, and at senior executive levels for the last 25.

2.1 Panel: How to better engage employers

Gail Johnson, Department of Defence

I began my working life as a teacher and completed post graduate work to become a teacher of the students with Hearing Loss. In 2007, I joined Defence to work in the Office of the Chief of Army, managing the Parliamentary Business Section.

In 2010, I was asked to develop the Army Alcohol Management Strategy and in 2012, was seconded to the Australian Drug Foundation to develop the Defence Alcohol Management Strategy. This was completed in late 2013, at which time I came back to Defence and joined Defence People Group Diversity Directorate to work in the area of disability

Jenny Lambert, ACCI

Jenny has been serving the business community for 32 years as a senior manager within industry associations, including 16 years as a CEO of associations largely in the services sector.

Commencing with the Australian Hotels Association as their Industrial & Research Officer in 1984, Jenny then served as Project Manager at Tourism’s Industry Training Advisory Board in the early 1990s, working on projects relating to workplace reform, workplace assessment, competency standards, training accreditation and quality assurance.

Jenny took on her first CEO role as head of Restaurant & Catering NSW, and then jointly held the national CEO role until 1999. Then followed six years as CEO of Meetings & Events Australia, overseeing amongst other activities, a structured professional development and accreditation system. In 2005, she became CEO of Nursery & Garden Industry Australia and in 2007, CEO of the National Tourism Alliance, which is the peak body for tourism associations nationally. She commenced with the Australian Chamber in May 2011 and is responsible for policy development and advocacy in vocational training, higher education, schools, employment and migration.

Supported Employment

1.2 Shaping the Evolution of ADEs James Kemp, Department of Social Services

James Kemp has almost 20 years’ experience working in the Social Policy field and is currently Acting Branch Manager, Disability and Employment Sector Reform Branch in the Department of Social Services. James’ substantive position is as Director NDIS Transition, in which his focus is on ensuring a smooth transition for the 17 Commonwealth programmes which have funding transitioning to the NDIS. Prior to commencing work on NDIS Transition in February this year, James was the Director of the Payment Scheme and Supported Employment Policy, which involved the development of the Business Services Wage Assessment Tool (BSWAT) Payment Scheme as well as considering broader supported employment policy issues. Prior to joining the Disability, Employment and Carers Group in 2013 James worked on Departmental Grant Management issues and Commonwealth Housing Programmes.

2.2 Launch of ADE Campaign Social Impact Tool

Ken Baker, NDS

With a membership of around 1100 non-government organisations, NDS promotes and improves services which support people with disability to participate in all domains of life, including employment.

Daniel Kyriacou, NDS

Daniel Kyriacou is General Manager Communications with National Disability Services. Prior to taking up this role in mid-2012, Daniel was the National Operations Manager of the Every Australian Counts campaign for an NDIS. A keen campaigner, Daniel has held senior coordination roles in the Trade Union movement and served as the National President of the National Union of Students in 2003. Daniel has the role of building both political and community support for the introduction of an NDIS.

At NDS Daniel is responsible for the development and implementation of integrated communication initiatives, both internal and external, to support the strategic and corporate objectives of NDS, increase engagement with key stakeholders and drive advocacy.

Open Employment

3.1 Identifying opportunities for DES providers under the NDIS Peter De Natris, NDIA

Peter currently works at the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) as a strategic advisor on early childhood and early education and employment. Prior to this he had 12 years with Ageing, Disability and Home Care, in NSW as a Regional Director in Southern NSW and the Executive Director, Community Access.

In his role as Executive Director, Community Access he lead the implementation of a broad range of programs and strategies to increase employment for people with disability in NSW. This included the redesign of and reinvestment in community focused supports in the disability sector in NSW with a strong emphasis on employment outcomes.

In his current role with the NDIA he is focusing on key areas of Scheme Design which recognise the shift from the current program based systems to an Insurance scheme based on markets that need to be developed and supported so that best practice can be enabled and continuous improvement encouraged. Peter has had various roles with TAFE in Victoria and NSW and then with the Victorian and Commonwealth public services working in Employment, Adult Education and the Human Services areas.

Leah Twaits, Karingal

Leah Twaits has worked in various roles and contracts in Employment Services for the past 13 years, assisting people of all abilities to find employment.

This experience has included over 8 years assisting people with a disability into the workforce.

Leah is currently working with a Geelong based organisation, Karingal ,as an Employment Pathway Coordinator assisting NDIA participants that have identified goals of obtaining employment and are ineligible for service within the DES Program.

Leah works collaboratively with local providers to help prepare the participant for work and achieve independence in a mainstream environment.

She is passionate about assisting people achieve their goals.

4.1 Closing the gap between the supply and demand sides of disability employment

Dr Katherine Moore, QUT Business School Dr Katherine Moore is a Research Associate at the QUT Business School. Alongside members of the Work/Industry Futures Research Program, her research focuses on the employability of vulnerable groups, with a specific focus on youth and people with disability. Her PhD research adopted qualitative methods and an embedded case study analysis of a large Australian retailer to investigate the employability of people with disability from an organisational perspective. Prior to an academic career, Dr Moore worked for 12 years as an employment consultant in the disability employment field, primarily assisting people with moderate to high support requirements.

5.1 How early intervention can increase skill and human capital in the workforce

Professor Jeff Borland, University of Melbourne

Jeff Borland is Truby Williams Professor of Economics at the University of Melbourne. His main research interests are analysis of the operation of labour markets in Australia, program and policy evaluation and design, Australian economic history, and sports economics. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia, and in 2010 was the Visiting Professor of Australian Studies at Harvard University. Jeff publishes a monthly ‘Snapshot’ on the Australian labour market at: https://sites.google.com/site/borlandjum/labour-market-snapshots

Supported Employment

3.2 Meeting the challenges of ADE transition to an NDIS environment

Brett Lacey, House with No Steps

Brett Lacey is the Executive General Manager Businesses for House With No Steps. Brett has been part of the House with No Steps team for 12 years, and is fortunate enough to be based at Summerland House Farm on the north coast of NSW. Other business portfolio’s include Packaging, Facility Services and in the NDIS environment a number of Newcastle based businesses. These include a Laundry, Manufacturing, Recycling and MediRedi. More than 500 people with a disability are employed in the businesses, across NSW, the ACT and QLD

Miranda Garnett, Koomarri

Koomarri CEO, Miranda Garnett, joined Koomarri in April 2008 after an extensive career in both the private and not for profit sectors. With a firm grounding in business and finance balancing experience and commitment to social welfare reform, Miranda's expertise and passion is pivotal in leading Koomarri’s future as a specialist disability service provider, employer of people with disability and shifting to a sustainable ethical business model. As the national disability sector embarks on its transition into the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), the greatest social welfare reform in Australia's history, Miranda is with confidence, committed to leading Koomarri into the 21st century with a firm view to growing the organisation's capacity to support more people with disability to be empowered and supported to achieve their life goals, ambitions and independence within a community that promotes choice, equality and respect.

A chartered accountant with qualifications in Accounting from the University of Canberra, Miranda has worked internationally and across Australia in roles which have brought her to value diversity and to the benefits which can be gained from a professional approach.

Kevin Todeschini, Colony 47

Kevin Todeschini became involved in the ADE sector in 2008, as the Manager of Colony 47’s ADE enterprise known at Start Fresh Services. Prior to this Kevin was an Operations Manager of a major Tasmanian food manufacture, SQF practitioner plus he has a Diploma of Management. Not having experience in the disability sector Kevin found himself on a journey of unique challenges while ensuring the business remained stable in a competitive market. During this time he has adapted the business model to which he is in the process of doing again as the NDIS is rolled out across Tasmania.

Kevin lives south of Hobart with his family.

4.2 Wage setting in supported employment – the living wage

Chris Christodoulou, Greenacres

Chris was a Director of Greenacres Disability Services from February 2012 but resigned from this position following his appointment as CEO in September 2013. Prior to this, Chris was Assistant Secretary of Unions NSW a peak body organisation that advocates for the rights of working people in Australia. He has served on numerous Boards and Committees over many years and is absolutely committed to good governance. Chris was involved in the creation of the first ever award to provide wages and conditions for people with disabilities in supported employment enterprises in the early 1990’s. Kerrie Langford, NDS

Kerrie has over 30 years’ experience working in the not-for profit sector in direct service, policy development and senior management. Prior to joining National Disability Services in 2013, she was the CEO of a leading Disability Employment Service for over 10 years. Kerrie’s career encompasses a broad range of specialist disability service experience including: nursing, accommodation support and management, community services, volunteer management and disability employment. In her current role with NDS, Kerrie has oversight of the disability employment services including Disability Employment Services, Australian Disability Enterprises, Social Enterprises, transition to work programs and their interface with the NDIS.

5.2 Supported employment pricing and funding under the NDIS – where to from here?

Paul Musso, NDS

Paul Musso is the Policy Advisor for Disability Enterprises with National Disability Services (NDS). He is an Economist who has worked with Disability Enterprises in various capacities for over sixteen years. He worked at DSS for over a decade prior to joining NDS. He is a passionate advocate for the Disability Enterprises sector and through his work with NDS seeks to influence Government policy for the benefit of Disability Enterprises and their supported employees, staff and management.

Transition to work

1.3 NDIS School leaver employment supports – a pathway to employment Joanna Battersby, NDIA

Joanna began her career in the UK coordinating ergonomic workplace assessments for people with a disability returning to the workforce. She then returned to Australia and worked in local government as a community development worker, ageing and disability, working closely with the Deaf community to increase access to mainstream activities including the first screening of open captioned movies in Western Sydney. Joanna then moved into open employment, directly supporting people with a disability to find and maintain work.

Joanna has over 11 years’ experience in the NSW Government in operations and policy roles. Working for the NSW Department of Family & Community Services she was responsible for implementing employment programs, individualised funding models, self-managed supports and NDIS readiness projects.

Joanna holds a Bachelor of Arts (Anthropology) and Masters in Public Administration. In 2014 she was awarded a travelling research prize to the UK to examine the role for governments in enabling or building communities to deliver social change for people with disabilities.

Joanna joined the NDIA in September 2015 to lead employment initiatives for Scheme participants.

Jillian Paull, NDIA

Jillian trained as a social worker many years ago & then worked for the SA government for a number of years. Primarily in the welfare related fields of child protection, domestic violence, homelessness, out of home care and intercountry adoption.

Amongst a number of other things, she was the delegate for the SA government in negotiating new arrangements between India and Thailand for intercountry adoption. After leaving the SA Government she moved to the community sector where she headed up the SA branch of a national not for profit organisation.

Whilst there Jillian established a University level course for people at risk of homelessness as well as leading a project to acquire a number of Early Learning Centres following the demise of the ABC Child care chain.

Some four years later Jillian accepted a role with the ACT Government leading reform in their community services area. She joined the National Disability Insurance Agency in 2014 and established the ACT Trial site before moving to their Geelong National Office in 2015 where she headed up the Media and Comm’s team. She delivered the NDIA’s first international conference last year…with a focus on how technology can change the lives of people with a disability.

Jillian now heads up the Scheme Practices Branch with a focus on strategies and processes required to deliver the National Disability Insurance Scheme across Australia.

2.3 Longer term outcomes of Ticket to Work

Andrew Hawkins, ARTD

Andrew Hawkins is a Director at ARTD consultants where he has been for the last nine years. He works as an evaluator and mentor for social policy professionals to deliver credible and useful evidence for decision making. He has a background in psychology, a deep interest in the philosophy of science and the highest regard for the people who do the real work on the frontline.

Michelle Wakeford, Ticket to Work

Michelle Wakeford is the National Ticket to Work Manager at National Disability Services (NDS). Michelle has extensive experience in developing, implementing and researching innovative practices. Michelle has been a passionate advocate for opportunities and support for young people transitioning from school to employment. She has a particular focus on increasing expectations and opportunities of young people with disability through career and workforce development and inclusive and meaningful employment participation.

3.3 Marriott Employment Services’ Ambassadors program Jennifer Lumsden, Ambassador Co-ordinator

Jennifer Lumsden is an experienced project facilitator currently using story development with young people with intellectual disability to build insight and confidence to pursue work, at Marriott Support Services. Having worked in corporate innovation and research utilisation Jennifer has a strong interest in social innovation and in particular finding ways to engage service users in project development, and stories is one strategy to effective engagement.

Hannah Skipper, Ambassador

Having a disability did not stop Hannah from completing her VCE over two years. Hannah has learnt to manage anxiety by identifying triggers and ways to bring calm in the midst of chaos including a wonderful talent for drawing. Hannah started studying animation this year and works at Woolworths Deli.

Nomaan Ahmed, Ambassador

Nomaan is a hospitality worker at Crown Casino and an aspiring actor. Through his involvement in Ticket to Work he commenced a school-based traineeship and gained valuable experience that supported him to successfully transition into post- school employment. Nomaan has big plans for his career.

Hannah and Nomaan are part of Marriott Employment Services’ Ambassadors Program.