Wednesday, 15 May 2024

 Matt FREGON (Ashwood) (10:08): It was a delight last week to visit the fantastic people down at Waverley Helpmates in Ashwood. Waverley Helpmates are a business that has been going for over 30 years, providing employment for people with intellectual disabilities and other disabilities. The most important thing about it is that it is employment. It is not supported employment as such, it employment; it is jobs. They will do your gardening and they will do some cleaning, and there is one woman there who I met who is doing ironing, which frankly I probably need more days than not. This group have been going for 30 years. I just want to give a very special shout-out to all of the gang down there. A big thanks to Marian, Rohan, Chris, Nicole, Mandy and Ben for showing us around. It just shows that when we talk about people who are living with a disability, we really need to focus on their ability. There was a young woman Emily who came into my office a number of years ago to advocate for some changes. She has an intellectual disability, and we had a great conversation not about the things that challenge her life but the things that she can do. Employers should really open their eyes to the ability of these people who are ready to work. Everyone deserves the dignity of work, and I think the more we can do to have everyone in a job the better we are.