Swift action to help people with disability get back to work after Brisbane floods
The Australian Government has taken swift action to support a local Australian Disability Enterprise return to work following extensive damage to its operations in Queensland’s January floods.
Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Carers Jan McLucas and Member for Moreton Graham Perrett today inspected Wesley Mission Brisbane’s MailpaQ business at Rocklea.
MailpaQ provides supported employment for 58 people with disability, with its main work including mailing, packaging, warehousing and digital printing.
“The Brisbane floods in January this year effectively wiped out MailpaQ’s operations at Rocklea,” Senator McLucas said.
“The building suffered considerable water damage, leaving much of the organisation’s stock unusable.”
“Following the floods, the Government worked closely with Wesley Mission to ensure people with disability continued to be supported.”
Mr Perrett, who witnessed much of his local area suffer significant flood damage, paid tribute to the Wesley Mission team and the many people who contributed to restoring operations.
“Just a few months ago, the local community was underwater and facing a significant clean up and recovery task. It is great to see Wesley Mission, government departments and local people in the community working so effectively and getting stuck into the job at hand,” Mr Perrett said.
“They have pulled off a fantastic effort and I congratulate everyone involved. It’s great to be here today to recognise and say ‘thank you’ to the many people that have worked so hard to reach this point.”
Wesley Mission was assisted through the Government’s Temporary Viability Support funding, which supports Australian Disability Enterprises facing short-term financial difficulties from natural disasters or other unforeseen circumstances where closure of the service would result in people with disability losing their jobs.
Wesley Mission Brisbane received more than $27,272 Australian Government funding to help purchase a truck for deliveries and a further $67,962 for loss of customer stock.
“With this financial assistance and the help of many volunteers, all staff were able to return to work on 27 April,” Senator McLucas said.
Australian Disability Enterprises are competitive businesses which are funded by the Australian Government to provide supported employment to people with significant disability who need substantial and ongoing on-the-job assistance.
“They provide a valuable service to the community and enable greater participation of people with disability in the workforce,” Senator McLucas said.
“Having a job builds self esteem, provides financial independence and broadens social networks.
“The Government’s action will allow Wesley Mission Brisbane to continue to play an important role in providing supported employment to people in the community who otherwise may not have that opportunity.”