DisabilityCare Australia at home in Geelong

DisabilityCare Australia’s headquarters is one step closer to opening its doors, with a site selected for the initial head office location in Geelong.

The DisabilityCare head office will be located at 43 Brougham Street in Geelong’s waterfront precinct, before moving to larger premises in the future.

The head office is expected to be up and running early next year, and will include staff responsible for managing the scheme’s operation such as national operations management, the CEO and executive support and corporate services.

Recruitment for head office positions will begin in the coming weeks, with about 300 permanent staff members expected to be located at the DisabilityCare headquarters in Geelong once the scheme is fully rolled out from 2019-20.

These new staff members are in addition to about 120 DisabiltyCare Australia staff who are already employed in Geelong as part of the launch of the scheme.

The Australian Government made the decision to locate the head office in Geelong due to the regional city’s strong capacity to support such an important national agency and on the basis of the Victorian Government’s offer of $25 million toward the establishment costs of the head office.

The Victorian Government will also fund works to significantly improve the accessibility of the Geelong train station as part of this agreement.

Putting DisabilityCare Australia’s head office in Geelong will help attract investment to the region and create new jobs for local people.

Geelong is an established regional hub with a strong record in driving innovation in disability, health and community services.

DisabilityCare Australia launched successfully in four locations on 1 July this year, including in the Geelong and the Barwon area in Victoria. More than 500 appointments have already been made with local people with disability in Barwon to start developing their individual DisabilityCare plans.

More than 26,000 people with significant and permanent disability, their families and carers will benefit from the first stage of DisabilityCare Australia.

Once the scheme is fully rolled out, DisabilityCare will provide support for about 460,000 people with disability.

DisabilityCare Australia has begun the procurement process for a construction manager to fit out the new waterfront premises. The construction tender has been advertised in national, Victorian metropolitan and local newspapers.

To apply, or for more information, interested parties can email procurement@disabilitycareaustralia.gov.au.