The Disability Employment Australia (DEA) 2024 Conference was their biggest one yet! Held on 11-13 June at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Melbourne, people with disabilities were at the heart of the Conference with impressive presentations from the likes of Julian Hill MP, Sonny Wise, Alistair McEwin AM, Matt Levy and Lisa Cox.
Ross McLatchie FIEP, Senior Advisor Growth at IEP Australia, said the DEA Conference was a lively affair, with plenty of opportunities for networking throughout such as the IEP-sponsored welcome drinks and a gala dinner which celebrated people who have made significant contributions to the employability sector.
Ross said there is a strong need for all practitioners working across the sector to keep developing their skillset, especially working with participants with more complex needs.
“Practitioners need to gain a stronger knowledge of each person’s story and how their disability and barriers to employment relates to them. Everyone’s journey is different and the most effective service is one that is designed and delivered in consultation with the person at the centre of that journey,” Ross said.
“A deeper knowledge and understanding relating to types of disabilities and how they impact/restrict people is important for practitioners to have,” Ross continued. “Services need to be designed with the participant at the centre of that service – we cannot take a one-size-fits-all approach. This will be critically important as we head towards the new Specialist Disability Employment Services contract which will be open to more people with more complex needs.
Ross said there is also a very strong need for practitioners to take a longer-term view when engaging employers.
“The key to success is in getting to know the business, how it operates, what challenges does it have, how can we build long term partnerships and how can we help design employment solutions that really work for the business.
“The old approach of taking a transactional approach and simply trying to get a participant into a workplace is no longer sufficient.”
IEP Australia’s Learning and Development Partner Lauren Peacock MIEP hosted a Practitioners’ Forum presentation ‘DISCover Your Style’ which delved into how to maximise your communication with participants, colleagues and your manager.
