After almost 75 years of providing disability services in WA, it was time for Activ Foundation to grow.
With a legacy already spanning disability support, accommodation, community participation, allied health and employment – as well as high-profile events such as the Chevron City to Surf for Activ – the next step was expanding its footprint nationwide.
Last year it officially merged with national provider genU to offer even more opportunities for people with disability, and recently announced that Activ would embrace the expanded impact by taking on the genU name nationally from September 1.
“We bring a long legacy of supporting people with disability across the country,” says genU Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Michael van Oudtshoorn.
“Our intent is to be there at an even greater level of impact than we’ve been in the past.”
He adds: “Together with genU, we lean into 150 years’ of combined experience in the disability support space and will continue to achieve this under the genU name.
“Our Activ clients won’t see any change – they will continue to receive the same high-quality services, from the same friendly faces, in the same familiar places,” he says.
“Our scale gives us the strength to provide continuous high-quality care, and importantly stability, for clients knowing the organisation they trust is prepared for the future and can continue to empower people to lead their best lives.”
genU services align with those of Activ, including disability support, accommodation, community participation, allied health and employment. They also have a strong footprint in senior services, which are already starting to filter into WA, under genU.
Businesses, meanwhile, can fulfill their social procurement strategies by engaging with genU through their social enterprise services such as Corporate and Care industry Training, Property Care and Maintenance, Timber Manufacturing, Indoor Plant Rental and more.
This year genU has also showed its commitment to the sector by sponsoring the Disability & Access Inclusion Award at this year’s CCIWA Diversity & Inclusion Awards.
‘Still work to do’
Van Oudtshoorn says CCIWA’s report Tapping the talent pool of people with disabilities shows there is still a lot of work to do to help people with a disability find meaningful employment.
The report found almost 61% of WA businesses surveyed said they had made “little to no progress” in increasing the number of staff with disability.
However, companies that excel in disability inclusion are 28% more profitable than those that do not prioritise inclusivity.
“We believe that no one should have to have a different life purely because they were born with a disability or they’re facing a disability in their lives,” Van Oudtshoorn says.
“We’re really proud of the social enterprises that we run. It’s the ability to create opportunities for other businesses to employ people with disability.”
Property Care ‘a rewarding experience’
An example of this is the Activ Property Care team, which is contracted by businesses to carry out property maintenance from smaller one-off projects through to multi-year contracts with big corporations.
Tommy Rimmer has been working at Activ Property Care for 15 years and says it has been a rewarding experience.
He says he enjoys many aspects of his job, especially working with friends and preparing for work in the morning, and encourages more businesses to hire people with disability.
Van Oudtshoorn says genU is aware that small and medium-sized businesses face the most difficulties in making progress in this area.
“One of the things that we've really appreciated that [CCIWA] has done recently is the research into the benefits of having an inclusive workforce within your organisation,” he says.
"It’s great to be a part of an organisation that really wants to make an impactful change to the people that we serve every day.”
He encourages businesses to get in touch to ask questions and find out how they can better set up their workforce and processes to welcome people with disability.
Find out more at genu.org.au
To be part of WA’s peak business organisation, get in touch via 1300 422 492 or [email protected].
