DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

Glen Eira City Council

Every Body Active

Addressing the 20 per cent of Australians who identify as having a disability, Every Body Active at Glen Eira Leisure is an inclusive one-on-one support program which bridges the gap between people with a disability or support needs and their involvement in mainstream leisure and aquatic programs. The removal of barriers means its more than 80 participants experience a sense of community belonging and improved health and wellbeing.

Providing physical, social, and emotional support to clients has resulted in greater continuity with their activity and greater confidence to explore more avenues for leisure activities. The affordable and accessible support offering began in 2016, growing from a single participant to the almost one hundred involved today. The affordability of the program for clients – now linked to the NDIS – mean they average two sessions per week, resulting in 80 hours of directly service weekly for the team across the gym for group fitness and the pool for aquatic exercise and hydrotherapy.

In meeting the evolving needs of this part of the community, collaboration with allied health providers has been essential to ensuring that client support and programs have remained up to date and relevant to participant needs.

Monash City Council Active Monash Team

Holmesglen – Integrated Practical Placement Program

Monash City Council’s Active Monash – in partnership with vocational education institute Holmesglen and WISE Employment – provides Integrated Practical Placement students with complex learning needs such as permanent cognitive impairment or intellectual disabilities with the foundation of employment-ready skills through extensive, hands-on, and meaningful supported experiences.

Exposure to frontline customer service in a controlled environment allows students to develop resilience and confidence before engaging in employment. With 18 students participating over the first two years of the program, six of the nine students from 2021 have since secured employment, with two undertaking industry vocational courses. Students in the program since then have been on track to achieve similarly positive outcomes.

Active Monash staff have also meanwhile developed professionally and personally in supporting, guiding, and working alongside these students in the workplace. With the provided workplace education, Active Monash staff have been confidently delivering practical workplace experience for these students to be able to practice skills taught in the TAFE classroom in a real-world setting.

The Integrated Practical Placement Program has made a significant contribution towards celebrating and championing diversity within the council workforce and community, continuing to help redress historical inequities by ensuring people with a disability are more successfully included in the workforce.