A Disability care service provider from Australia visited the Solomon Islands recently to recruit people to work for its establishments in Queensland, Australia.
The recruitment was conducted by Simple solutions Support services and made possible through the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) Scheme.
Chief Executive Officer of Simple Solutions, Natalie Sell said her trip to the Solomon Islands was to recruit people to work as Disability Support Workers.
The Disability Support Sector in Australia is funded by the government. The government provides funds through a program called the National Disability Insurance Scheme, where they provide budget to individuals with a disability based on their needs, who then buy services from service providers to take care of them.
Simple Solutions Support Services is one of the service providers approved by the Australian Government to provide services to people living with disability.
Ms. Sell said this is her first recruitment experience with PALM and is hoping to select five females and four males from her recruitment drive in Honiara.
The selected workers will work with them in supported independent living homes, where between 1-3 people with disability are housed. The homes have staff who are there 24 hours a day to assist with the needs of the occupants through-out the day and night.
“It could be assisting them with personal care, going to the toilet, having a shower, getting dressed, brushing their teeth, or helping with meal preparation, cleaning the house, washing, going to appointments as there are a whole range of activities to do with them,” She explained.
She stressed that an ideal candidate must have an understanding of people with disabilities, must not easily be surprised by things that are unusual and are committed to helping them achieve their goals.
“We want our workers to actually travel the journey with them, to help them learn new skills….so if we can teach a person with a disability to be completely independent, that’s what we want to do.
On her recruitment quest in Honiara, Ms Sell was encouraged by the candidates who came to the programs and interviews conducted.
“We met some wonderful women and surprisingly have met some women who have done this work before in Australia.
“So that was excellent and came as a great surprise, I also met some fantastic men who I think will fit in to our organization very well,” She remarked.
Those selected to work will be provided training and certified with an Australian Cert III qualification after the training period.
– MFAET
