Ross Vasta (Bonner, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm excited to update the House on the remarkable initiatives undertaken by Makeables in Tingalpa. On a mission to increasing employment opportunities for people with disabilities, Makeables is a not-for-profit disability employer affiliated with the Multicap organisation. Currently, they have 80 supported employees at their workplace, with an additional 30 to 40 students attending each week from local special schools to gain skills and work experience. Makeables' goal is to help as many of their employees as possible to transition into open employment.

Conducting a variety of tasks to help in the assembly, packing and finishing of production and distribution, employees are offering tangible benefits to local businesses in our community. One such example of this is employees from Makeables helping to pack between 20 and 30 pallets a day of potato chips PepsiCo. Working at Makeables is also helping improve everyday life skills of people with disabilities, such as communication, problem-solving and working in a team, further allowing them to boost their confidence and thrive. I am happy to say Multicap and Makeables recently received a Stronger Communities grant, which they used to implement six custom-height adjustable workstations for their employees. During a recent visit, I had the pleasure of speaking with Nick, the employment operations manager at Multicap, and it was heartening to learn from Nick that the Stronger Communities grant— (Time expired)