Whether you've just finished school or need support to enter the workforce at any stage of life, our employment service offers individualized support. We're here to help you achieve your employment goals and provide the support you need throughout different stages of your career journey.

What is supported employment?

Supported Employment provides extra workplace support, training and flexibility for people living with disability. It provides people with disabilities the opportunity to work in a competitive workplace and earn a fair wage. It can also help people build confidence, develop social networks, and improve their quality of life.

As a Supported Employee at Grow Together Supports, you will get valuable experience in a real job and earn genuine pay. You’ll have support to try new things and get to enjoy being part of a great team. As well as on-the-job training, we can help you access a range of short and long courses to help you develop valuable skills.

You will work alongside Grow Together Supports support staff and mentors committed to understanding and respecting your needs and goals.

If you have NDIS funding for employment supports, talk to us to find out if Grow Together Supports is right for you. We’re growing our team and have a variety of supported employment roles available around Melbourne’s Outer East.

Click here if you are interested in employment opportunities

Supported Employment Opportunities

Talk to us about the variety of Supported Employment opportunities available within Grow Together Support’s business enterprises. Choose from indoor or outdoor, either working in our commercial kitchen to prepare delicious meals for our meal delivery service, or working outdoors in our lawn mowing service. You can also move across our businesses to try new roles and find what suits you.

At Grow Together Supports we pride ourselves on thinking outside the box to bring our participants as many new experiences and opportunities as possible. if you have an idea of something that you would like to work in, let us know - we may be able to make something happen!

Food services
Develop catering and food preparation skills with tailored training and support in our Together At the Table meal delivery program.

At Together At The Table we work in small groups in a commercial kitchen to prepare meals that we deliver to clients on either the NDIS or Home Care Packages. Working here you can be involved in all aspects of the business, from menu planning, to shopping for ingredients, to delivering the end product to our clients - and perhaps even sharing a cuppa.

Lawnmowing and grounds maintenance
Work outdoors and enjoy a hands-on experience in garden care and maintenance.

We offer lawn mowing and basic garden maintenance to clients who find it difficult to manage the job themselves, either due to disability or their age.

What you will be paid

Under the Supported Wage System (SWS) employers pay an employee with disability based on their productivity.

Most employees with disability work at the same rate as other employees. However, some disabilities might affect how much a person can get done each day. In these cases, employers can use an SWS assessment to decide a fair wage.

The assessment checks how long an employee takes to do their job, compared to a standard time. The amount of work the employee can do in a given time is called their productivity.

For example, if the employee is a gardener, the assessment might check how long it takes them to mow a lawn, as a usual task. If they take 20% more than the standard time, the employer would pay them 20% less than the usual award rate of pay. The assessment will time all the employee’s usual tasks, then work out an overall pay rate.

An employee’s productivity assessment only affects their wage. All other conditions of employment are the same as for other staff, such as how much annual leave they can take.

The SWS assessment process

We apply on your behalf for a SWS assessment.

The Department of Social Services (DSS) Assessment Team will then check the application and make sure you are eligible.  If you are eligible, you will start a work trial.

After a short work trial, an SWS assessor does an assessment of your work productivity. This is done with you, us as your employer, and your nominee (if you have one).  This makes sure the whole process is completely independent and transparent.

The assessor will visit at a time that suits everyone on your normal workday ad look at information such as:

• your job description

• how much time you spend on each task

• the hours and days you work

• break times, and

• how much supervision you need.

They will also make sure that we have made any adjustments you need to help you to do your job.

After the assessment, you will be asked to sign a wage assessment agreement that sets your pay for the next twelve months.