Disability Services Minister Don Punch thanks Activ Foundation workers for patience with Workpower acquisition

Disability Services Minister Don Punch paid a visit to a Geraldton workshop this week to thank workers for their patience following Workpower’s acquisition of Activ Foundation sites across WA. The new provider has ensured people with disability can continue working in confidence after seven large-scale Activ Foundation work sites were set to close down in July last year, leaving about 750 people with disabilities affected. Mr Punch arrived in Geraldton on Tuesday morning after the takeover was made official last week, touring the Workpower site and personally thanking 16 workers and six support staff after they were left fearing for their employment future. Mr Punch said Workpower had taken over the sites with a new vision for the future and provided secure employment for people with disability. “Here the team make craypots, they do a lot of work for the hospital supplying laundry bags and supply spare parts for the cray fishing industry,” he said. “You can see from the walk around we’ve had, people are really happy with the work they’re doing, connecting up with each other — it’s more like family than a work site — but at the same time it’s producing goods that are an important value to the industry.” The State Government injected $4 million to support WA’s Australian Disability Enterprises transition Activ’s support employees into new placements, while the Federal Government stepped in with $7.85m to keep sites operational for a further 18 months. Mr Punch said the new takeover meant there was a positive future for employees and that Workpower was actively seeking new contracts for a range of new opportunities. “I’d really encourage people in business who think they have a proponent in their supply chain that could be delivered by sites like Workpower to really have a chat with them about business opportunities,” he said. Workpower CEO Lee Broomhall said she was thrilled the company could provide certainty to people in Geraldton that they could continue their employment, but there would be changes involved. “We’ve taken over loss making businesses, so there will be some transformation. I think it will be positive growth because it will mean more diverse opportunities available to people,” she said. “It will mean growth of existing contracts, relocation of some existing contracts from Workpower into the previous Activ sites to make them more profitable and then our vision is to expand into the regions with some existing areas of work that we do, for example, the recycling space.” Ms Broomhall said the priority of Workpower was to ensure a comfortable integration for employees and their families, and from there the next step was to develop social enterprise. “It’s important to get to know the local community and let them know we’re here,” she said. “It’s about making businesses profitable and sustainable so that we are here in the long term, that’s what will guarantee employment.”