More than 20 people with disabilities at risk of unemployment due to Geraldton Activ site closure

More than 20 locals may be out of a job when WA’s biggest disability service provider shuts its industrial worksite in Geraldton later this year. The Activ Foundation last week announced seven large-scale sites — including the Geraldton site — would be closing from July, with the program to be replaced by “community-based work” and “academy-style independence programs” for people with disability. New work opportunities could include cleaning, maintenance, and gardening in Geraldton. Activ launched a large-scale employment service in Geraldton in 1986 and currently has eight staff and 22 supported employees with disability who are engaged in craypot manufacturing, industrial sewing and pallet making. Chief executive Michael Health said the site closures came in response to government funding shifts towards “more targeted and personalised” disability support services. “We are working with the NDIS and Federal Government officials to build up our new services as quickly as possible to provide new and better choices for people with disability,” he said. State Opposition Leader Mia Davies met Activ’s Geraldton staff on Friday to discuss the changes and said the move to shut the worksites had come as a “great shock” to many. “It is a very challenging time and we need the State and Federal government to be working with Activ and clients to make sure everyone is transitioned appropriately,” she said. An Activ spokesperson said the service provider was in talks with staff and supported employees “to reduce the impact of closures” on the Geraldton workforce. “Firstly let’s be clear — Activ will remain an essential part of the Geraldton community with accommodation and community services available for people with disability,” they said. “We are currently finalising the closure plans for our large scale employment site, which will occur this year. We are working with supported employees, their support coordinators, families and carers to identify the options available to them, either within Activ or through services delivered by other providers.” The spokesperson said Activ had consulted the State and Federal government before deciding to close the sites, but the service provider’s “pleas for financial support went unanswered”. “Activ is refocusing our efforts to meet community expectations and the clear shift in Government funding priorities in order to provide services for the next 70 years,” they said. Premier Mark McGowan on Friday said the State Government had not ruled out stepping in to save the large-scale sites from closing. “Whoever is elected on Saturday, we will sit down with them to say ‘keep it open’,” he said. “I know how a lot of the workers there appreciate the social and and other opportunities that come with working cooperatively with other people and the instruction that comes with it, and doing something productive with their day. “What I don’t want to do however, is set a precedent by which the Commonwealth could just pull resources ... that the State has to backfill.”