National Disability Employment Conference › wp-content › uploads › sites › 2… · 1. Run information sessions for Disability Employment providers interested in the model

SLIDE 1

National Disability Employment Conference

7 September 2017

SLIDE 2

1. Introduce co-operatives and mutuals as a way to create social enterprise, community impact and sustainability

2. Nundah Case Study – worker co-operative creating meaningful and sustainable jobs

3. Action research – key findings for Nundah

4. What this means for Disability Employment Providers

5. How the Nundah experience can help you

Today:

SLIDE 3

“I was always excited and hopeful at the start of each job and then shattered, angry and feeling lousy and useless at the end”

- Craig

In 1998, members and their supporters embarked on a mutual approach to creating employment because the existing employment system had not worked.

Nundah Community Enterprises Cooperative (NCEC) was formed out of the aspirations of people with disabilities who desperately wanted to work but were long-term unemployed.

SLIDE 4

NCEC began humbly as a ‘jobs club’ with the help of volunteers, a borrowed mower and a supportive local community.

Humble beginnings

SLIDE 5

Parks Crew

SLIDE 6

Espresso Train

SLIDE 7

Stephen’sStory

SLIDE 8

Today N.C.E.C. is a workers co-operative creating meaningful employment for more than 20 members with a disability and turning over more than half a million dollars from trade p.a. via its community businesses.

Growth and success

SLIDE 9

NCEC has a core commitment to create meaningful work for members with an intellectual or cognitive disability.

As a social enterprise which receives limited funding from government of philanthropy, NCEC must balance the twin goals of ‘member participation’ and ‘business productivity’.

Framework

ncec.com.au

SLIDE 10

The majority of NCEC members had made repeated attempts to gain supported or open employment in the past without limited success.

Controlling their own successful business has given them long-term work as well as a say and influence around job design, job flexibility, workplace culture and a sense of ownership (i.e. ‘that this is our place’).

Why a Cooperative?

SLIDE 11

The research explicitly focussed on key issues that are of interest or/and concern of the membership of NCEC

The research documented elements of the NCEC story that would be relevant for other community owned enterprises and cooperatives (don’t assume easily replicable)

Influence discussion around social and labour policy relevant to the long-term unemployed, particularly amongst those identified in policy and practice discourse as ‘people with intellectual disabilities and mental health issues’.

Nundah action research: 4 key goals

Conducted by Peter WestobySchool of Social Sciences, University of Queensland

SLIDE 12

• Professional development workers (past and present) who’ve been part of the 20 year journey, so we can ‘see’ what inputs have made this cooperative possible;

• Cooperative members to understand their ‘lived experience’ of being members-workers.

Who we talked to

SLIDE 13

Goal 1 The ‘development workers’ ….some of what we learned

• This people’s organisation has taken a long time to evolve, with the input of many different skilled people (CD workers, social workers, researchers, people in local government); Don’t underestimate this….

• ‘Grabbing the moment’ to make policy work - ‘street-level bureaucracy’ in practice – e.g. time of emergent social procurement (cutting edge)

• Don’t go for replicable ‘scaling-up’, instead think about ‘scaling-across’ – i.e. horizontal learning, adaptive learning to context

Research findings

SLIDE 14

Goal 2 Members-workers and meaningful work

• “Feeling good because you’ve done something for yourself and you are proud because you’ve done something for the community” (Clark)

• This sense of meaningful work was a key theme from interviews – not work for work’s sake, but work that felt meaningful for the workers, and where they received feedback (customer/contractor) that they’d done a good job

Research findings (continued)

SLIDE 15

Goal 3 Members-workers and community-social inclusion

• “Now I know I can make it because I know there’s a couple of networks in my life that I can rely on” (Brett)

• Many participants acknowledged they had an increased sense of belonging, happiness and confidence in comparison to past experiences of work.

• This was shown through the majority of members’ willingness to connect with the broader community, and the involvement of the NCEC in their future aspirations.

• The flexible, respectful, and caring work environment at the cafe and within the parks crew was found to improve members’ mental and emotional wellbeing as they feel accepted for who they are.

Research findings (continued)

SLIDE 16

Goal 4 Members-workers - social support and employment

• “..when you need help you can just ask them….they can sit down and talk to you about it, and you really know they are listening” (Elliot)

• The cooperative structure encourages members to have a say, value workers for who they are, and supports their autonomy.

• Cooperatives, as organisations unite in meeting the shared economic, social and personal needs and aspirations of their members, create an environment where the individual needs of people with disabilities can be prioritised.

• Supervisors and managers operationalise the democratic nature of the cooperative, through actively encouraging the participation of members in key decisions, empowering members’ voices.

Research findings (continued)

SLIDE 17

Co-operatives hold a wide range of attributes that allow them to support their workers

Co-operatives

Member-based

Co-operationCommunity connected

Flexible

Active listening

Member’s feel valued Focus on member needs

Adaptable to individual worker’s needs

Supports workers’ autonomy

Working together

Encouraging capabilities

Respect

Expansion of members’

social networks

SLIDE 18

How the co-operative model could help Disability Employment Providers

The Public Service Mutual: A revolution in the making? – Professor Julian Le Grand, Chair UK Public Service Mutuals Task Force

1. Worker –owned co-operatives create sustainable jobs and engage workers as co-owners so they have control over the quality of their employment experience

2. Research evidence with worker co-operatives in Australia and in the UK shows theyare more productive and have higher staff and customer engagement

3. Competition for jobs means Disability Employment Providers need to consider waysto increase the supply of appropriate jobs – worker co-ops are a way to do this

4. An enterprise co-operative, where Disability Employment Providers are in co-ownership with workers, offers great potential to increase the supply of jobsand create sustainable work for people with disabilities

SLIDE 19

The BCCM is the peak cross-sector body for co-operatives, mutuals and member-owned businesses. Its purpose is to promote recognition of the important role of co-operative and mutual businesses in the Australian economy. The BCCM supported by its members, can help disability employment providers who want to consider the co-operative business model.

The role of the Business Council ofCo-operatives and Mutuals

SLIDE 20

• Released in August 2014

• Oversight by BCCM Public Service Mutuals task Force

• Provided overview of UK public reforms where over a decade more than 100 (mostly) employee mutuals formed as an alternative to Government service provision

• The White Paper was designed to promote discussion and public policy reform in Australia

The BCCM Public Service Mutuals Task Force released a White Paper to promote policy debate

BCCM (August 2014) Public Service MutualsWHITE PAPER

Since the release of the White Paper the BCCM has been approached by Government agencies, existing not-for-profit organisations and start-ups interested to explore the comparative advantages of the co-operative business model.

There are opportunities for disability employment providers to use this model to achieve sustainable outcomes

SLIDE 21

These high profile inquiries highlighted the alignment of co-operatives and mutuals to community services. The Productivity Commission Human Services Inquiry includes employment services as a Human Service.

Because co-operatives and mutuals are member-owned, their ability to meet member needs is part of their legal and cultural DNA.

A new language of Community Service Mutuals

Senate Economic References Committee

“The co-operative and mutual sector be represented in government policy discussions, and is actively promoted as a possible option for service delivery particularly where community based initiatives are being considered”

The Harper Review

“As user needs and preferences continue to evolve, public service mutuals could play a greater role in meeting individual and community needs, possibly in conjunction with other significant government initiatives. Indeed, the BCCM’s White Paper suggests that NDIS trial sites could prove ideal for piloting a disability staff co-operative”

The McClure Welfare Review

“There is an opportunity for co-operatives and mutuals to have a larger role in service delivery where the business model is founded on member participation and democratic control which creates obligations and responsibilities on those members”.

SLIDE 22

How Nundah working with the BCCM can assist Disability Employment Providers

What we can do

1. Run information sessions for DisabilityEmployment providers interested in the model

2. Facilitate strategy session with the board and interested members to explore the co-operative model

3. Co-design some co-operative development options for further consideration by the board

4. Support registration and execution if a co-op option is pursued

Benefits

Raise awareness and helps inform strategy

Helps build understanding about the economic and social benefits of the model – builds the business case

Consolidates engagementBuilds capability around social enterprise

Cost effective and informed guidance to develop and register the co-operative

SLIDE 23

www.ncec.com.au

Member ownedMember focused

Member benefitting

Richard Warner (Coordinator)

Nundah Community Enterprises Cooperative Ltd.

E| [email protected] P| (07) 32663788 M|0407633981

SLIDE 24

Visit www.getmutual.coopfor Pathfinder case studies

SLIDE 25

Thank you