Room for All - S1 E5 - Mariella Cuttonaro and Program Elevate

Welcome to Room for All!

Join hosts Saraya O'Connell and Andrea Comastri as they discuss Hotel Etico's innovative Program Elevate with guest Mariella Cuttonaro. This initiative focuses on transitioning individuals with disabilities from supported employment to open employment in the hospitality and tourism sectors. Learn about Mariella's extensive experience in the field, the genesis of the program, challenges faced, and the positive impact of inclusive hiring. The episode delves into the specifics of Program Elevate, its phases, and goals, providing invaluable insights for employers and disability employment services. Stay tuned to uncover how this program is making strides toward true inclusion in the workforce!

00:00 Introduction and Welcoming Guests

02:14 Mariella's Background and Family Business

04:01 Transition to Recruitment and Personal Life

05:35 Challenges in Employment Services

08:35 Joining Hotel Etico for Pilot Project Local Tourism Navigator

16:48 Structural Adjustment Fund and Future Plans

22:29 Setting Ambitious Goals for Employment

22:59 Building a Supportive Community

23:19 Collaborating with Co-Hive Hub

24:58 Program Structure and Phases

29:50 Partnering with Torrens University

31:40 Challenges in Disability Employment Services

36:56 Advice for Employers on Inclusivity

40:52 Wrapping Up and Future Plans

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction and Welcoming Guests
• 2:14 Mariella's Background and Family Business
• 4:01 Transition to Recruitment and Personal Life
• 5:35 Challenges in Employment Services
• 8:35 Joining Hotel Etico for Pilot Project Local Tourism Navigator
• 16:48 Structural Adjustment Fund and Future Plans
• 22:29 Setting Ambitious Goals for Employment
• 22:59 Building a Supportive Community
• 23:19 Collaborating with Co-Hive Hub
• 24:58 Program Structure and Phases
• 29:50 Partnering with Torrens University
• 31:40 Challenges in Disability Employment Services
• 36:56 Advice for Employers on Inclusivity
• 40:52 Wrapping Up and Future Plans

Transcript

Andrea: Okay, we're rolling and we are in the giggly studio of Room for All. Welcome everyone. I'm here with my co-host Saraya O'Connell.

Saraya: Hi, hi, everyone 

Andrea: And with our special guest today, our very own Mariella Cuttonaro Hi, Mariella 

Mariella: Hi, everyone. 

Andrea: How are you? 

Mariella: Good. How are you? 

Andrea: Good. Good. Um, um, all two giggling people.

Saraya: To keep you on your toes. 

Andrea: Yes. Um, welcome. And today we're talking about a special project that Hotel Etico is running called Program Elevate that is a program transitioning people with disability supported employment to open employment.

Andrea: Mariella is running the program for us, but before we go and talk in detail about it, we just want to know a little bit more about Mariella. Who is Mariella?

Mariella: Who is Who Who is Mariella?

Saraya: Good question. It is good question. 

Mariella: Why is it a good question? 

Saraya: Cause I like to know about people. 

Mariella: Do you want to know everything right from the start or should I just, 

Saraya: Let's go from date. What's your first memory? 

Mariella: Gosh, I don't, I actually remember being on the airplane. I come from, uh, Oh my God. There we go. There's first flippin number one. So, uh, yeah. So my father is Italian. My mother is Armenian. I was born in England, lived there for about four years before immigrating over to Australia.

Mariella: Also pretty much born into a restaurant. So my father in England had his own restaurant, came to Australia, started off in a little pizza shop, and then further went on and had another restaurant, about 60, 70 seats, and then got into a 200 seat restaurant. So I pretty much have, hospitality restaurants, my whole, in my whole life. My brother has a restaurant, my uncles have restaurants, my brother in laws have restaurants. Yeah, it's, it's the family biz. So I also had my own cafe for about a couple of years and then I decided to sell that, go overseas for a few months.

Mariella: And then when I came back, did a little bit of study here, there and everything, mainly in business. And started working back with my dad. I still kind of do help him out. He, in his ripe old age of 75, decided to open another restaurant up at Central Coast, four years later, still going strong up there. And yeah, so he's still got all the support, but, um, yeah, so I decided to break away.

Mariella: It was a, it's a bit hard working in the family business. So you kind of don't get a regular paycheck and it was kind of like, you know, Yeah, here your go. There's like 20, there's 30. Dad, I want to go out. Yeah, here's 100. So I got to a point where I needed to create my own path and that's sort of how I landed in recruitment or my first, um, sort of experience within people's services. I did that for about three years, met my husband, got married, had a child. Around the GFC, global financial crisis. so recruitment wasn't a really big, uh, industry. 

Andrea: So let's make babies. 

Mariella: Yeah, so let's make babies. Uh, well, actually, yeah, she was a bit of a, uh, what do you call it? Uh, un, um. Unplanned. she's surprise. It was very, very unplanned. All three of mine are unplanned. 

Saraya: This is the best program I have ever done. 

Andrea: Three. 

Saraya: They're not listening, right? 

Mariella: No, they're not. They're not. 

Andrea: So you have three children.

Mariella: I have three children. my eldest, yeah, she's 16, uh, my middle, he's 13 going on 14 and then my youngest just is turning 12 tomorrow. 

Saraya: Oh, happy birthday. Halloween baby. 

Andrea: Well, I was hoping for a Halloween baby. I went into labor at Halloween and 45 minutes later he was born. So I was born 1245. So in my mind, I think, Oh, if it was Perth, it'd be a Halloween baby. 

Saraya: You could always change that, surely.

Mariella: I could, I could maybe take a moment, but, um, yeah, so it was a GFC. So recruitment had, uh, quite a really, quite a big hit and I couldn't go back to full time working in Parramatta or in the city was kind of a dual, uh, dual role, uh, being that I was a new mum. So they said, look, you've got to come back full time. I couldn't go back full time because I, again, had a, had a young child. That's how my first experiences worked with, came into employment services. So I applied for a role with APM. As an employment consultant, I thought it was like a recruitment consultant. Boy, was I wrong? So it was kind of like a deer in headlights going, it's like, oh, this is going to be easy peasy. It's just picking up the phone and contacting employers and, you know, just matching people. But when you're in employment services, you're generally dealing with a lot of challenges and barriers and, you know, people are on benefits. And in essence, a lot of them are kind of being forced to look for work. So let's just say there was a lot of, uh, abusive phone calls, a lot of, you know, Some angry clients coming in 

Andrea: from the jobseekers?

Mariella: from the jobseekers. And at the time, uh, it was kind of sort of, it, it's an industry that wasn't very well known within other employers. So it wasn't a resource that employers kind of knew. They just thought it was like another recruitment. 

Saraya: Yeah. So disability employment wasn't really front of mind..

Mariella: No, no, it wasn't. And, um, you know, and at first I'm thinking, Oh God, is this for me? And then I'm like, you know what? No, it is. Because it sort of goes back to, you know, when my dad, you know, with, with him going through the restaurants, he was a very big advocate of hiring people with disabilities. So he actually got an award back in the early 2000s from the prime minister commending him on, um, uh, the, uh, the way he takes, the way. He's always open to hiring people with disabilities and he had one gentleman that and the only reason why he's not working with my dad is because my dad's gone up to Central Coast was for like 20 years and you know, severe intellectual disability. He had, um, another young lady that worked in our commercial laundry to have a commercial laundry as well. She had quite a severe intellectual disability, but, you know, it took a lot of patience, um, for, for, um, my dad to, to train her up how to do it. But he was patient and, you know, she was with us for like six, seven years until she went on and had her own baby.

Mariella: So, my dad's always been an advocate and I thought, you know, I can stick this out. And I think that's where I realised that working with people with disabilities is something that I really enjoy doing. And then. Um, it's kind of an industry you kind of get sucked in and you can't leave, 

Saraya: you can't you leave. 

Mariella: Um, you know, there is the cold side of disability employment services. Um, but again, that, you know, Yeah. It's, um, 

Saraya: there's more good than bad. And I think that the, the bad outweighs the good in the public's view. And I think that that's something that we really strive to change. but it does. And that's everywhere. I mean, look at the reform at the moment that, you know, the media about what changes are NDIS.

Saraya: It's, it's. There's so much good with NDIS that, but the media 

Andrea: doesn't make it into the news.

Saraya: Yeah. It doesn't make it into the news now. 

Mariella: And I think so. And it's, it's the small few bad organisations that are giving the bad name to the larger organisation. So

Saraya: Don't we know it?

Mariella: I know. And 

Andrea: I 

Mariella: I guess that's, you know, what, how I ended up here at Hotel Etico, you know, I was in employment services and quite a seeing a position in my last role. And it got to the point where it felt, like a a monetary tank transaction and that didn't really align with what I believe. And I thought I'd take a break and maybe try being a housewife, you know, the real housewives of Wenty Falls, as I like to call it. 

Saraya: How did that go for you? I've always envied a housewife, but then I also think, I don't think I could, um, be a stay at home mom.

Mariella: I commend any person that stays at home

Saraya: Agree. 

Mariella: Because, I don't know how they do it, because it's a lot harder than it looks. 

Andrea: Can't see you sitting at home. 

Saraya: I cant see you sitting at home.

Mariella: It's not just sitting at home though. You're doing like so many other things, but it's just, 

Andrea: yeah, you wouldn't be sitting. Yeah, I know. But staying at home and interacting like yeah,

Mariella: it was, 

Andrea: and so

Saraya: I think there's power in saying that though, like I don't think enough women actually admit that they just can't be a stay at home mum. Um, I think there is power in that. 

Mariella: Yeah, definitely.

Saraya: It's shamed. Like I get shamed all the time every time I walk into the school, but sure think, yeah,

Mariella: I'm exactly the same and yeah, it's, yeah, I couldn't, but anyway, it lasted about six weeks. 

Saraya: Nicely done. Six weeks. 

Andrea: So your kids in high school, I think all of them now, yes? 

Mariella: No, well, my youngest is about to go to high school next year. So all three, it's one drop off now and, uh, yeah.

Andrea: So you had taken a break or a short break and you were looking for something or were you looking for a job when you first came across this?

Mariella: I actually wasn't really looking. I mean, I was dabbling, I I was starting to get impatient because again, I'm not one to just stay at home. So I'm quite entrepreneurial so I started thinking I could start this, I could start that and then something popped up in my feed and I'm like, Oh my God, I know this organization. I remember them when they started up. In 2020 and thinking, Oh my God, they are so crazy starting in COVID or just outside of COVID. But, you know, I followed the story of Hotel Etico and I'm like, I really want to see what this place is about. And I applied for the job. 

Andrea: Yes there a job going, right?

Mariella: Yes. And I actually read the, the, the criteria, the instructions, because I remember applying for a Seek and it's like, Oh my God, they've actually asked me to apply through Monday. So I applied through Monday as well with the cover letter. 

Saraya: That was a subtle dig at me. Thank you. This is going to go on, I think, and be a theme in every podcast. 

Andrea: Absolutely. And so the job was for a project, pilot project that the Department of Social Services, Federal Department was, um, funding called the Local Tourism Navigator.

Saraya: It was a successful, um, pilot. 

Andrea: Yeah. Pilot too short. One year. You can't really do anything in a year that is significantly shifting the dial, but it was a good exercise. I think it was part of a bigger attempt by government to have different sort of, you know, changes to the way they do disability employment. And that was, I think, part of their research and the results and so on. But so tell us a little bit about the program. What was it? What does that mean?

Mariella: So, you know, like you mentioned, it was on the back of, um, the Jobs and Skills Summit, uh, so Austrade and Department of Social Services. So they've realised that, you know, again, after COVID, uh, hospitality, tourism had a really, really big hit. And then, you know, we're still down, we're still having challenges with, um, getting more and more people with disabilities into employment. So it was kind of like a natural for process by obviously Austrade and DSS. DSS acronym for Department of Social Services, um, to, to put two things together and then create this, uh, pilot program to see if it could work because, you know, hospitality was struggling or tourism is struggling, but we've got this untapped, uh, talent pool. and how can we access that and how can we get businesses to access those, and it was about sort of linking the businesses to tools, resources, and educating them on how to hire, train and retain people with disabilities. 

Andrea: So it wasn't necessarily to create anything new necessarily, it was about to help them navigate the existing structures, existing systems.

Mariella: Exactly. And I think that's, uh, you know, there is. So many resources out there that, you know, no one really knows about, you know, I'll put an example coming here to Hotel Etico. You didn't know about the workplace assessment?

Saraya: Well, we knew about it. Uh, we just couldn't navigate it. So like, we literally, um, it was months and months of trying to get it in and yeah, look, you have the expertise in that. We ended up paying for a lot of, um, our workplace adjustments ourselves, which which is, you know, Which is, you know, the government do fund it. So, um, but it is hard to navigate. There are so many different things, but there are so many resources out there. 

Andrea: And so it was working. So we were one of, I think, a dozen organisations around the country.

Mariella: It was, yeah, it was 12, yeah. 

Andrea: Uh, and we were assigned the Blue Mountains of Western Sydney area. Uh, and, uh, so it was working with, uh, Small and medium enterprises, 

Mariella: small to medium enterprises. 

Saraya: They did go up. 

Andrea: Yeah. It was a little bit flexible. 

Mariella: They made the numbers flex. Initially they cut it off at like 99, but then they became a bit more flexible with, you know, if there's a business that the head office is in Sydney and here's that class on that. So they became a bit more flexible because of obviously the feedback with the organizations doing the pilot. Um, We're saying that, you know, we need to sort of broaden it a little bit, broaden the scope in terms of the size and you know, to get more validated data again and trying to get all this good data in 12 months is near impossible.

Andrea: Yes. 

Mariella: You know, especially when

Saraya: we tried , we got a lot of data, but not, probably not as much as 

Andrea: we, well we had an advantage, I I suppose, suppose, versus other organizations 'cause we were really already doing. Most of that work in a way, uh, we had more of a focus on the training than on the, on the employers, but we had relationships we had in the mountains in Western, Sydney and Sydney. And so I think for us, it was, it was a good, um, a good pilot to be involved in, but yeah, the problem with it is the length of it. 

Saraya: Yeah. 12 months really isn't, 

Andrea: I think we extracted the most out of it for the community.

Mariella: yeah. And and being that, you know, taking on someone with a disability. There needs time to do that training, the onboarding and, you know, finding that right employer. And it can take beyond 12 months to know that that's going to be a meaningful, sustainable job. So, and I, I guess they've taken on that feedback, but, you know, with the new, um, DES, uh, employment services coming out, they're trialling so many different pilots to get prepared for that. So they could model what the service would be. So that's, 

Saraya: yeah 

Mariella: and. that's why I guess they were constrained to that. 

Andrea: And the main objective wasn't necessarily to employ people with disability as part of the pilot. It was about building the capacity of the, of the industry. So 

Saraya: which is really important. 

Andrea: Yeah, yeah. Of course. And 

Saraya: one of the biggest barriers 

Andrea: and one of the problems is the size. So if you talk about micro enterprise, small enterprises, it's really hard for like a husband and wife mum and dad, you know, like to, to, and go to training and learn things and learn that. And so you need to hold their hands quite a bit. But I I we, I remember being here when we were doing training sessions and we had pretty good response, um, in terms of the various disabilities.

Saraya: Yeah. We had to put on more and more. 

Andrea: Yeah. So yeah,

Saraya: yeah, 

Andrea: There was, um, that was, quite successful. And then. Um, so that, I mean, that went pretty quick, uh, 12 months and then, um, the project finished and you moved on, um, probably 

Saraya: Not for long. 

Andrea: That's right.

Mariella: I've always been part of it. of it. 

Andrea: Because

Saraya: Can't Stay away. 

Mariella: What's that song? The Hotel California.

IMG_5848A: That's our theme song. 

Andrea: It's not that song. It's the song of the podcast. 

Saraya: You literally can't say, you weren't gone for long. 

Andrea: But the thing is that we. 

Saraya: Yeah. Even with her gone, she wasn't gone

Andrea: gone. no well, because she was very smart. She planted a big seed, So while you were here in your spare time, you were applying for grants left, like right and center. And And so, you spotted this grant opportunity with DSS again. um, for the Structural Adjustment Fund, uh, which is one of the bigger initiative of sort of trying to transform the disability employment sector. And you went for it. it. I think we sort of thought no, it's a bit of a long it's a shot

Saraya: You were just like, Oh yeah, we might get it. We might not get it. And we were just and so catchy about it. it. Mm. 

Andrea: What happened in the end? 

Mariella: And then we won it.

Andrea: Literally won it. Because we ended up being the organization with the largest funding around the country. 

Mariella: Yeah, I think the total funding for round one was just over, nearly 15 million. And then we got the 15th of that. 

Saraya: Yes. Yeah. So it was pretty good

Andrea: And not only like it was about 70 organizations around the country. And so, I mean, we, we were sort of one of the largest one, which was scary because it put a lot of pressure on our us to deliver, but. but you know, then 

Mariella: what is it that you sort of like you, you shoot that aim, 

Saraya: what's your motto? 

Andrea: What, uh, ready fire aim. So we definitely did that and now we're aiming uh, so, um, um, 

Saraya: like, I mean, we're, we're up up, were up against some big players. 

Andrea: Yeah, yeah. No,

Saraya: like massive players within the disability, employment space. 

Andrea: Yeah. Established. 

Saraya: And we've, I mean we're tiny, 

Andrea: but I think you all 

Mariella: It's my amazing writing skills. 

Andrea: It's interesting because when you think

Mariella: it's your amazing program,

Andrea: when you think of the department, you know, so it's it's big removed. It's in Canberra, they don't really see it's, you know, you feel it's transactional, but they actually listen. 

Saraya: They do. They do. 

Andrea: You mentioned the Jobs and Skills Summit. I was at the Jobs and Skills Summit. Um, I was invited by Austrade and, um, DSS. And I was one of the voices there. And they, and they had told me that they had this program starting. The, the, the local tourism navigator. They had a program. Program in, in the making. And so I think the seed was planted there. They had been observing us. They had been watching us. That's why we got invited. And then it just one after the other. And so then we delivered results and, and, and they keep watching us. And I think we were successful and the application was really good. And so. 

Saraya: You did have amazing writing skills. 

Andrea: So that's, uh, and then, so we knocked on your door again and said, Hey Mariella how would you like to help us, uh, get it started? Um, and we also, the idea that probably it was going to be like a short term for you and then, you know, employ someone else. And then we shortly realized. Why?

Mariella: I'm enjoying it, 

Saraya: But maybe we should talk about what actually the Structural Adjustment Fund is. So we spoke about it, I think, in the intro, but I can't remember if that was take one or take two. Um, it's to transition people from supported employment into open employment within, well, ours is the hospitality. 

Andrea: What is supported employment and what is open employment? 

Saraya: Yeah.

Andrea: What is it? 

Saraya: What is it? What are they? different? 

Andrea: What's supported employment? 

Saraya: in all seriousness, because some people don't know. And the names have changed. 

Andrea: Even the concept of Open employment, it's very industry based. 

Saraya: We use a lot of acronyms too. 

Andrea: What's supported employment in a few words.

Mariella: I, I, guess it's, uh, where a a, person is working for less than the, the, award wage. 

Andrea: With support from specialists and, and, uh, and normally it happens in Australian disability enterprises. 

Mariella: Generally, yeah. Yes. The ADEs, if you want to talk about talk about it. it, yeah,

Saraya: yeah. 

Andrea: which again, for the, uh, uh, less experienced in the field is the old sheltered workshops know, that then became an Australian Disability Enterprise. And I think there's a new name now or something, um, 

Mariella: and to put in perspective, you know, we've got like around 16,000 people nationally, um, that are working in supported employment within Australian Disability Enterprises. 

Saraya: And, you know, I think. There, there wasn't a lot of talk of open employment. A lot of people, um, you know, leaving school, there's not a lot of options, um, for somebody with a disability. So, you know, generally it's, you go into supported employment. 

Andrea: Yeah. And it tends to be a destination. That's right. 

Saraya: It is a destination. You go, you form your community, you have great time. You're sort of part of a community and you never want to leave because you're there. But yes, there are some distortion to the system whereby people can be paid less than the award wages because it's based on productivity. And, and again, there's movement to change things, but it's a big, big issue. difficult thing to unravel because there's also some arguments which, you know, have some merit about, the fact that productivity is an element and we talked about it in previous episodes and that, um, many people with disability, uh, will never be in a position to have employment in what it's known as open employment. Mainstream employment. So how do you transition the system from one to another, but, um, and then what goes with that is the concept of segregation, which again, it's another very, um, controversial hot topic. So, you know, working just with people with disability or working within a fully integrated setting. The, what we've created here is, um, paying full award wages and not in a segregated environment where you work alongside people without a disability. So 

Mariella: I guess, you know, when you're looking at the, one of the reasons why the structural adjustment fund came  about, it's because, you know, when you're looking at that 16,000 people, you know, there was some suggestions that you've got at least a third of of those. those that have, that want to go into open employment, but but you you know, the ADEs aren't, equipped. Yes. To be able to support them to transition from that ADE into, um, open employment. 

Andrea: And so how are you going to do that? What's, what's, first of all, there's a number associated to it. Like we've put a target of 50 people. 

Mariella: Like, uh, we all do. do. 

Saraya: I know, right? 

Mariella: So yeah, we've put a target. We're aiming to 

Saraya: over two years, 

Mariella: over two years. So we're aiming to support 50 people into, uh, open employment. 

Andrea: Yeah, I have a feeling that we'll definitely, uh, overshoot that number, but 

Saraya: can we touch wood? Cause 

Mariella: I don't like to fail. So 

Andrea: you definitely don't don't like to fail, we don't like to fail. Failure is good in some areas, but I think that this is 

Mariella: You learn from failures, but this is like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Andrea: Yeah. And so. How, how are we going to do that? You can't just go there, open the door, pick a person up, up, dump them into an open employment. What are you, how are you going to do it? 

Saraya: You have to partner with the right people. Like you need a community. We've spoken about it in other episodes. You need a community around you. And I think that's going to be the biggest. 

Mariella: And I think that's something here in Australia we need to do better is. collaborating more with other organizations. I think the way the system's built, it's makes it too competitive. So so one wants to use another service. It's like, Oh, they're going to take my, my funding away, 

Saraya: We found that a lot with with the disability employment services. When we started, it was competition. If if we are not a DES we are provider, Um, but yeah, 

Andrea: we now work with,

Saraya: we now work with, yeah, but but that's cause we're working with the right disability employment services. 

Mariella: So I think it's, yeah, we need to get a community behind it. So it's like identifying organisations that have the same values that really want, um, to help people get into open employment, not, not hold them back because there will always be organisations, you know, the ADs, they're going to be like, Oh no, you're going to take my, my funding away. that I want them to stay here.

Andrea: So really, I mean, the 50 people is important, but the bigger picture. It's the same way as for Hotel Etico, the bigger picture is the employers and the community and not the trainees themselves is working with other providers and and helping them somehow to, to, know, to think differently and to work differently.

Mariella: So it's equipping them with the tools that we have demonstrated here at Hotel Etico so they can do it themselves. So it's almost like running a sort of a couple of programs with them. give them the skills, give them the ability so then they can, you know, know, start transitioning, um, other one, other of their participants in their programs into open employment. So it's not necessarily that we'll be holding the hands for the whole two years, 

Andrea: No. 

Mariella: might run One program. We find that the, you know, they've got the right resources, so they should be able to run the programs. 

Andrea: Yes. Yeah. so sort of, we're a bit of a facilitator.

Saraya: And the itself, so we, the Hotel Edeco program is obviously a one year live in program. Um, I mean, it's the program that we've created is very, um, detailed, um, there is a curriculum, like you do need structure. Um, what sort of skills are you focusing on? In the program. So like what skills do you think are transferable to customer service and what are the main, um, I would say curriculum highlights that are in the program.

Mariella: Yeah. So the, the, program obviously is very similar to Hotel Edco. I mean, that's where it's a shortened version. version, don't have the independent living component part of the yeah, program. It's like community base. It's not residential. It's more um, It's about skills development. So we say phase one, uh, is the training and preparation. And in that training and preparation, they'll, uh, undertake, um, a few workshops, uh, around sort of etiquette, communication, goal setting, uh, and then we'll do some simulated workshops. And this is where they'll get skills within sort of the hospitality, tourism, um, environments, and then, uh, we'll also look at doing the sort of the customer service administration side. So I so I like to keep a little bit broad because not everyone wants to work in hospitality and tourism. So we want to be able to capture, um, some, some candidates that might want to look at at sort of of other areas. 

Andrea: Well, they're very transferable skills. So, yeah. 

Mariella: And then the phase two, so I mean that phase one can go anywhere between sort of three months, it could go six months, it's very individual based. So so the goal of this program, it's going to be person centred. So it's about what the person wants. So they, you know, if they, will, don't want to dictate to them what job they want. want. It's about what they want. We'll develop the goals and then we'll monitor those goals over the course of them conducting the program or participating in the program. And phase two is the placement and support. So we find a placement um, obviously they do the work experience or job shadowing and then the simulated workshops. And we'll make sure that they've got ample support in place. So it could be that if they're an NDIS participant. participant, participant, which majority of them will be, uh, can they access their support network through their plan and so forth so they, they can get support. We'll also obviously look at, um, uh, educating the employer, uh, supporting the employer in, in, that, in that process of taking on that person with disability.

Andrea: So that's very complementary to what we're already doing in our employment program, graduate program. 

Saraya: I think that's why we won. I honestly do. Like I, I really do. Like, I think, um, like I, I read the submission. Numerous times. And there's a lot of words in that, like a government grant is not something to mess with. Um, but it is very much the Hotel Etico program. Um, and I think that that shows in, in, even just getting the grant, because. 

Andrea: And so we will be tapping into, uh, existing partners within the tourism and hospitality industry and then new ones. Yes. And so that's, that's great. that's um, really really good. Yeah. 

Mariella: So I know, I know like the current partners we have are predominantly within sort of the hotel, but you know, there's other parts of tourism and, and, um, Hospitality, you know, transport could be part of that, you know, all that stuff. So, um, I think it's, yeah, it's going to be important that we tap into 

Saraya: Oh the ferries. That would be so so cool.

Mariella: uh, yeah, so it's important that we tap into, to other partners, not just sort of that, that hotel. 

Saraya: We don't want to limit because 

Mariella: I remember you saying when I, a few months ago that, you know, hospitality is quite broad. Tourism is quite broad. You know, you step out into a shop. That's considered tourism. 

Andrea: If of course. If tourist and you go and have your, you know, haircut at a local hairdresser. like, yeah, absolutely. Like to everyone is involved in tourism, really. And so we called it Program Elevate, 

Mariella: What was the first one? 

Saraya: I can't remember.

Mariella: I don't know. Succeed. Work succeed,

Andrea: Yes. which has now become the subtitle. And 

Saraya: it's hard to pick a name for our program. 

Andrea: Yeah. Yeah. And you can spend so much time on it And then, um, and it's a partnership program again, so you're already partnering with with a number of organizations, particularly one who are you working with at the moment?

Mariella: So we've, uh, commenced our first program with a partner or we're collaborating with Co Hive Hub based in Alexandria. It's an amazing, organization. The cohort, uh, participants with, uh, autism, uh, but yeah, it's an amazing program. Awesome.

Andrea: It's a great space. 

Saraya: walk in there and you just, you know, feel. Um, at ease, 

Andrea: so, so in the spirit of partnership, we've also partnered with, um, with Torrens University. Yes. So what is, what is their role in the program or what have they done for us? 

Mariella: Well, Torrens University, they're specialists in the hospitality tourism game. Um, we partnered with them and they're developing our curriculum for the workshops. Um, there's 12 in total. in total. Um, they're pretty much much. us the learning the material. And then, you know, once we get that material, 

Saraya: they're very collaborative. Like, so, you know, they've gone off our curriculum that we have and they've taken our feedback and yeah, 

Andrea: So Torrens runs the Blue Mountains International Hotel management school and they've done a lot of work with us already the research project on our program here. And so yeah, 

Saraya: very thorough research program.

Andrea: We'll probably have them over As guests in in the future as well. well. 

Mariella: And they'll be evaluating our program as well, because, you know, we want to make sure it's successful so we can demonstrate to the department of social services that we are the best. We are innovative and every other organization needs to learn from us.

Andrea: And so it's a two year, it's a two year program. 

Saraya: You're so competitive. 

Andrea: It's a two year program. We're already about. What, four or five months into it. Um, and, uh, yeah, time will, 

Saraya: time will tell, uh, it is flying already. Like it's flying. 

Andrea: Yeah. Um, but, um, yeah, it's really exciting. Cause it's something new. It's something that it's almost like self contained outside of Hotel Etico, but it takes a lot of what we already do. And, um, yeah, 

Mariella: If it works when you your other hotel, you've got something, you know, maybe have the part where it's not a living component and you've got, 

Andrea: yeah, so that's, that's, that's so much. there's so much that can come from it. Yes. Um, what else? 

Saraya: Um, want to go back. Can we go back? Although, you know, I could talk about Hotel Etico all the time, but the disability employment space at the moment, like the changes that are coming in, um, where, where everybody is at with it. Do you want to talk a little bit about, that? I know you've been out of the game just a little bit, um, but you've seen it all, Like, you've seen transition after transition. Um,

Mariella: Uh, I guess, you know, me, I'm fortunate that I've been in the, the, industry for what, about 15 years, uh, within disability employment services and it's changed, but it hasn't changed. Yeah. If it makes sense. So I it, I every time a new contract comes out, there is the, the goal of making it bigger and better, but then they learn from it and realise, okay, it's, we've reverted back to kind of what the old contract was and it becomes about the numbers and. the revenue and the profit and it loses sight of the individual. So, the idea of the new contract, so actually there, it's a, it's a, a, day, yesterday was a cutoff for submitting the tender, so I think there's a lot of people sleeping probably for the next week. week. 

Andrea: Yeah, that's right. 

Saraya: It's a big tender. 

Mariella: It's a huge tender and, uh, I've been through the employment services tender and, and they're massive. You think the one that I wrote was big? 

Andrea: Yeah. no. 

Mariella: Imagine doing this. doing 

Andrea: We've, we've done a program program yeah, we about tender itself, um, then decided not to necessarily go for it. it.

Mariella: And, um, yeah, I looked at it and I thought, no, no, this is, it's too, it's too much red tape.

Saraya: It is a lot of red tape. And I mean, this is controversial, but I like the fact that, I mean, we do just have another government grant, but I like the fact that we don't have the red tape. I mean, we have the compliance of the NDIA. Absolutely. Absolutely. But we're a social enterprise and don't have necessarily the red tape. 

Andrea: It's good to have the freedom. 

Saraya: It's good to have the freedom to do what we do. Um, because we can really invest in it. Um, and when you, you know, you're so numbers focused and you're, you know, you know, 12

Andrea: when you've got to spend a lot of money to just know, make the numbers work rather than with but with that said, DSS, thank you. Keep it coming. 

Mariella: And look, I think, you know, ultimately every time they do a designer, a contract, it is for the the. the greater good. Uh, but then it gets to that point because there is that red tape and it gets gets to, it gets to the point where the front line of DES providers tend to fill most of it because all of a sudden, you know, they've got caseloads of 40, then it grows to 60 because, you know, budget constraints or, you know, They're not getting the referrals. The placements aren't coming and then they're going to have to make revenue somehow. Uh, but I guess with the new contract, from what I hear, it is going to be a lot more person centric, but they say that all the time. We'll see if it comes to fruition. The Centre of Excellence has recently gone to tender and so obviously organisations organizations submitted their tender so the DSS are reviewing that. um, and the whole idea of the Centre of Excellence is to capture all these good news stories, so there is that central point where DES providers or, uh, disability organizations can go to, to learn best practice so they can implement this. Again, it's about the organization, how good is it going to be, or is it just something that just some funds that's just going to be put there and and

Saraya: I remember before I joined Hotel Etico, literally losing my passion and it wasn't in employment services. It was in, um, uh, therapy services and community services, and it just became about. The numbers and, you know, the, I think the, the transition from ADHC funding to NDIS funding, it took, most providers took a huge hit, um, because, you know, it, it, was a big transition, but it was, ADAC funding was, you know, horrible,

Andrea: Yeah. 

Saraya: But it was so much red tape, um, and a lot of providers took, took a big hit and then they had to, they had to bring it back, um, and it was exhausting. And I remember really losing my passion for it because it was just like. It became like, i, I I once remember having a caseload that I just couldn't, I couldn't handle it. Like I was working ridiculous hours. I mean, I work ridiculous hours here, but it was just too much. 

Andrea: And now instead we've moved to an NDIS system that is, there's no red tape. There's no, no 

Saraya: look, there is red tape. There's a lot of red tape. There's a lot of compliance. And so it should be, 

Andrea: Yeah, 

Saraya: you need a lot of compliance, but there's so much good within the NDIS. I've seen people, um, that didn't. Get the funding on ADHC because there just wasn't, it wasn't there. And being able to actually get support services in, and I'm talking like people with severe disabilities, like in wheelchairs, like bed bound, um, their parents doing absolutely everything for them. And now within the NDIA, they actually have support and they can be independent. It's the best thing that ever happened to Australia. 

Mariella: And it is, it's definitely sort of like, you know, probably in the world, it's one of the, the, the better, uh, schemes that, that that there is, but, um, you know, it is, like I think I said earlier, that it's a small few that, uh, can, can ruin the reputation and then put that, um, somewhat red tape, if you want to call it, for for other providers, so. 

Andrea: Yeah. 

Saraya: Yeah. 

Andrea: Yeah. So, we talked at the beginning about the work that we did under the Local Navigator, which was about to help employers. Um. Sort of to loop back to that concept, what advice, if any, um, do you have for potential employers that are listening to us about, um. um. how to become more inclusive. Well, what do they need to do? What should they do apart from talking to us? 

Mariella: Just hire someone with a disability. No, I think, um, know your resources, you know, don't be scared. I think, um, a lot of employers or businesses, organizations can be a little bit frightened at the prospect of taking on a person with disability because they think of I won't have time, I don't have the resources. This is going to cost a lot of money. Um. I would, uh, you know, my advice would be research, um, there's plenty of organisations that are there to support you, there's, uh, plenty of, um, schemes to, to support you, you know, through job access. You know, you've got Disability Employment Services, um, that can support you taking on a person with disability. There's financial incentives, um, I would also suggest, you know, if you are wanting to take on, make your workplace your accessible, you know, you want to reflect your, your workplace To your potential customers. So, uh, make it accessible. People will come. And then, you know, if they see that you're hiring people with disabilities, you know, more people with disabilities will come, you know, they're, they're, yeah. 

Andrea: And why should they, why should they employ people with disability? I mean, yeah. 

Saraya: Why not? Is the question. Like, I like, I it, Like to us, it's so normal. Like I, I, find it normal. You find it normal. You find it normal. Um. I think, yeah, people are scared, but I don't think the question should be why. I think the question is why aren't you?

Mariella: Yeah. 

Saraya: Like. 

Mariella: I um, you know, there, there shouldn't be a reason to not hire a person with disability. It's, um, yeah, I mean, you can do the whole standard, oh yeah, you know, they're loyal, they're reliable, they're this and that. 

Saraya: and they're skilled. 

Mariella: And they're skilled. It's, it's like, you're going to, Okay. tap into a pool that you haven't thought of. they're going to give a different perspective, so, if you're in a tourism business, you know, how many millions of people travel that have a disability so, you know, if you are in a tourism business, you know, how many millions of people travel that have a disability. You know, they're going to give you valuable insight on how to make your business more accessible to target those, um, those potential visitors. Oh, a hundred percent more values. You know, know, initially, yes, you may need to have a little bit of patience because everyone learns differently. It's like any new employee. Um, everyone has a different, unique learning style. So it might take you, uh, a day or two or, or, whatever time's longer, but once you've got them trained, they are going to be your most most loyal, reliable. 

Andrea: They're definitely motivated, so yeah. 

Mariella: Motivated person. yeah. You know, I'll go back to the, the, gentleman my dad hired, you know, he had him for for nearly 20 years. years. It was, you know, it was, it was hard initially for him to, to, pick up because he had a severe intellectual disability. But, you know, once he picked it up, my dad never had to tell him to, to, go do, you know, Yeah. His tasks. He knew what he had to do. Yeah. And you know, the same for the the, the young lady that worked in the commercial laundry, she was exactly the same. You know, she took probably a few months of repetition to, to get the process right. But she became the most valuable so it's just, so it's just, might take it might take a bit of time, but, long term, 

Andrea: it's a longer term investment.

Mariella: The investment far outweighs. Yeah. Well, I mean, return of investments better.

Saraya: I mean, if you think about it, it, um, you hire the wrong person, and, you have to make up that time by doing it and again, and again, and again, and again. So really you're not losing any time. It's just a matter of where you.

Andrea: So I want to sort of start thinking of wrapping up cause we've been talking for a while, but, um, So, um, talking about program elevate, Uh, how do people get involved? What's, uh, I mean, this episode will go to air in a few weeks and, uh, you'll be Maybe if it doesn't go on the cutting room floor. Um, uh, so yeah, how do people get in touch? What do they need to do? What's, what's, yeah. 

Mariella: Uh, visit, uh, hoteletico.com.au uh, all the details are on the website. All the forms and, uh, expressions of interest are on, uh, the website. Alternatively, you can contact, uh, Saraya or myself, . My details will be put on the website. 

Andrea: And how long does the program go forward for an individual that applies? 

Mariella: It's individual based. And that's the whole point of the program. I mean, we sort of, of, a guide is about six months, but could be depending on the person and you know, what their skills are, how much support or training they need. It could be as little as three months. It could be nine months. 

Saraya: But also

Mariella: Restricted to June 2026.

Saraya: Also, if you are a supported employment, um, organization that wants to partner with us, please, please get in touch. 

Andrea: Yeah, be in touch. Yes, absolutely. Um, because we can help you and yeah, support you. We can't do it. We can't do it by it by ourselves. 

Mariella: You'll be hearing from me shortly. 

Saraya: Yeah. You like to stalk people. 

Andrea: Very good. Anything else? Anything else you would like to add? 

Mariella: No, I'm just looking forward to the next, uh, year and a half minimum. 

Andrea: Yes. That's right. So you're not going anywhere for the next year and a half. No. You're just sticking around. Um. I think,

Mariella: yeah, Hotel Etico will always be part of me regardless if I'm, I'm uh, a You know, full time employee, part time employee, volunteer 

Saraya: contractor,

Mariella: I'll I'll be here somewhere.

Andrea: Volunteer? You want to do it for free? 

Mariella: Oh my gosh. 

Saraya: it's on the record. 

Mariella: I'm doing other stuff. I'm volunteering. 

Saraya: Yes, you do.

Mariella: I can help like all the other projects and stuff. But yeah, look, I'll always be. So it's been a, yeah, it's close to, to, to my heart. I think since I've read about it. There's nothing like it. No, there isn't. It's, it's quite innovative. And you know, I think actually for all you DES providers that, uh, haven't, uh, or might be listening, you, you definitely need to come up here and, um, see how it actually is done. Hold your next conference and, uh, managers meetings. 

Andrea: Yeah, that's right. Yeah. So that's right. So up here we've got 15 rooms. You can stay, there's a restaurant, there's a bar.

Saraya: And that's your call to action.

Andrea: There's meeting rooms. It's the ad, the ad break, uh, but yeah, it's a, it's a great space in terms of doing, for doing those things. So absolutely. And if you're an individual, um, come and stay. 

Saraya: Mariella, I want to thank you for coming on. I know we had to twist your arm a little bit, um, but we do appreciate it. And I think it's important to spread the message of what we're doing and especially this big grant, um, will really make a difference. So we thank you for all your hard work and for, you know, always being here. 

Andrea: Absolutely. Yes.

Mariella: Thank you for the invite. 

Andrea: Thank you, Mariella

Mariella: It wasn't as scary as I thought. 

Andrea: Well, it's meant to be scary. We're recording this on Halloween night, so. 

Mariella: I was actually going to bring my witch's hat. Oh, that might be a bit odd.

Saraya: You know what? Maybe next time. Maybe. We'll have a dress up party. 

Andrea: With that, thank you, Mariella 

Saraya: Thank you. 

Andrea: Thank you, Saraya And, uh, let's make room for all. 

Saraya: And keep fighting for inclusion. 

Mariella: Go Etico. Thank you. You can just delete that part. 

Saraya: I'll do.