Room For All - S2 E14 - Live at the 2025 Social Enterprise Festival - James Walters - MTC FutureReady

Inclusive Employment and MTC Future Ready with James Walters

In this episode of the Room for All Inclusion and Hospitality podcast, host interviews James Walters, GM of Strategic Growth at MTC Future Ready, a not-for-profit organization specializing in employment training and youth programs. James shares insights into MTC's recent achievements, including winning a new disability contract, and discusses their work in supporting culturally and linguistically diverse communities. He highlights the importance of holistic support through initiatives like the Participant Support Officer (PSO) role, which has positively impacted tens of thousands of people across Australia. James also touches on MTC's sponsorship of community events and their plans for social enterprise development. Tune in to learn more about MTC Future Ready's commitment to uplifting disadvantaged communities and fostering inclusivity.

00:00 Introduction and Welcome
01:54 About MTC Future Ready
02:17 New Disability Contracts Announcement
02:54 Geographical Reach and Expansion
04:08 Personal Motivation and Background
05:05 Impactful Stories and Initiatives
07:37 Sponsorship and Community Involvement
09:35 Future Plans and Social Enterprise
11:15 Fun and Final Thoughts

Transcript

Interview with James Walters on MTC Future Ready and Inclusion

​[00:00:00]

Speaker 2: [00:01:00] James. James Walters, welcome to Room for all the, um, inclusion and Hospitality podcast that today takes a little bit of a different shape. Um, GM Strategic Growth of MTC Future Ready? That's what I've got written down here.

That is right. Very good. So tell us a little bit more, what does that mean? Who's future ready? Who's MTC Future Ready and who is, um, James? Sure. 

Speaker 3: So, MTC Future Ready is a. Not-for-profit, not-for-profit organization, uh, based in [00:02:00] Marrickville. Um, we've been around for over 35 years. Okay. Um, specializing in employment training, youth programs.

Um, we're, we're currently all across the east coast of Australia. Um, so we deliver programs like Skills for Education, employment, or the SEA Program as that's called, uh, workforce Australia. So we're dealing with people who are unemployed, um, through the Centrelink system, but we also have recently just won, which we're very excited about.

Um, the new disability contracts. So Inclusive Employment Australia. Oh wow. 

Speaker 2: Congratulations. Yes, congratulations. So you weren't doing, you weren't a DES provider before and now your are an inclusion Well, 

Speaker 3: we were a DES provider. Uh, we were subcontracting and quite small. Yes. Okay. But we have now won it in our own right.

And, um, fantastic. These have 

Speaker: only gone out like this week, last week. So this is like your first announcement ment publicly. Yes, it is. This is the actual, oh, look at us go. Yes, 

Speaker 3: that's right. In what area? Exclusively just for you, that's why. Yeah. Yes. In what geographical area or what the specific targets?

Yeah. So we'll be across, uh, Sydney. So we've got six ESAs for employment services. I areas. I just wanna change the referral all. Ah, sorry. Yes, look. 

Speaker: [00:03:00] There we go. There we go. There we go. Sorry. 

Speaker 3: No worries. Um, so yes, across Sydney we'll be delivering the program, uh, but we'll also be picking up some business in, uh, Melbourne as well, which is very exciting for us.

Okay, so we are currently working through, uh, Brisbane. Sydney Brisbane's the better state. 

Speaker: I'm just saying Queensland all the way. 

Speaker 3: No way. No way. That's an open this discussion. Absolutely. We don't have 

Speaker: time. 

Speaker 3: It's, it's an amazing, uh, program that we're gonna be delivering and it ties in really well with the work that we do.

So we specialize in dealing with, uh, cultural and linguistically diverse. Okay. Uh, cohorts. That's sort of our, our bread and butter. 

Speaker 2: Okay. 

Speaker 3: But, you know, for 35 years we've been dealing with. People of, of disadvantage. And we've got some amazing stories that come through the outcomes that we've achieved. But that's not just for our clients, that's also for our staff.

As an employer, we, we see ourselves as very inclusive. So yeah, this is just another pillar of our business. And how long have you been invol involved with MTC yourself? So, I've been here for three years. Uh, but I've worked actually alongside MTC for 15 years. So it was an organization that I loved working [00:04:00] with.

And now you, so I wanted to work for. Um, it's a bit of a running joke, how hard I tried to get here, but I'm very glad that I, I am. Very 

Speaker 2: good. And what inspires you to do what you do yourself 

Speaker 3: as 

Speaker 2: a 

Speaker 3: person 

Speaker: personally? 

Speaker 3: Well, personally, I've, I've always had some something inside that's driven me to, to work in community and to make a difference.

Um, you know, my, my upbringing has brought up in a middle class family, uh, but my parents were from, uh, low socioeconomic backgrounds and I know how hard that they worked and just. They're just good people, you know? Know what I mean? Um, 

Speaker: I'm glad you're saying you're good. Your parents are good people. Yes, I know.

That's a good shout out. There 

Speaker 3: you go, mom. That's it. That's a shout out for the day. Listen, mom. Yeah. Um, that really instilled in me about, you know, be being kind to people. And, you know, no, no judgment. Everybody is on this planet for a, for a reason. We're here for a short time and um, I know we all sound very philosophical.

Just be good people, you know, just to help anybody no matter what their background is. Yeah, that drives me and, and people's stories and, and humanity [00:05:00] is what I love. So that drives 

Speaker 2: me to do this way. That's the perfect segue for the next question I've got written down here. 'cause can you share a story from your work that really shows your impact or, or your motivation?

Speaker 3: One that, that I'm particularly proud of is in our, um, skills for Education and Employment Program. We worked with a lot of, a lot of people, um, across Sydney who would be referred to us because, I hate this term, but it's probably the best way to describe it. They were somewhat too hard basket for some other services.

Oh, yeah. 

Speaker: Well, a lot of people get put in that basket. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And 

Speaker 3: it's, it's, uh, sad in a way. Sad is true, but also it gave us the opportunity to make a difference. So that was what was really exciting about it. Um, and when we were looking at what, what can our service do? What sort of change can we make?

We identified that people were coming to us and their, their life wasn't in order. Yeah. So how can we move them forward in our programs if their life's not in order? Um, so we created a role that was about let's touch on all the areas outside of your vocational goals that can get you in a head space and in a, [00:06:00] in a situation where now you can focus on those next steps.

Mm. You know, when you've got bills to pay, housing instability, you've got family issues, how can you concentrate on those next steps when you've got all that going mm-hmm. It just consumes you. So, um, together with my, my colleagues, we created a role, um, called the participant support officer, or PSO, and we lobbied the government and we said, look, look at this role that we've created.

This is about, you know, servicing people and, and really taking a genuine interest in that situation and moving them forward. And we got fantastic results through that. Um, and a huge win for us was when the new federal contract. Came out foresee, um, about 18 months ago. Every single person who comes through that program now gets a PSO allocated to them.

Yeah. I love it. Amazing. So tens of thousands of people across Australia now have access to that support, which they never did before. And that's a huge win. I've actually got the page in my house. I a 

Speaker: goosebump. I got goosebumps. 

Speaker 2: That's great. And it really, I mean, resonates with us. 'cause the reason why we always say hotel is successful in our impact [00:07:00] is because we mix the.

Work skills with the independent living skills that our trainees, um, learned to do. Uh, we obviously do it in, in a different way, but. You do need to have that holistic, wraparound, subtle type of support. You really to be able to help the, you don't wanna set somebody up to fail, which is, you can't 

Speaker: like, and I think that, you know, you have to invest in that because you 

Speaker 3: do.

Speaker: Yeah. And it's ongoing support all the time. And you never know when you're gonna need it. 

Speaker 3: That's the thing, isn't it? And you know, life happens around you. Absolutely. So you always need that support, whether you need it now or tomorrow to know that you've got it there if you need it. That was the big thing for us.

Speaker 2: And James NTC is also a general sponsor of the festival, right? You, you, you've got involved in a sponsorship way mm-hmm. Uh, this year. So what, what, what's your involvement? So as a sponsor, 

Speaker 3: we, we've, we've been members of Second now for a while, but wanting to be a sponsor this year, um, was the next step for us.

Um, you know, we, we've seen what the festival can do and we wanted to really get [00:08:00] behind it this year because there's so many amazing businesses out there and so many amazing people. And we wanted to be able to facilitate people getting here so that they can show what they're all about. Yeah. We wanted to promote the community connectivity of an event like this as well, but it aligns with us as a business.

Like what, what we are about is uplifting people. Um, and there is limitations to what we can do as an organization because of the contracts that we have. Yeah. But we are also financially fortunate that we're in a position that we can also invest in other areas. Yeah. In the community that may not have a direct benefit for us, but are just good for people.

When is that gonna happen for us? That we have so, 

Speaker 2: so much money. Yeah. To be able to do that. At the moment, we just, I, no. At the moment, all we can do is put our. Out there, we'll get there in kind thing. And we've definitely offered a lot in this, in this 'cause we are somehow a sponsor ourselves but in a bit of a different way in kind type of way.

But 

Speaker: yeah, you'll, our graduates. Running around everywhere. Everywhere I have 

Speaker 2: They've been amazing. Yes. Have they? So you 

Speaker: see, I'll tell them you're reporting very grateful 

Speaker 2: for [00:09:00] your role as a sponsor. Uh, uh, well, 

Speaker: that's what makes these events happen. Like, and the amount of good that this event is doing is unbelievable.

Speaker 3: It it is. You can feel the energy when you walk in. Yeah, it's good. It's been 

Speaker: like that since 7:00 AM It's buzzing. In fact, it's a shame that we stuck. I'm not a morning person, so. 

Speaker 2: But 

Speaker: I had a smile on my face at 7:00 AM Oh no. 

Speaker 2: When I see a message at six o'clock in the morning on my phone from Saraya, something big must have happened.

Four. It was four. No, I wasn't four. I was up at 4:00 

Speaker: AM to get here on time. Well, 

Speaker 2: big, big day for you. Big day. I only get up early. I'm not gonna be around you later tonight. So what's next for MTC. So, I mean, obviously the, the contract yesterday. Congratulations, 

Speaker 3: by the way. That's really big. Yeah, thank you.

That it is big for us. It's huge. It's huge. Um, that we've probably got two things on the horizon. Yes. So definitely delivering that contract. We've designed a, a program that we think is different to. What people have probably seen as a, a previous DES provider. Oh, stop it. So we're, we're very excited. We'll talk offline about that.

We'll come and talk to you because Yeah, please do. There's, there's [00:10:00] opportunities there. Disability, 

Speaker: employment is our jam. 

Speaker 3: Yes. It's my jam. I've, I've spent 15 years doing disability employment, so I, you know, I've always had aspirations of what it could look like, and I feel like we've really, well, I guess you're gonna be the 

Speaker: next visitor of hotel.

Yes, that's 

Speaker 3: right. Yes. We'll all be. And what's the other thing? Um, so that, that's one piece. The other piece is looking at, um, what we can do in our social enterprise journey. Okay. We have had multiple social enterprises over the years. So we've had a herb garden, we've had, um, community gardening, um, services.

We had Warrakirri college. Okay. Which was very successful and has now divested because it was so successful. So for us, it's what's, what's our next piece? So we've spent quite a bit of time looking at that. We have some exciting things on the horizon. Um, but it's about investing in social enterprise, um, that, that already exists.

Exists a model, but also building our, our own. Okay. That already exists. 

Speaker 2: So you, you would buy a social enterprise 

Speaker 3: that works or, or collaborate. Or collaborate. That I think collaboration is, is a big strength of ours and something that we would like to do. So we've got these things on the horizon, which are very exciting for us [00:11:00] and very purpose driven.

So 

Speaker: I'm looking forward to those announcements. What gets me up 

Speaker 3: in the morning, maybe not 4:00 AM but well look, it wouldn't 

Speaker: get me up. SECNA got me up, so remind me. Thank her for that one. 

Speaker 2: So I've asked this question to our first guest, and then we did it on our second guess, which I regret. But if your enterprise was a dish on a menu mm-hmm.

What would it be? 

Speaker: Can you tell what food is? You've got one minute to answer. Oh, okay. 

Speaker 3: Well, I'll give it a list. I, I don't, I couldn't tell you a specific dish, but I'll tell you, we would be potato based. You. Why carbs cup? Well, one carbs, absolutely, and it's delicious. But potatoes are good. They go with everything versus other things.

Flavors. Exactly. Chips, they're the perfect compliment to, to everything else on the love. This question, I hate this 

Speaker: question, but I'm all for potatoes. It's already two different, I said I regret 

Speaker 3: this though. I haven't had breakfast and now I'm chips hungry. Hot chips. I regret my answer. No, 

Speaker: I'm a big potato person.

Potato bake. Um, chips. Uh, roast potato. Yes. Like crispy in duck fat. It, so 

Speaker 3: Christmas [00:12:00] potatoes, that's another level with 

Speaker 2: gravy. Yes. You guys get along too well. 

Speaker: I'm gonna do some. So what, 

Speaker 2: what's one thing to, just to wrap up, 'cause we know that you need to be on stage actually somewhere else. Good luck. But what's one thing that we haven't spoken about that you really want to get out there?

Yeah. And how do people 

Speaker 3: find you? Jump jump on our website. We're on all, all the socials as well. But if you go to mtc future ready.org au, you will find, uh, everything about MTC, our services and what we can, we can do for community. Um, but the one thing that I think people wanna know about us is, is we are a very collaborative organization.

You know, we love to have a chat. We love to see what we can do in community, although we deliver. Very specific programs. We're not isolated to that. So, you know, we're always up for a chat. Amazing. If it's good for community, it's good for us, so Fantastic. We would love to have conversation. F if 

Speaker: there's potato involved, you'll stay for chips.

Yes, chips and a beer. Got it. Absolutely. 

Speaker 2: Yeah. James, good luck on stage. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you for your, uh, approach and yes, we'll probably do something together in the future. That sounds good. Thank you. Amazing to meet you. Have a [00:13:00] great day. Have a good day. Thanks James.