Contact Us

Head Office
Mark Oliphant Building
Ground Floor Level 1B (North Wing)
Laffer Drive
Bedford Park SA 5042

Post Address:
Mark Oliphant Building
Box Number 13
Laffer Drive
Bedford Park SA 5042

General Enquiries:
Phone: 08 8464 0780
Facsimile: 08 8201 7586
TTY: 08 8201 7584
e-mail: info@sage.org.au

Employment Enquiries:
Phone: 08 8464 0779
e-mail: employment@sage.org.au

Accounts Department:
Phone: 08 8464 0781
Facsimile: 8201 7586
e-mail: accounts@sage.org.au

Office Hours:
9:00am to 5:00pm Monday to Friday

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Strategic Plan 2010

Vision

"Professional work places, real jobs, valued people."

Mission

"To provide quality employment opportunities for people with a disability."

Values

• Social Role Valorisation
• Social Justice
• Civil Liberty
• Participation and Choice
• Award based wages and conditions.

Strategic Plan 2010

1. People
People will continue to be our greatest resource and strength, consequently supporting people will be a major strategic priority.

This will be achieved by encouraging ongoing career development opportunities for all personnel where ever practical while at the same time offering flexible working conditions which ensure effective long-term work-life balance.

2. Commercial Sales
Business sales account for more than 50% of all revenues and fund the majority of commercial wages, plant and equipment. Consequently increasing sales, growing market share and improving productivity must be a significant objective in all Business Planning.

3. Service Outcomes
Real outcomes for people with a disability in employment translate directly as increases in the following areas:

• Valued Social Status
• Work independence
• Real participation in the businesses activities
• New skills and experience
• Hours of work
• Wages

Consequently, these aspects shall be calculated into strategic and business planning development goals.

4. OH&S
Continue to work with OH&S consultant to further develop safe workplaces which both meets OH&S best practice and respects the civil rights and liberties of people with a disability to participate meaningful in a real work environment with dignity.

5. Service Funding
FaHCSIA and DEEWR grants fund the majority of Support Staff wages. Consequently, it is important to ensure all Human Services procedures and practices are maintained including:

• DMI Case Notes
• Quality assurance systems
• Employment development planning
• Vocational and independence training
• Effective management of outlet and stretch capacity

6. The Environment
Global warming is a reality and a direct result of human activity. It affects us all and will do so in more profound ways than the global economic crisis. If we are to mitigate some of the harm it will cause, organisations like ours must not only develop strategies to decrease our green house gas emissions, but also identify new business opportunities to remain viable into the future.

The Board of SA Group Enterprises

The Board of SA Group Enterprises is comprised of executive and non-executive volunteer members and acts on behalf of and is accountable to the members of the association.

The Board identifies the expectations of members and monitors changes in government policy and community expectations.

Membership of the organisation can be obtained through application and requires acceptance from the Board. Membership is available to anyone who supports the aims of the organisation and is for a period of three years. Membership forms are available on request.

The responsibility for operation and administration of SA Group Enterprises is delegated by the Board to the Chief Executive Officer. The Board, Chief Executive Officer and Management Team set the corporate strategic direction. The Board meets monthly and monitors the achievements of service targets and financial objectives against budgeted targets and other key performance indicators.

The Board may comprise of up to 10 Members including a senior staff member and the Chief Executive Officer.

Current Board Members 2007 - 2008:

• Darlene Voss
• Chris Sargent
• Hugh Kearns
• Ian Harris, Treasurer
• Maree Hollard, Human Services Manager (SA Group Enterprises)
• Dr Peter McInerney, Chairperson
• Phillip Sutherland
• Robert Hart, CEO (SA Group Enterprises)
• Ruth Horne

Other designated positions on the Board include a member who acts in an advocacy role for people with disabilities in employment, a training representative and business professionals or other professionals who may bring a range of expertise.

Download Constitution - SA Group Enterprises Constitution.pdf ( 64kb )

Social Role Valorisation

“The major goal of SRV is to create or support socially valued roles for people in their society, because if a person holds valued social roles, that person is highly likely to receive from society those good things in life that are available to that society, and that can be conveyed by it, or at least the opportunities for obtaining these.”

Reference: Joe Osburn (1998). An Overview of Social Role Valorisation Theory

Guidelines for creating value

To help a person gain a valued social role, one task is to change the way the community sees the person. Being devalued is not something inherent in the person; it is the view that the community has, and it can be changed.

The community’s view of a person can be changed by applying several guidelines. These guidelines have been summarised from the core themes of SRV theory.

Expectations
Most people live up or down to the expectations others have of them. People who care about people at risk of being devalued must have high expectations.

Growth
Regardless of disability or disadvantage all people can learn, change and grow. To do this often means taking some risks.

Imitation
Imitation is a powerful way to learn. People at risk of being devalued need good role models and need to be able to identify closely with them.

Extra Effort
People who care about people at risk of being devalued must bend over backwards to make up for the past hurt.

Community Life
People best learn to do anything by doing it in the place where it really happens and with the people who usually do it. For prejudices against people who are being devalued to fade, the broader community need to have positive experiences with those people.

Good Images
Images of people at risk of being devalued must be positive. Especially avoiding images that do not match the person’s age and images that show people grouped together and set apart from the broader community.

Social Role Valorisation (SRV) is the enablement, establishment, enhancement, maintenance and defence of valued social roles for people (particularly for those at value risk) by using as much as possible culturally valued means.

Concepts of SRV

Social Role Valorisation concepts are an important tool to both understand why people and communities devalue others, and offers practical ways to reverse these.

Less Value
Unfortunately people with a disability are often seen as being different in a negative way; consequently thought of as having less value. They become devalued people. We often deny this because it happens unconsciously, but it is real. We need to move this into the conscious, deal with it and strive to change these ideas in ourselves and others.

Low Status
A devalued person is likely to be considered by other people as having a low status. Again this happens unconsciously.

Fewer Opportunities
As a result of low status, devalued people are more likely to be denied opportunities and gain respected roles. They may even be rejected or persecuted.

Respected Role
Helping a devalued person to find and keep a valued role is therefore the most important goal of SRV and for anyone who cares about changing this.

For more information about theory of Social Role Valorisation (SRV) visit socialrolevalorization.com

Accredited disability employment service

SA Group Enterprises Incorporated is an accredited employment service and complies with the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) Disability Services Standards. Certification is independently accessed and approved by BSI Benchmark - ID No. 1863 this includes:

Inprint Design - graphic design, promotion, print and website design.
Aspitech - new and used computer sales, repairs and e-waste management.
Wire Ware - manufacturing and design of Point of Purchase Display and Product Sales Stands.
Enclave - Vocational contract placement and support
Your Employment Success - finding valued work for the Deaf and hearing impaired

Social Enterprises

The text books call a Social Enterprise “a profit-making venture set-up to tackle a social need”. Many commercial businesses might consider themselves to have a social objective, but a Social Enterprise is unique because their social purpose is central to what they are. Rather than maximising shareholder value, their aim is to generate profit to further their social purpose.

Some commentators describe this as “not-for-profit” as their profits are not distributed to financial investors, this is a little misleading as it implies they are unbusiness-like. It is better said that profits of the business is used to support its social aim or that the business itself accomplishes the social aim through its operation.

However, there are some misleading interpretations of the term "Social Enterprise" particularly in the business community who try to ride a wave of popular support for Social Enterprises in the community. However, despite the owners best motives and goals to establish a business based on meeting social outcome they can't truly be called a Social Enterprises as there is no binding or legal structures to ensure their profits continue to support that social purpose long-term and so it is best to discriminate between what is a "socially responsible business" and a Social Enterprise.

Consequently, for a Social Enterprises to truly meet this definition it must have a legal structure that ensures the long-term support of its social purpose. For example an Incorporated Association where the social purpose has been enshrined in the constitution.

SA Group Enterprises generates the major proportion of it's operating revenues from commercial activities. The balance is the form of a grants from Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) for providing support and training for people with a disability to work within our businesses which are called Australian Disability Enterprises (ADE).

We also receive grants from Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) to support people who are Deaf or hearing impaired to prepare, find and maintain employment in the community.

Although SA Group Enterprises receives some grants, contrary to common belief government grants are not subsidies. The fact is they are a fee-for-service, open to any organisation, regardless whether they are commercial, non-profit or charity based, provided they successfully tender and meet the requirements of that grant.

Differances between an ADE and a Commercial Enterprise

There are two main service types funded by the Australian Government to provide employment services for people with a disability. The first are the Disability Employment Services (DES). A DES is a specialist employment agency that specifically provides support for people with a disability to prepare for, find and maintain employment in the community. These services include both non-profit and commercial operators, and are funded by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR).

The second are Australian Disability Enterprises (ADE) who are funded by the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) to provide supported employment.

An ADE specialises in establishing and operating a business in order to provide employment and are predominantly non-profit organisations, providing employment for people with high support needs where community employment through a DES would not be the best option.

Although DES and ADE services meet the same ends (employment), they provide support for very different groups of people and in very different ways. Yet funding models for both services are almost identical, focusing solely on the direct cost of human service provision. While this works well for DES providers, the same can’t be said for an ADE, as it assumes there is no relationship between the cost of operating a business and the provision of human services.

However, if a comparison is done between an ADE and their main-stream commercial counterparts there are many differences. This is due to their social purpose activities which have a marked affect on operating overheads, regardless of how efficient or well managed the ADE business maybe. Consequently, why all ADEs are non-profit enterprises as business revenues must be re-invested back into the organisation in order to fund the cap that FaHCSIA funding does not cover.

Examples where differences can be measured include:

Capacity- (The equipment and labour required to meet demand for products and services.)

The primary purpose of an ADE is to provide employment for people with a disability; particularly employment for people where a DES, is not currently the best option, due to ongoing or intensive training and/or support needs.

Typically the overall productivity of a work force will be lower than that of their mainstream counterparts regardless of how effective management is or what industry they operate. Consequently this directly affects an their capacity to produce and consequently their overhead costs are higher.

For example in order for an ADE to produce the equivalent output to their mainstream counterpart. An ADE with workforce that has an overall productivity of 50% would need to deploy twice the personnel to achieve the same result. Consequently, the on-costs such as the plant & equipment, administration and other facilities required to support a larger work force would also be of an equivalent magnitude.

Office/Factory/Warehouse - (The office and/or factory space required to accommodate equipment and personnel)

The size, type and location of premises chosen by an ADE require different priorities to that of their mainstream counterpart. Requiring not only larger premises to accommodate a larger workforce, staff, equipment, and facilities, as outlined above. They also have a greater need for access ramps, accessible toilets, and also need to be situated in locations where suitable transport and community services are easily available.

Management - (The people required to affectively manage, supervise and maintain plant, equipment and personnel)

ADE’s have a dual-role, and consequently so too does Management as these roles are intertwined and can not happen without the other.

1. First to ensure that an appropriate level of training and support is provided for people to meaningfully participate in the businesses activities.
2. The other is to ensure that its’ products and services are marketed appropriately, costed viably, and produced effectively, meeting customer expectations for quality and price.

Correspondingly, production methods and practices must be designed or modified to ensure that supported personnel can effectively complete tasks to customer quality expectations, and within specific time frames.

This demand requires greater complexity and increased management skills, particularly in production management, scheduling, and capacity planning. Moreover, as the number of personnel increase, so too, do the levels of supervision, training, maintenance and support.

Business Choice - (The type of products or services supplied by a business in order to generate employment and commercial income)

All businesses aim to make a surplus from their commercial activity, and this is equally important for an ADE, the difference is every cent raised is re-invested back in. However due to the social purpose of an ADE it is equally important to identify business opportunities that can also offer the greatest employment opportunities for people with a disability.

For many good reasons an ADE may choose labour intensive, low skilled industries that require minimal capital to establish, such as sub-contract assembly, packaging, cleaning, and horticultural services.

However, the entry point to this type of business is equally accessible to anyone else and consequently they are highly competitive. Even more difficult for an ADE as they are publicly accountable and must address additional cost restraints such as premises, management practice, duty of care and employment conditions. Compared with many of their competitors who maybe small or family business owners and would not necessarily need or want to comply.

Alternatively, an ADE may choose to pursue more skilled based and profitable businesses, such as product manufacturing, design, or IT-based industries, but will face just as many other challenges such as:

o High equipment establishment costs and maintenance
o Securing adequately trained professional staff to manage operations
o Adapting to continuous work task changes, requiring high levels of ongoing training
o Complex production scheduling and work place modifications
o Research and development to remain competitive.

Sales and Marketing - (The sales and marketing activities required to maintain and expand demand products and/or services)

Unfortunately, even with many social changes in community awareness over the last 25 years, ADEs still face many long-standing stereotypes.

For example, that they are sheltered workshops, and provide cheap un-skilled contracting services and as a result they are not generally regarded as providers of skilled, innovative, or quality products or services. Regardless of being able to demonstrate these competencies.

Consequently, ADEs must continually work against these stereotypes by working actively to change community attitudes and by providing either better services for the same cost or the same service for less cost.

Training - (The training required to maintain personnel skills and the business’ competitiveness.

The majority of personnel employed in mainstream business will generally come to a position trained; requiring smaller amounts of periodic training to maintain the businesses’ competitiveness. Some positions will require higher levels of training such as traineeships, but these will constitute a much smaller percentage in a business’ overall personnel population.

However, as ADE’s function and purpose is to provide employment for people who do not have skills and in most cases no previous experience in the roles in which they will be employed. The training requirements are quite the reverse to that of a mainstream business, as the majority of personnel will require higher levels of ongoing training to maintain employment. While staff may require similar levels of training as their for-profit counterparts, they also need additional training to meet their human service and duty of care obligations due to their duality of purpose.

Administration - (The administrative requirements such as accounting, budgeting payroll and Human Resources)

ADEs are often physically two to three times the size of mainstream businesses for the same level of sales turnover. As a consequence, its accounting, payroll and administrative activities are considerably greater than mainstream businesses.

Further, as ADE is generally an incorporated non-profit body and may also rely on funding or fund raising they equally have greater accountability responsibilities. Also along with normal accounting, payroll and industrial relations requirements, they must comply with additional administrative and accounting practices, such as regular full account reporting, annual auditing, periodic Board reporting and the reporting requirements of their stake holders and funding bodies. It could be said these reporting practices are common in many businesses but when comparing the annual sales turnover this is rarely is the case for mainstream businesses of a similar turnover.

Finances - (Cash flow to maintain operations and borrowings or capital required to expand operations or to improve its competitiveness)

ADEs have higher overhead costs and have limited access to normal commercial finance. Board Members of non-profit organisations are volunteers, and as such, are more likely to avoid personal or public risk.

Consequently, non-profit organisations have a very restricted ability to provide security for borrowings, as they are unable to provide personal Director Guarantees. As a result Board Members are less entrepreneurial and may also actively discourage management from being entrepreneurial.