Several WA printing businesses, including Scott Print, have signed up for the Autism Association’s AIM employment program to support people with autism in their search for employment.
Printing Industries Association of Australia CEO Andrew Macaulay says about 10 print businesses in WA are already on board and feedback indicates that employing a worker with autism has had a positive impact on both business and the worker themselves.
“It’s a win for a worker with autism; a win for our business member; and a win for the Autism Association of WA,” says Macaulay. “Printing Industries is very pleased to be working with the Autism Association of WA to help both printing businesses and people with autism. Given the right job, those with autism can be fantastic contributors. The help available currently via the AIM program is icing on the cake.”
Family-run Perth printer Scott Print currently employs two team members with Autism who work alternating days in the printer’s dispatch area and in the factory. Both Nathan Hard and Elliot Courts hope to remain in their roles for the foreseeable future.
“I just don’t like sitting around and doing one thing for long unless it's constantly changing up a bit,” says Hard. “I guess that's what I like about here because it is different all the time pretty much unless there is a big job going on.”
Courts says AIM simplified the job seeking process for him, enabling him to find a role he enjoyed without venturing too far out of his comfort zone. “I'm generally quite shy with new people so for them to handle all the people interviews, the ringing up, that's another very good thing,” he explains.
Scott Print GM John Scott, a PIAA board member, says the work done by employees with Autism is to a level of perfection never seen before — one recent example was a stack of hundreds of stapled booklets, where the two side staples lined up exactly on top of each other.
Scott says partnering with AIM Employment works well for Scott Print, not just from an efficiency point of view, but it also brings out a positive atmosphere in their workplace. “I have definitely noticed it,” he says. “It's almost like a maternal/paternal instinct comes out in staff. We want to encourage other printers and manufacturers in WA to get behind AIM. A lot of people complain about what the government does and what they're not doing right, but this is something they are doing right.”
As a Commonwealth Government-funded employment model, AIM offers employers 12 weeks of subsidised wages, ongoing support from Autism Association consultants — even after the 12 weeks is up — and a supported wage system if the employer decides to employ the candidate on a long-term basis. To access the supported wage system, provided by the Commonwealth Government, AIM candidates are tested against another employee doing the same job, and their wage is calculated based on this — if they achieve 80% speed and accuracy for example, they will be paid 80% of the wage.
“It's a system to ensure people who may not have the productivity of the people they work next to but still have the accuracy are not disadvantaged in competing for work,” says Russell Thomas of the Autism Association of WA. “The strengths of people with autism are their ability to do process work, eye for detail and accuracy too. They can focus on something for a long period of time without getting bored.”
AIM Employment is a local, not-for-profit program established by the Autism Association of Western Australia to assist people with Autism to find and maintain employment.