Disability Employment – Tourism Local Navigators Pilot

The tourism sector comprises a wide range of industries that provide goods and services to visitors who travel to a destination for a variety of purposes including leisure, education, business, visiting friends and relatives and employment. In the tourism sector, workforce shortages are critical and longstanding, making it a good option for an employment pilot.

The tourism sector is one of the 5 growth industries identified as having significant job shortages and potential for growth in the 5 years to November 20253. The focus of this Pilot includes all businesses in, and servicing, the tourism industry including but not limited to accommodation, hospitality, food and beverage and transport.

The Australian Government is inviting applications in an open process to deliver Tourism Local Navigator services. The objectives of the grant opportunity are to help small and medium sized (SME) tourism businesses address barriers they have previously identified in recruiting, retaining and progressing employees and jobseekers with disability including:

• lack of time or capability to recruit people with disability
• confusion on how or where to seek support
• preference to use local networks to source employees.

The outcomes of the Pilot will include:

• building tourism SME’s capability, disability confidence and workplace accessibility through industry tailored approaches and resources
• reforming workplace culture and employment practices
• connecting tourism businesses to existing disability resources, supports and specialist information
• sustainable job creation for people with a disability looking to participate in the labour market through workplace preparedness and targeted on the job training and supports.

It is intended total funding attributed across regions will include:

• regional navigators staffing (up to $2 million allocated amongst grantees)
• development of information resources and small business toolkit (up to $0.5 million in total for all selected locations)
• promotional activity and career fairs (up to $0.5 million in total for all selected locations).

Not all regions will be successful in their grant application.