As the hospitality industry continues to struggle with staff shortages, one café in southeast Melbourne seems to have the opposite problem. The waiting list of people who want to join the team is growing.
All Things Equal operates like any other café on Carlisle Street in Balaclava, but from reception to kitchen, about half the staff are disabled.
According to general manager Bianca Stern, the café’s mission is to ensure that people with disabilities are not only “ready, willing and absolutely able to work” but also provide fair compensation. It is to show that you deserve it.
“Hundreds of thousands of people with disabilities want to work, but they are often overlooked,” says Stern.
“Maybe as a society we are not educated enough to understand the benefits of hiring people with disabilities and what we need to do to be inclusive employers. increase.
“We hope to slowly change that.”
All Things Equal is the brainchild of Jonathan Wenig, a partner at Melbourne law firm Arnold Bloch Leibler. He was concerned about the challenges her daughter with special needs would face in finding meaningful work after she left school.
Wenig founded the charity, established a board of directors, raised about $200,000 from philanthropists and his own funds, and opened the cafe in January 2021. Among those on the board was real estate entrepreneur Sam Herszberg.
“Who doesn’t remember who gave you your first job and your first chance?” Hertzberg says.
“People with disabilities are given the same opportunities.”
The café, which started with a staff of 12 people with disabilities, has now grown to 25 people. Among them are Harley and Paul, who have been with All Things Equal since its inception and have become best friends.
“I love it. I enjoy my job, it teaches me to live independently, and it makes me happy,” says Paul.
Initially working in the kitchen, he now spends two days a week at the front of house serving customers, cleaning, and making milkshakes, smoothies, and toast. A favorite aspect of is teamwork.
Hurley, who is also the front of house, says he enjoys talking to customers and energizing the kitchen team. He became known for applauding both during his shift.
“Every day is like a party,” he says.
There are about 60 people on the waiting list for work at the cafe.
“I hope business owners read it and think, ‘Wow, there’s something we can do about this,’” says Stern.
still left behind
About 2.1 million people with disabilities are of working age in Australia, but research shows that 93% of unemployed people with disabilities between the ages of 15 and 64 are facing job losses.
The unemployment rate for people with disabilities is more than double the unemployment rate for working-age people without disabilities, and this has been the case for decades. This is a statistic cited several times by 2022 Australian of the Year Dylan Olcott when he made improving employment outcomes for people with disabilities a focus of his tenure.
He told the Royal Commission for Disabled Persons in December that people with disabilities were “always left behind”. [the] People think we can’t do anything, so we’re having financial conversations.
Alcott recalled that when he was 19, a job interview was canceled because his employer found out he was a wheelchair user.
“It’s still happening to so many people with disabilities every day and it’s terrible,” he said.
Herszberg says that for many young people with disabilities, a job at All Things Equal was their first paid job.
All staff are paid a hospitality award rate. This contrasts sharply with other employers, including Disability Enterprises Australia, which provide supported jobs for people with moderate to severe disabilities.
The Royal Commission on Disabled People heard last year that some disabled people are being paid as little as $2.27 an hour at the ADE, compared to the national minimum wage of $20.33.
The Disability Employment Service (DES), a $1 billion annual government scheme that pays businesses and nonprofits to employ people with disabilities, is also under review and described as ineffective.
All Things Equal is not affiliated with any scheme. Its staff must follow a recruitment process that includes resume writing and interviews.
Throughout the process, Cafe seeks to understand the capabilities of potential employees and their support requirements. This may require providing more accessible uniforms, implementing visual his resources, adjusting shift times and break times, or dividing a member of staff’s time between serving customers and working in the kitchen. You might.
It also offers in-home cooking lessons to people with disabilities, operates an ice cream truck, a small café at a nursing home in nearby Windsor, and a Sunday cafeteria at a junior football club in South Caulfield.
You want to start a catering, event package or social evening.
“Work is very important, but one thing we often hear is that people with disabilities really want safe and inclusive spaces to socialize,” says Herzberg. says.
