Work For The Dole
Work For The Dole offers participants the opportunity to gain vocationally relevant skills across a diverse range of occupation groups. A broad range of activities are available, based upon the skills needs of the local labour market.
The Work For The Dole programme may be compulsory for some jobseekers, while others can volunteer their services. Through completion of a Work For The Dole activity, participants may be eligible to earn Training Credits which can then be used to purchase training relevant to their chosen field of work.
Wesley Uniting Employment offers many varied and interesting activities when you participate in Work For The Dole. Examples of the industries in which we have run activities include:
- Aged and Disability Care Services: providing skills and experience in dealing with the visually impaired, disabled, ethnically diverse, indigenous, youth and aging population. This type of activity is commonly run in conjunction with local community centres, kindergartens, preschools and schools, and aged care facilities.
- Construction: providing skills and experience relating to smaller and larger scale construction and maintenance. Activities previously run by Wesley Uniting Employment in this category have included heritage building and railway restoration
- Environmental: providing skills to deal with the eco-sensitive nature of many areas. Activities have included building picnic areas, constructing walking trails and safety fences, regeneration and revegetation of local areas, and construction of fire breaks and shelters for protected species, cleanup projects in local bushland areas.
Through Work For The Dole, it is even possible to satisfy your mutual obligation requirements whilst supporting a local charity. In doing this you are providing a valuable community service, assisting charities to deliver or expand their services through establishing or renovating a community building or centre, working in a not-for-profit centre, assisting with the operation of a community radio station, or working in a local youth centre or Men’s Shed.
As a Work For The Dole participant, your expectations should be high. Doing a Work For The Dole activity shows that you are willing to develop new skills, that you are motivated and that you are committed to your community. All this makes you more employable within your local community. The skills that you acquire through a Work For The Dole activity are always linked back to the skills needs of your community and are often transferable to other industries. You gain valuable work experience and are able to demonstrate your abilities to potential employers and you can gain references from your supervisor and in some circumstances you may even be offered employment from your host.
Examples of Wesley Uniting Employment Work For The Dole Activities
Timbertown Heritage Park, Wauchope
This activity focussed on the complete refurbishment of the historic Timbertown Railway station and its connecting pathways to the main Timbertown building. Skills learned while on the Timbertown project included carpentry, formwork, concreting, painting and preparation, and landscape design and construction.
The completed refurbishment and restoration of the access tracks and railway station at the Timbertown Heritage Park saw immediate benefits to the community. Entry to the park from the main building now allows patrons to move through safely on smooth and stable pathways. The railway system is the most heavily utilised attraction within the park and is central to the park’s ongoing success.
The re-surfaced walkways and ramps adjacent to the station included the replacement of decaying timbers with new timber, and provides significant improvement in terms of access and look. These improvements also now allows for disabled access to the station and other areas of the park.
Cabramatta PCYC Refurbishment
The Cabramatta PCYC refurbishment allowed participants to gain skills in general labouring, commercial cleaning and trades assistant related skills.
Tradespeople undertook the major tasks involved with the refurbishment of the Cabramatta PCYC, with Work For The Dole participants picking up the ancillary tasks, providing valuable support to the qualified workers while concentrating on the day-to-day upkeep of the club during the construction period. PCYCs are integral parts of local communities, and the Cabramatta PCYC benefited from the project by having their club made more attractive to the local community. Improvements in the club’s facilities and equipment provided for a safer and healthier environment, and improved the visual appeal of the club. The PCYC can now provide a more comfortable and inviting feel about it which will be well received by the community.
Shoalhaven Group Activity
The Shoalhaven Group Activity provides a broad cross-section of local community groups with access to Work For The Dole Participants to assist with the delivery of their services within the Shoalhaven community. Services covered by this activity have included aged and disabled Care, not-for-profit opportunity shops, community centres, community radio, volunteer rescue services and local food services (ie soup kitchens, meals on wheels).red services of Carer (provide care for aged or disabled people), Fabricator/Joiner and Receptionist/Secretary (front office and administration services to the community).
Activities have provided participants with skills and experience relating to administration and reception, retail sales, customer service, warehousing, landscaping, minor construction, concreting outcomes of Minor Construction, Concreting, painting and paving. Provision of Work For The Dole services to local community organisations through the Shoalhaven Group Activity has and continues to result in improvements to community facilities, provision of additional support for community operations, and an overall improvement in the capacity of community groups to assist the more disadvantaged in the local community.
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