Connections for Quality gives you information to help you choose the right provider for your needs. The sections on this page are the Service Quality Indicators. They tell you more about this provider and their services.
Our job seekers
NOVA Katoomba is in a prime position with disability parking on Katoomba Street as well as in the Coles complex nearby. Train and bus stations are within 100 metres. We’re near the library, community centre, banks and Centrelink. And our outlet is wheelchair accessible.
We’re very aware that this area has a large number of people on the Disability Support Pension who need our services. NOVA’s skills and experience are useful for the long-term, sometimes generational, unemployed, including students who leave school and are at risk of falling through the gaps. We service all types of people with all types of barriers. Please read two of our recent success stories.
Barrier: Intellectual Disability
Employment: local school
This young man went through NOVA’s Transition program and gained work experience at a local school. They liked him so much they offered him a job. Currently he requires support during his working day, which includes workplace behaviour training and modelling; skills acquisition; workplace modifications to meet productivity and assistance to self-advocate. We will offer support to both him and his employer until he is independent in the role and ensure his long-term future.
Barrier: Mental Health and addiction
Employment: hospitality
This person was on a drug & alcohol program for three years. He came to NOVA to discover his potential and identify his strengths. We helped him with interview skills; job search and found him a job. He’s now been working for more than a year. He doesn’t want onsite support, but comes to NOVA every week to debrief and seek advice. We’re in regular contact with his drug & alcohol programs to maintain his job.
Our employers
The number and type of small businesses that partner with NOVA Katoomba to meet their staffing needs exemplifies our commitment to matching great staff to appropriate roles. NOVA takes job matching very seriously - it’s better for the job seeker, the employer and NOVA if we choose the right person for the right job, first time.
Great NOVA-employer relationships are characterised by openness, honesty and professionalism. We provide mutual support and keep in contact with our employers and jobseekers even when they no longer need us. Quite often an employer will call when they have a job vacancy, because staff at NOVA Katoomba do what we say we’ll do. We’re reliable, friendly and approach our work with good humour.
Located in the heart of the Blue Mountains, much of the available employment is in the hospitality sector; however, many other small businesses choose NOVA, including: aged-care facilities, schools, landscapers and gardeners, nurseries, information technology, security and automotive. The retail sector also provides solid employment for our jobseekers in supermarkets, hairdressers, building supplies, hardware and butchers.
If you’re interested in talking with NOVA Katoomba about your recruiting needs, just contact us and we’ll do the rest. We set up an appointment between you and a NOVA employment consultant. We find a jobseeker who matches your requirements. You meet with them and decide if they’re the right fit. If so, we establish employment expectations and provide any training specific to the role. We regularly visit your worksite to ensure you’re happy with your new employee.
Our networks
Our community knows what to expect of the NOVA brand - reliability, friendliness and commitment. We know local business and the current labour market because we live in it. We have smaller caseloads than many other Disability Service Providers, which means we have more time to give personal service to our job seekers and employers. We also prioritise staying connected to our community.
Linking to appropriate services helps us understand and meet our job seekers’ and employers’ needs. It means we can refer our jobseekers to any specialised service that is outside NOVA’s area of expertise. It means these specialised services understand NOVA’s way of working and trust that we’re doing right by our jobseekers.
We connect with the following services in a range of ways, such as networking events, advertising, expos, volunteering, advocating on behalf of others and NOVA sponsorship of events, spaces and people. Our Katoomba office is always open for people to drop in. Many of our job seekers, employers and networks come to us through word of mouth.
Just some of our network partners:
Biznet Blue Mountains
Wentworth Community Housing
Chamber of Commerce
Vale Street Social & Recreation Service
Centrelink
Women’s Health
Katoomba Youth Centre (including the Glue Factory)
Katoomba Community Health Centre
Blue Mountains City Council
Woodlands Clinic for Mental Health
Vinnies Financial Support
Katoomba Neighbourhood Centre
Wimlah
Local GP network
Local school network
One of our job seekers recently praised us for helping her: ‘Finding out different ways to get a job and seeing there are more jobs on offer than those advertised.’ We know that connecting with our local community is good for our job seekers.
Our performance
Every person at NOVA Katoomba has the same goal: to find jobs for people with a disability that are achievable, realistic, suitable and sustainable. Our dedicated staff work well together and complement one another’s skills.
We’re really proud of our outlet’s statistics. They support our reputation as a committed provider of skilled, diligent staff for businesses and organisations in the Blue Mountains:
Over a quarter of the employment we find for our jobseekers is full time.
80% of our Eligible School Leavers (youth with a significant disability) are in employment.
66% of our ATSI (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) participants found employment.
Although the majority of our client-base is mature, our success with placing young people into work is supported by our youth statistics (above).
Sixteen per cent of Katoomba NOVA’s jobseekers have a mild or moderate intellectual disability.
We achieve these great results because we’re committed to finding sustainable, award-wage jobs for people with a disability in the Blue Mountains. We know that dignity, health and happiness come from being competent in a role that you enjoy. The words of our job seekers put it best: ‘Now I am a taxpayer, I can have an opinion.’
Our staff has a broad range of experience and formal qualifications. Between us we have experience in mental health, suicide prevention, nursing, psychology, customer service, coaching, training, recruitment, working with Indigenous Australian and working with government. Formal qualifications include, Certificate IV in Disability Employment and Associate Diploma of Social Sciences
About us
At NOVA Katoomba, we find suitable, sustainable and achievable jobs for people with a disability. We do this by making sure our jobseekers understand employer and general workplace requirements. Our friendly, trained staff take a holistic approach to job seeking. We identify any gaps in our jobseekers’ lives that may inhibit their prospects of finding and sustaining employment. We then source the best service to ensure they’re supported every step of the way.
NOVA provides a free service covering everything a person needs to know to set goals, get an interview and start work. We provide assistance with training, qualifications, clothing and other workplace equipment. At NOVA Katoomba, we make sure each of our jobseekers is treated with respect. Our post-placement support is second-to-none.
We enjoy solid, ongoing relationships with many Blue Mountains businesses. All of our staff live locally so understand the specific issues of our jobseekers, employers and networks. We enjoy every aspect of our roles, including setting goals with job seekers, advocating on their behalf, and meeting, liaising with and supporting our employers
At NOVA Katoomba , we know we’re doing a good job when our jobseekers trust us. We love seeing our jobseekers start to believe that they are worthy of a better life - that they see themselves with the same respect and admiration that we see them. We also enjoy trusting relationships with our employer partners. Recently, the director of the Katoomba RSL spoke at our Pathway to Employment event. He has found several staff through NOVA and expressed gratitude for how we support both them and him to achieve mutual benefit.
Our door is always open to our job seekers, employers and the community
