What do people working in ADEs (Australian Disability Enterprises) think about retiring?

Transcription

1 What do people working in ADEs (Australian Disability Enterprises) think about retiring?

2 What is this report about? ADEs (Australian Disability Enterprises) employ people with disability in supported employment. The government helped people to get ready to retire from ADEs. This report is about what people working in ADEs think about retiring. It includes some people who were getting ready to retire and some people who had already retired. Retiring means stopping work because you are getting old or feeling sick or tired. When people retire they have more time to do what they want instead of working. They don t earn money anymore. Instead they use money they saved up or that the government gives them.

3 Who did the research? The Department of Social Services asked for the research to be done. They are part of the government. The Social Policy Research Centre did the research. Who took part? Lots of people took part in the research: 45 people with disability. Some people were getting ready to retire and some people had already retired. 3 family members they were brothers and sisters of people with disability 5 service providers and people in government

4 How did they take part? There were two ways people could take part: In an interview this is talking with a researcher In a survey this is answering questions on paper

5 What did the research find? People got help to think about retiring. They got help from: Family members ADE ADE staff Support Support workers

6 People wanted more help to think about retiring. Sometimes family members, ADE staff and support workers didn t know a lot about retiring. This meant that some people wanted more help to think about retiring. Many people thought it would be good to have help from a worker who knew a lot about retiring.

7 Most people felt like they had made their own choice to retire, but some people had retired for other reasons. Some people said they retired because: They didn t like their boss or workmates They weren t doing well at work anymore and other people said it would be good for them to retire

8 A lot of people liked being retired. People who found retiring good: Were more independent. They were able to do things on their own. ADE Had lots of help from family and ADE staff Spent more time with family and friends Had other activities to do instead of working Had lots of different activities to choose from Had money to pay for activities

9 Some people found retiring difficult. People who found retiring difficult: Had high support needs they needed a lot of help because of their disability Didn t have enough money to pay for activities People who had high support needs often had less money for activities because they had to pay more to get the extra help they needed Often lived in group homes.

10 Some family members also found things changed when a person with disability retired. Often the family members were a brother and sister of a person with disability. Sometimes they found it difficult to help the person plan for retiring. Sometimes they also had to retire so they could support their family member with disability.

11 There were things people liked about retiring. People liked: Doing new activities Meeting new people Having more choice about what they did during the week

12 There were things people didn t like about retiring. People didn t like: Not having enough to do Not having enough different activities to do Not seeing their friends from work anymore Not having enough money to do the things they enjoy Having some friends and family members get old and die

13 What happens next? This information can be used to help make retiring better for people with disability. It shows that people with disability want: To retire in a way that suits them To do activities they are interested in To have enough activities to do To have information about activities To have money to pay for activities It shows people with disability need: Help to get information More money to spend on activities More activities to do Different types of activities to do This includes: People with high support needs People living in group homes It shows family members, support workers and ADE staff need: Information about retiring Long-term support to help people with disability plan for retirement

14 This is an Easy Read copy of the following main report: Jones, A., Katz, I., Giuntoli, G., Bates, S., & Johnson, K. (2016). Quality of life after retirement from Australian Disability Enterprises (SPRC Report 17/16). Sydney: Social Policy Research Centre, UNSW Australia. This Easy Read report was written by Ariella Meltzer, Shona Bates and Anna Jones.