Providing meaningful employment opportunities

Cookery Nook is a corporate catering kitchen and cafe, providing meaningful employment for Queenslanders living with disabilities in a respectful and supported environment. In creating wholesome, gourmet food, Cookery Nook provides its team with social connections, skills development, and a sense of purpose along with the pride of achieving goals each day.

By prioritising quality employment for Queenslanders with a disability, they have seen their workforce grow more than 30% in the past 2 years. Many of the employees have been with the organisation for an extended period of time, including Daniel for 27 years, Nathan 18 years and Jo 16 years.

'At the Cookery Nook we believe in providing employment, pride, passion, and respect with our individualised work plans. We do this by working with each of our staff and their families to create a plan just for them to focus on their strengths and work on their weaknesses to achieve their agreed goals,' said Regina Mello, Team Leader.

'With staff that are looking to broaden their skills for open employment, we train and coach them to achieve their dreams. Our support does not end with a staff member leaving for open employment we continue to mentor them through the whole process and keep a position open for them to return to if things don’t work out.

'It doesn’t matter what their ability is, all team members strive to do the best job they can.'

When COVID-19 disrupted Queensland’s hospitality industry, Cookery Nook shifted their main focus to training staff in cooking and social skills. This meant when restrictions were lifted, staff could contribute to a greater proportion of catering orders, leading to extended working hours and more secure employment. In 2023, Cookery Nook opened its first public facing café. Supported staff spend shifts at the Cookery Nook café refining their skills in preparation for potential opportunities in open employment.

Regina said, 'We don’t see our staff as disability staff, we regard them as ‘different ability’ staff, so just like any workplace we focus on growth and setting targets that are unique to them.

'We do this by breaking down our tasks into smaller chunks so regardless of a staff member’s ability there is always a part of the job they can do, whether it is weighing out ingredients, mixing or packing.

'By recognising the difficulties people living with an intellectual disability face in their day-to-day life, we have built a workplace that helps build our team’s social skills, sense of worth and pride.'