Community & Business
1 June, 2025
Local workplace a ‘hidden gem’ for people with disability
FOR over 40 years Mareeba Business Solutions has been providing people with disability a place where workers can learn a range of hands-on skills and develop their interpersonal relationships.
Run by Endeavour Foundation, one of Australia’s leading disability support services, Mareeba Business Solutions was opened in 1983 and currently employs 14 people with disability, with some even living in supportive accommodation on-site.
“It’s an important operation because it provides opportunities for employment for people with disability,” North area manager for Endeavour Foundation, Dan Farrands said.
“It’s a hidden gem here. Not many people probably realise the type and range of work that can be done.
“We’ve got forklift operators, truck drivers, we’ve got people with all sorts of skills.”
The employees learn a range of skills, mainly in the recycling industry, including dismantling airconditioners, and mattresses collected from the Mareeba, Koah and Port Douglas waste transfer centres, collecting empty fertilizer bags for Big Bag Recovery, creating cleaning cloth, document destruction, and operating machinery.
All employees are given different work rosters that cater to their needs. The Mareeba site has one full-time employee, with others working from one to four days a week.
Employee of 32 years Joe Taaffe said he has learnt many different skills, including operating machinery, and gets to help his friends.
“I love working at the Mareeba site because I can make simple, independent decisions about my work and know I can ask staff if I am unsure,” he said.
“We’re always getting to try new jobs, like the pallet wrapper which I have learnt to operate independently.
“It’s a good place for us to come and learn new things and make friends.”
One of the larger operations at the site is the production of cleaning cloth, which is made from old cloth supplied by Lotus Glenn Correctional Centre and blended with sheets from Alsco. Over six tonnes of cloth has been cut.
“We have businesses in town that we sell the cloth to, we also sell it to our site in Cairns, which then on-sell it to their customers. We also send some down to Townsville,” site manager Sue Wood said.
“In the past, we’ve sent it up to Weipa, and when the wind turbine farm was getting built, they bought a fair bit from us to clean them.”
The workers also go on a document destruction bin collection run in Atherton and Mareeba then transport the documents to Cairns Business Solutions for shredding.
“The Cairns site does certified document destruction and there are some contracts with organisations here on the Tablelands that this site will collect and transport the material down to Cairns for shredding,” Mr Farrands said.
He encouraged businesses to reach out if they had a job that Mareeba Business Solutions could help with.
“Think of us and make a phone call or enquire, and we’ll certainly be able to let you know whether we can or can’t do it,” he said.
He also encouraged members of the community with a disability, who are interested in finding employment, to apply for a position.
“We’re always looking for more staff and we would definitely encourage people in the community to apply,” he said.
“We look to actively engage with the schools to talk with students who are about to graduate to see what type of work they’re looking for.”
For more information or to apply, visit the site at 13 Cobra Road, Mareeba, or via the Endeavour Foundation’s website at www.endeavour.com.au/business-solutions/services/business-solutions-mareeba.
42 years of support for the community
The Mareeba Business Solutions site was officially opened on 11 September 1983 and in the early days was a mango and cherry tomato farm.
By 1985, it had grown to include capsicum, zucchini, cucumber, button squash and 600 mango trees, with another 300 set to be planted that year.
By 2006, the farm closed, and work shifted to light-scale manufacturing, including sewing banana bags, sorting lychee’s, grading coffee beans, refurbishing water sprinklers, cleaning dengue buckets for Queensland Health, coils for Ergon, and over the past 11 years, labelling for the local coffee works.
Today, workers carry out a range of tasks across recycling, including machinery operation.
