The following is an account from the employer of a person with a mental illness, who had their employment arranged through our special employment service.

If you have your own experiences hiring people with a mental illness that you think would suit this page, send us an email and let us know all about it.

Telstra

Telstra employs four people through Mental Illness Fellowship Victoria’s employment service. All four work in a mail room as casual employees, filling regular shifts on week days. They organise internal movement of correspondence, which includes deliveries to other Telstra employees.

We recognise the particular need in this circumstance to be flexible, approachable and supportive for these employees. We are in regular contact with their MI Fellowship employment worker, Kathy, whom we trust to manage these staff. In particular, we know that Kathy can provide support when staff become unwell and therefore unable to work. Kathy knows the job herself, so if such a situation does arise, she simply arranges for another employee to cover the shift, or trains a new person to complete the role, providing them with the support they need along the way.

Telstra is one of the largest employers in Australia with a diverse workforce. We are proud that we provide a rewarding, fair and safe workplace. Not only are we proud, we believe that this is one of our corporate responsibilities. People are the power behind Telstra. A company can have great products, services, technology and processes, but in the end it's the people that bring these things together and deliver success. The people we employ through MI Fellowship’s employment service are most definitely an important part of this.

Telstra continues to engage, retain and develop employees by respecting individual differences and developing an environment that is inclusive. We recognise that everyone is different and that creating an environment that values this difference makes good business sense.

Utilising this service has been a successful venture for us from both a business and corporate social responsibility perspective, and I would encourage others considering using this service to do so with complete confidence.