Eric’s Story
08 Nov 2022Working in a hotel was not where Eric expected to find himself. After years of working as a courier driver, he was more at home behind the wheel. But in May 2021 he experienced a stroke, meaning he w...
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Raewyn Brownhill: Finding a new direction
23 Jun 2022Ongoing back issues kept Raewyn Brownhill out of the workforce for the best part of a decade, but our Kwinana-Rockingham team worked with her to build her experience and confidence so she was able to ...
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Spencer Street facility creates new opportunities for participants
02 Jun 2022A new facility in the heart of Bunbury will provide Forrest Personnel participants with greater opportunities to access services and prepare for meaningful employment. The new facility at 90 Spencer ...
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Nick Gledhill: Still getting a buzz from helping others
28 Apr 2022After almost 10 years, Forrest Personnel Employment Consultant Nick Gledhill still gets a real buzz from his job. Nick is one of our employment consultants based in the South West – he works with p...
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Ben Aldridge: We need to see the true value of veterans
25 Apr 2022Employers need to change the way they view the skills and experience of veterans and start finding opportunities to better support them, writes veteran and Forrest Personnel Board Director Ben Aldrid...
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Stephanie Rocca: Finding the right fit
24 Mar 2022Stephanie Rocca completed work experience with Accessability Narrogin as part of Forrest Personnel's WorkAbility Week. That led to a paid position, which has allowed Stephanie to work towards her goa...
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Donna Bastow: Celebrating 25 years
10 Mar 2022When you love your job, the years can pass by very quickly. Or so says Donna Bastow, one of our employment consultants who has just celebrated 25 years with Forrest Personnel. Donna came to Forrest P...
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Jacob Light-Burgess: Beyond the 9 to 5
17 Feb 2022A 9 to 5 desk job was never going to work for Jacob Light-Burgess. “I hate sitting inside,” he says. “I love being outside and going on adventures. I love my fishing – I could sit on a beach...
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Lynne Harwood: the importance of inclusive education
24 Jan 2022Today is the International Day of Education. As far as dedicated days go, this is a relatively new one – it was only dedicated by the United Nations back in 2019 – and it has never been more impor...
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Lynne Harwood: Reflections on my first two months at Forrest Personnel
18 Jan 2022I can’t believe I’m nearing the end of my second month with Forrest Personnel already. With the new year already three weeks in, it’s timely to reflect on what I have learned so far and how 2022...
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Lynne Harwood: Meaningful employment key to IDPWD vision
02 Dec 2021After nearly two years of weathering COVID-19, it is fitting that this year’s International Day of People with Disability is asking us all to think about what comes next. In full, the theme is “L...
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New Directors welcomed to Forrest Personnel Board
22 Nov 2021Four new directors have been appointed to the Forrest Personnel board, bringing with them decades of valuable knowledge and skills that will prove an asset to the organisation as it pursues its strate...
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Ben Aldridge: Finding a new perspective on disability
17 Nov 2021After breaking his back in a fall, Ben Aldridge was forced to rethink his own ideas around disability. After spending some years working at Forrest Personnel, he has started up his own business. This ...
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Anytime Fitness Busselton: Our Inclusivity & Diversity Award Winners
15 Nov 2021Anytime Fitness Busselton has won this year’s Inclusivity and Diversity Award at the 2021 Business Excellence Awards, run jointly by the Busselton and the Dunsborough Yallingup Chambers of Commerce ...
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Lynne Harwood announced as new CEO for Forrest Personnel
05 Nov 2021We are excited to announce Forrest Personnel’s new CEO, Lynne Harwood, will be starting with us at the end of November. Lynne brings over 20 years of experience as a CEO in the communit...
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Jones Welding Solutions: Our Diversity & Inclusion Award Winners
04 Nov 2021A recruitment strategy that actively boosts workplace diversity has helped Jones Welding Solutions win the Diversity and Inclusion Award at this year’s BSW Connect South West Business Excellence Awa...
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WorkAbilty Week: Building workplace diversity with Western Power.
27 Oct 2021This year we were fortunate enough to again partner with Western Power for WorkAbility Week, placing job seekers at their offices and depots across the State. A total of 18 job seekers gained valua...
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WorkAbility Week launches in WA
11 Oct 2021Employers across WA will this week be participating in WorkAbility Week, creating opportunities for employers and job seekers alike to experience the power of meaningful work. WorkAbility Week is an ...
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WorkAbility Week offers WA businesses chance to build better workplaces
08 Sep 2021This October, Western Australian businesses are being called on to participate in Workability Week and experience the benefits of building a diverse and inclusive workplace. WorkAbility Week is an ...
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All abilities needed to solve WA skills shortage
29 Jul 2021Business and industry leaders must not overlook the valuable skills and experience of people living with a disability as they debate the best way to solve WA’s skills shortage. Tomorrow Premier Mar...
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“Volunteering is a chance to upskill” – Chenayah Spargo
01 Jun 2021Volunteering is an important strategy when getting work ready or building confidence to enter the work force. It’s a tool that Forrest Personnel Employment Consultants put to good use on a regular b...
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How and why we keep the conversation at Forrest focused on jobs
01 Jun 2021At Forrest Personnel, we’re all about jobs – finding them and keeping them. Therefore, it’s important that we keep the pulse and the conversation firmly focused on that outcome. In fact, one of...
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Capacity building: From small things, big things grow
03 May 2021“There are real jobs out there in this sector,” Brendan Kelly tells us as we tour around the Leschenault Community Nursery (LCN). “It’s just a question of matching the right person to the righ...
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How Brett Hansen and Job Club prepare people for the world of work
01 May 2021Job Club is an opportunity for Forrest Personnel job seekers to come together once a week. Complementing Forrest Personnel’s individualised services, sessions are designed to support people to devel...
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Why doing what we say is a guiding principle at Forrest Personnel
01 May 2021Job hunting can be an overwhelming experience for some. In this article, three Forrest Personnel team members reflect on how the process of working with a job seeker is an important part of supporting...
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30 Foot Drop wins Diversity and Inclusivity Award at gala evening!
01 Apr 2021We were delighted to be present at the 2020 South West Business Excellence Awards on Saturday 27 March. These awards are brought to life by Bunbury-based BSW Connect. According to their website, the o...
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What our team members have to say about being on time
01 Apr 2021We have a set of guiding principles at Forrest Personnel. They serve to inform our day-to-day engagements and interactions. For the second in our series of articles, we’ve checked in with a few of o...
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Meet our Albany team and discover what inspires them in their day to day
01 Apr 2021We have some sparkling new photos of our Albany team, and we thought it would be a great opportunity to tell you a little about each of them with a focus on uncovering their personal inspirations for ...
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Why it’s so important to welcome people enthusiastically
02 Mar 2021At Forrest Personnel, we have a set of guiding principles. The idea is that these four principles inform and underpin our day-to-day engagements. In a series of posts, with contributions from team ...
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Disability advocate Ben Aldridge introduces WorkABILITY Connect
28 Feb 2021If you’re a business owner or manager, chances are that you want to add value to your business and develop or maintain your competitive edge. If you’re from the government or non-profit sector,...
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Raising funds for essentials: Containers for Threads and Heads
28 Feb 2021At Forrest Personnel, we’re raising funds as part of a campaign. Why, you may ask? In order to ensure their success, we need to support job seekers to put their best foot forward, and there is no...
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A very short guide to the history of Forrest Personnel
01 Feb 2021It’s the beginning of another year, and the perfect time to reflect on our history. We take pride in sharing this Forrest Personnel origin story, a version of which was published in our 2019-2020 Qu...
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Tips for building momentum after the holiday season is over
01 Feb 2021We know that many of us work frantically before any holiday to tie up the loose ends and leave things where we want them left. This often means leaving for a holiday after having built up lots of mome...
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The journey toward a Reconciliation Action Plan for Forrest Personnel
01 Feb 2021During NAIDOC week 2020, Forrest Personnel CEO, Anna Bagshaw, confirmed that we were beginning the co-design of a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) for the organisation. She announced by video that: ...
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The startling workplace stats about people with disability
30 Nov 2020It’s December, and the month that hosts the International Day of People with Disability on its third day. Global significance As we mentioned in an article posted last month, this is a United ...
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CEO Anna Bagshaw reflects on outcomes of digital conference
30 Nov 2020Forrest Personnel CEO, Anna Bagshaw, was recently part of a National Disability Services (NDS) virtual event entitled Disability employment in a digital world. Anna participated in a panel of experts ...
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Alicia participates in LEAD and discovers her leadership style
30 Nov 2020Alicia Roche, Team Leader of our Geraldton office, recently graduated from the LEAD (Leadership, Exploration and Development) program offered by non-profit Ngala. We decided to take this opportunit...
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Thinking ahead to International Day of People with Disability
01 Nov 2020Coming up on 3 December is the International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD). This is a United Nations’ (UN) sanctioned day and has been supported by the Australian Government since 1996. M...
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Mountain Climbing: A mental health resource for jobseekers and others
01 Nov 2020In October, we marked Mental Health Month in Australia. It gave us a lot to think about. According to the Australian Government Department of Health website, “almost half of all Australians aged 16 ...
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Diary of a WorkABILITY Day adventure with Western Power
01 Nov 2020WorkABILITY Day 2020 was a big day out for many employers and Forrest Personnel participants. Western Power was a key partner this year, and hosted 10 participants across the state. Meet Neil and D...
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How storytelling can help your business stand out
02 Oct 2020At Forrest Personnel, we’ve been thinking about – and doing a lot of – storytelling. We’ve been storytelling about our participants and staff, and are about to launch a few employer stories to...
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WorkABILITY Day 2020: Our big day out for employers and participants
02 Oct 2020Variety is a key theme that emerged from our annual WorkABILITY Day 2020. It was an action-packed day of adventure during which employers provided Forrest Personnel participants with work experience o...
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Five fun and free activities to inspire your teams this spring
02 Oct 2020The weather is warming, the winds are howling less and the sun is shining a little bit more. This sounds like a great time for some team building – the gathering of the troops after a cold winter to...
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WorkABILITY Day 2020: 50 for 50 Challenge
25 Aug 2020Get Involved – 16 September 2020 Forrest Personnel’s WorkABILITY Day is about celebrating workplace diversity by hosting someone who is keen to work for your business and to showcase their abil...
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Meet Isaac and discover the benefits of work experience for participants and employers
24 Aug 2020Work experience is an important and proven way for participants hoping to enter the job market to gain skills and knowledge. It also provides participating employers with exposure to potentially valua...
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We are looking for Employer Champions
22 Jul 2020What Forrest Personnel does Forrest Personnel supports people with health conditions, injuries or disabilities find and keep paid employment. We help employers fill vacancies and work with a range ...
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Finding and keeping a job during Covid-19
22 Jul 2020Finding and keeping a job during the Covid-19 period deserves to be celebrated! Forrest Personnel did just that in June. Acknowledgement for participants and employers While the past few months...
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Making a start on mental health in the workplace
14 Jun 2020Every workplace is unique. However, one thing that all workplaces have in common is the benefits that come from prioritising mental health strategies to promote mental wellbeing in staff. Nurture a...
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COVIDSafe – Let’s work together to help better protect us all
01 May 2020We’re encouraging all our staff, clients and community partners to join us in downloading the government’s COVIDSafe app. We support this important government initiative. The COVIDSafe app sp...
Read full storyJobKeeper payment – Where to go for information?
09 Apr 2020JobKeeper payment – Where to go for information? Now that the government has the JobKeeper payment sorted in parliament as of 8/4/20, where should you go for the right information? We reckon th...
Read full storyVeterans Survey – we’re committed to helping with transition from military to civilian life more positive
17 Jan 2020Are YOU a Veteran? We want to know what you think. Are you a veteran and will you tell us about your transition from military to civilian life? We’d like to know more about you. At For...
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Ryan and the Farmers Market: Diversity and inclusion in action
22 Nov 2019The Bunbury Farmers Market is a great place to find an abundance of diverse and fresh food while also supporting local farmers. The Market is also an employer that embraces and promotes diversity and ...
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Forrest Personnel Partners with Wheatbelt Shire for Diversity, Access and Inclusion Focus
22 Nov 2019Forrest Personnel is delighted to work in partnership with the Shire of Pingelly to increase awareness around diversity, access and inclusion. This week (22.11.19) the Shire of Pingelly was the FIR...
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Successful Partnership Continues to Pay Off
17 Apr 2019South32 Worsley Alumina and Forrest Personnel are continuing to provide meaningful employment opportunities for people with health conditions, injuries and disabilities. Worsley Alumina Vice Presiden...
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Saying Thank You Through Art
07 Jan 2019When aspiring Bunbury artist, Warren Capp, presented a portrait he had painted to Forrest Personnel as a way of saying thank you, he had no idea how it would confirm the importance of our core mission...
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Five Ways to Survive and Thrive this Festive Season
13 Dec 2018December can be a bit bonkers. Officially it’s ‘the season to be jolly’, to celebrate and share and spend time with loved ones. Often it’s all these things. But it can also be stressful and ...
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A ‘Certified Local’ – that’s us!
09 Nov 2018As a leading Not-for-Profit organisation, Forrest Personnel in conjunction with the Bunbury Geographe Chamber of Commerce and supported by MLA, Don Punch has worked closely on a ‘Certified Local’ ...
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Handling Interview Nerves
24 Oct 2018Keeping calm during a job interview is quite a skill. Ask the people around you, and you would be hard-pressed to find a person who brims with excitement and anticipation for the thrill that is a job ...
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WorkABILITY DAY Initiative Gaining Momentum
01 Oct 2018FORREST Personnel are celebrating the success of a state-wide initiative giving people with disabilities, health conditions and injuries work experience opportunities that are leading to ongoing paid ...
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Parents: 3 Tips for Preparing Your School Leaver for Work
24 Sep 2018Over a decade of schooling has prepared your young adult for the new wide world of employment. Starting on a new chapter, and with the safety of routine and consistency of school life ending, often b...
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Chris improves parts cataloguing process
12 Sep 2018Meet Chris Young, who has been working at the South32 Refinery helping catalogue parts in the warehouse. Chris has been taking photos of high turnover parts and uploading them to enhance ROAM's parts...
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Making the Most of Your Work Experience Opportunity
27 Aug 2018Gaining work experience or a volunteering engagement is a valuable opportunity to spend time with a specific employer, job or industry, either observing others perform a job, performing a role yoursel...
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4 Keys to Managing Job Search Stress
16 Jul 2018You would be very fortunate never to experience the stress of searching for a job at some point in your life. Let’s face it: the reality of resume writing, networking, job searching, and interviewi...
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Retention versus Recruiting
07 Jun 2018HR experts tell us time and time again that the benefits of investing a little in staff training and retention far outweighs those in recruiting new staff – and the benefits stretch far beyond just ...
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The Benefits of a Diverse Workforce
09 May 2018Over 4.3 million Australians – that is nearly 1 in 5 of us – experience disability (ABS, 2016). Hiring and welcoming staff of diverse abilities is not only the right thing to do, it also makes sou...
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Disability Services Award Nominees
26 Apr 2018The WA Disability Support Awards are run on an annual basis through National Disability Services. Each year sees more and more submissions and it is always a sold-out event. The purpose of the awards ...
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How to Explain Employment Gaps in your Resume
10 Apr 2018One of the most difficult obstacles a job seeker faces is knowing how to address the gaps in employment history. Many life circumstances can lead to absences from the workplace and breaks in employmen...
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Forrest Personnel is expanding
04 Apr 2018Forrest Personnel is expanding our services and continuing our commitment to provide genuine and caring support to help people on their journey to employment. This is in recognition of the valueable...
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Digital Resumes and Portfolios – Career Strategy to Set You Apart
27 Feb 2018Digital Resumes and Online Portfolios Employers often use behavioural-based questions and selection criteria to centre on real-life examples to demonstrate past experiences, skills and transferable...
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Helping to boost your business
09 Feb 2018Why Employ with Forrest Personnel? With over 30 years of experience in 17 regional and city sites, WA businesses trust us to deliver exactly what we promise. We know and understand that your busin...
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Parents Returning To The Workforce: Forrest Personnel’s Top Tips
06 Feb 2018Returning to work after being an at-home parent is often both an exciting and daunting time. How do you market yourself with appeal to an employer? What are employers expecting of your application? ...
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Forrest Personnel Introduces Community Engagement
25 Jan 2018At Forrest Personnel we realise that Employers, Allied Health Professionals and Community Organisations are time poor. As such our Community Engagement Coordinators are meeting those that need to...
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NDIS: Key Information and WA NDIS Update
11 Jan 2018By 2019, the NDIS will have changed the way over 460,000 Australians under the age of 65 living with permanent and significant disability are able to access individualised support, while enabling indi...
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