Current Openings / Apply Now

No. Phase 1: Learn is an unpaid Workplace Trainee program  for 8-weeks focused on skill development, workplace exposure and understanding support needs. It is designed to help participants safely explore employment options within a hospitality business, identify their skills, support needs, build confidence and prepare for future paid opportunities.

At the end of the 8-week program you will be assessed to progress to our “Try” program which is paid employment for 6-12 months.

At the end of Learn, each participant completes a Support Assessment to better understand how they work best, what support they need and what the next step may look like. This may include progressing to Phase 2: Try, where participants move into paid supported employment, or exploring other employment or skill-building opportunities that better match their goals.

You can tell us what you are interested in, and we will do our best to include those areas during your program.

You may be interested in cafés, customer service, kitchen work, food preparation, deliveries, food vans, catering, cleaning, stock, marketing or events.

LEARN is about trying different things so you can discover what suits you best.

That’s okay. Beyond Embrace is about finding the right pathway, not rushing the process. If now isn’t the right time, or funding and supports are not yet in place, we can still provide guidance, future planning support and information for your next NDIS review so you can work towards joining when you’re ready.

Embrace is a multi-site business operating across Canberra, with opportunities varying across cafés, catering, events and hospitality locations. Specific locations and shift opportunities may change over time based on business operations, participant goals and support needs.

Our team works with each participant to identify suitable environments and travel capacity.

You will be provided with an Embrace Disability Group t-shirt to wear during your shifts. 

You will also need to wear long clean pants (not jeans or leggings) and enclosed, comfortable shoes. This helps keep you safe while working in hospitality environments such as cafés, canteens, kitchens, food vans and events. Your polo is navy, the colour of your pants can be black, tan or navy.

LEARN is designed to give you exposure to different parts of the Embrace Disability Group business.

During your shifts, you may try activities such as:

• following simple recipes
• preparing food safely
• learning basic kitchen routines
• keeping work areas clean and tidy
• restocking items
• helping with customer service
• learning about deliveries or food vans
• understanding workplace communication
• practising teamwork
• learning how to follow instructions and checklists
• building confidence in a real workplace

You do not need to know how to do these things before you start. Your Job Coach will support you step by step.

Unfortunately no. LEARN includes support from an Embrace Disability Group Job Coach.

A Job Coach is different from a general support worker. Their role is to help you build workplace skills, understand hospitality tasks, practise communication, and work towards employment goals.

Because LEARN is a structured work experience program, the Job Coach needs to observe your skills, provide consistent workplace coaching, and help track your progress across the program. This helps us understand what support you need, what you enjoy, and what pathway may suit you best after LEARN.

Your regular support worker can still support you outside the program, such as helping you get ready, travel to and from shifts, or talk through your goals.

Embrace Disability Group operates across multiple locations in Canberra, including cafés, school canteens, food vans, events and catering.

We will work with you to identify your primary location. You may also visit other locations with your Job Coach during the program so you can experience different types of hospitality work.

This helps you learn what kind of work you enjoy and where you feel most confident.

No prior hospitality experience is required.

We do ask that participants apply for the required safety checks, including an ACT Working with Vulnerable People card and Working with Children Check, so you can safely attend canteens, schools and community-based work sites.

Your Job Coach can help you understand what is needed and support you through the process.

That is okay.

LEARN is designed for people who are building confidence. You do not need to be perfect, fast or experienced. You just need to be willing to try, learn and communicate with your Job Coach.

Your first shifts will focus on getting comfortable, understanding the environment, meeting people and learning simple routines.

That is part of learning. We ask that you agree to try.

Your Job Coach will talk with you about what you liked, what felt hard, and what support might help. Sometimes a task feels difficult at first because it is new. Other times, it helps us understand that a different type of work may suit you better.

You will not be expected to do everything perfectly.

Where possible, we will try to keep support consistent so you can build trust and confidence.

Some Job Coach offer specialist skills in particular areas of the business so you may work with different Job Coaches so you can learn different things. When this happens, we will make sure they understand your goals, support needs and progress.

Your Job Coach will help you:

• understand your shift plan
• learn tasks step by step
• practise workplace communication
• ask questions
• build confidence
• understand safety and hygiene expectations
• reflect on what you learned
• identify your strengths and interests
• work towards your employment goals

They are there to support your learning, not to do the work for you.

For the Learn program you will work the same days and times each week. We understand that things happen or sometimes you may have competing priorities.

If you let us know early we can re-roster your shift to another day in the same week. If you are unable to work with agreement we can add this shift to the end of your program.

Please note standard cancellation policies around NDIS charges.