Cushman & Wakefield hosts Property Council Diversity & Inclusion – Lunch & Learn Series
On 8 August 2019, Cushman & Wakefield hosted the Property Council of Australia’s Diversity & Inclusion – Lunch & Learn Series, which focused on the opportunities available for employees with intellectual disabilities in the property industry and beyond. Cushman & Wakefield’s Sydney office was packed with Property Council members who brought an appetite to learn more about inclusive workplaces, as guests were treated to a breadth of insights from the session.
It commenced with an introduction by Anna Town, Head of Marketing and Communications, Cushman & Wakefield Asia Pacific, followed by a keynote presentation from Gabrielle Bartlett from Jobsupport Australia, and concluded with a panel discussion featuring aforementioned Gabrielle and Anna, as well as James Patterson, Chief Executive Cushman & Wakefield Australia and New Zealand, Audrey O’Connor from Roadshow Films and Ingmar Taylor, Barrister, Greenway Chambers.
This video highlights key components of the Lunch & Learn series, including insights from the speakers around the following questions:
- What support is available for employees who wish to recruit employees with intellectual disabilities?
- What are the advantages of utilising employees with an intellectual disability?
- What would you say to an employer, thinking about hiring a worker with a disability?
- What can we do to advocate change in the workplace to create opportunities for employees with intellectual disability?
- How was Cushman & Wakefield’s experience introducing employees with an intellectual disability to the workplace?
- And some final words of encouragement from superstar Audrey
Attendees left the session not only inspired to create change around inclusive employment, but with the confidence to instigate conversations in the workplace and identify opportunities for employees with a disability.
From Cushman & Wakefield’s partnership with Jobsupport Australia, 6 employees have been placed into facility support roles across New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria, with plans to expand further into client organisations across Australia.
NSW September Business Lunch: Evolving Transport for the Future
Property Council’s September Business Lunch focused onthe future of transport in NSW and the importance of place-based developments, with Rodd Staples, Secretary of Transport NSW providing the keynote on the NSW Government’s plans for infrastructure investment over the next four years.
Rodd spoke about Transport NSW’s focus on shifting the end to end journey experience for customers and diversifying choice in both metro and regional locations. Other important focuses include how they connect transport into place and shift their thinking around this, the important connections in and around Sydney and connections into other regional metro areas.
The keynote was then followed by an expert panel including Michael Cassell, CEO of Hunter Development Corporation (recently appointed Director of the Land and Housing Corporation), Alison McDonagh, Regional Manager – Stockland, Jeheon Son, Head of Integrated Transport Development, Lendlease and Ashleigh Ryan, Associate Director – Urbis as the moderator. The panel discussed a number of topics including the coordination of transport and land use planning, the importance of place making for transport development and value capture for large infrastructure projects.
The event was attended by over 400 attendees and was held at the Hyatt Regency in Sydney. Three schools also attended the lunch as part our Girls in Property Program to experience a property industry event first hand and meet with many of our members. Thanks to all of our speakers and our sponsors TSA and Landcom for being part of the event.
TOGA: Eat, chop, shop event
On the 6th of November, TOGA is hosting an Eat Chop Shop event at their Addison Project in Kensington.
The Addison project is a social enterprise collaboration utilising a 42-room serviced apartment building as a pop-up housing shelter for transitional accommodation for youth. The project also involved collaborations with OzHarvest, Thread Together and Orange Sky.
The aim of the project is to reduce youth homelessness by temporarily employing space whilst waiting for planning approvals.
TOGA is inviting industry leaders, property investors and developers the opportunity to see the positive impact of the project and acquire first-hand experience volunteering in the Addison Project’s precinct.
It is also an opportunity for industry leaders consider if they are able to develop new solutions to address it and fix the social housing crisis, by considering if they have similar properties within their portfolios which could be utilised for new and unique approach to combat homelessness.
This is the fourth Eat Chop Shop has held, with the goal of helping bridge the social gap created by homelessness.
The Property Council is supporting this important initiative and the Premier, the Minister of Planning and Public Spaces and the Minister for Families and Community Services have also been invited to visit and participate at the Eat Chop Shop.