Disability employment agency closure sparks community action

Mareeba disability employment agency closes, upsetting families, community Thu 23 Jul 2026 at 6:54am In short: A disability employment provider says losses have forced its decision to close, upsetting local families of intellectually disabled people. But local charities argue the community has funded the facility for decades and want a say in the decisions. What's next? The facility is set to close on July 31, but the community is rallying to change its future. Far North Queensland families of children with disabilities are devastated a supported-employment program will end, while locals who raised funds for the facility are angry because they fear it will be sold. Nationwide disability service provider Endeavour Foundation plans to close Mareeba Business Solutions (MBS), which finds manufacturing or farm work for almost 20 people with special needs. MBS started as a fruit and vegetable farm in the 1980s before branching into manufacturing industries. Employees carry out a range of tasks, including sorting lychees, grading coffee beans, refurbishing water sprinklers, as well as recycling mattress components and processing document-destruction bins. Endeavour Foundation cited challenges in securing funding from the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), and dwindling commercial contracts. It said it was unable to sustain losses, which exceeded $200,000 last financial year. A way of life Two of Jo Thistle's children, Nathan, 36, and Chloe, 33, are in supported employment three days a week. "They love going to work. They feel like they're contributing," she said, adding that the supported employment was beneficial because employees were treated as equals. "They are excluded from many [mainstream] things because they can't keep up or it takes them longer to process," she said. Ms Thistle also blamed NDIA changes for the closure of the facility. "The amount of paperwork, all the hoops you have to jump through, the whole system is just structured so wrong," she said. Her daughter, Chloe Murray, was devastated when she heard the news. "I had a meltdown after the meeting," Ms Murray said. "I don't think anyone was expecting it at all. It came … [as] a bit of a shock." Endeavour Foundation's Kirrily Boulton said she was open to discussions with local businesses and all levels of government to consider contracting social enterprises to offer work to the participants. "We just haven't had the commercial contracts that provide the work for our people," she said. "Potentially, we could have been more commercially savvy." Ms Boulton said staff had been having "absolutely heartbreaking conversations". "I can't say it's the end of the line, but I also don't want to give people a sense of false hope," she said. "As a charity, you do eventually run out of money … it's a significant problem in regional towns." She said "extremely complex" NDIA funding agreements were unfavourable for supported employment. Daniel Crunkhorn has an intellectual impairment and works two days a week on the farm and another day stripping old mattresses. Supported employment means he is assisted to ensure he works with minimal risk. His father, Bruce, said losing the facility would affect his son's self-esteem. "He values going to work and that's what he wants to do," he said. Territorial lions Endeavour Foundation has not confirmed the future of the Mareeba site after it closes on July 31. But Mareeba Lions Club, which said it funded the building of The Endeavour Farm in the early 1980s, said it was never consulted about the closure, and feared it could be sold and lost from the community. The club has resolved to challenge Endeavour Foundation's decision. Two-time Mareeba Lions president Dennis McKinley said some of the history behind past decisions may be lost because people who were involved in assisting the Endeavour Foundation had died in the decades since it was built. He said money gained from any sale should be reinvested locally. "To sit back and allow this to disappear, all the hard work and community involvement, including dollars, would be remiss of our club and our members," he said. "These are the neediest people in our community." He questioned whether Endeavour Foundation tried hard enough to secure local contracts, particularly when short-staffed local farms relied on overseas workers. "The community should fight it to the death," Mr McKinley said. Mayor of Mareeba Shire Council Angela Toppin said the council was upset but was considering future options for the participants. "It really does disappoint me, but Endeavour Foundation assures me the facility has become economically unviable," she said. Labor senator for Far North Queensland Nita Green said the federal government was seeking to reform the NDIA so it would be sustainable into the future and would work for people in regional areas. "At the moment, it's not working to serve all Australians, it's not working in the way it was intended to do," Senator Green said. An NDIA spokesperson said it recognised supported employment created opportunity, independence and inclusion, and helped people with disability to build skills, find jobs and participate in their communities. The spokesperson said the NDIA was working with the provider, participants, and relevant stakeholders to ensure participants were supported to move to other services.