The Edge story

Since 1984, with a strong and unified team, we have provided support to thousands of job seekers and employers across the greater Perth Community.

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Our journey began in 1984, when Dr Greg Lewis hypothesised that people with an intellectual disability might be best served in their quest for employment by first finding a suitable job and then directing training resources into supporting them to be productive and independent within that workplace.

After successfully testing this theory, Edge co-founders Sue Robertson and Dr. Lewis were inspired to devise the ‘place and train’ model to support people with all kinds of disabilities to achieve sustainable employment in the workforce.

After sharing their vision with others, in August 1984, Sue and Greg founded Project Employment Inc. with the support and backing of Perth businessman, Bill Mitchell. At this time, a small Board was formed, and Project Employment Inc. commenced business offering quality employment services to people with intellectual disabilities.

On 22 June 1988, after four years of successfully supporting people with disabilities, Project Employment made the momentous decision to change its name. This was because the service was a no longer seen as a ‘project’ and was here to stay. Therefore, the name was changed to PE Personnel, enabling the agency to retain a link to Project Employment using the PE acronym and the distinctive PE logo.

In the space of a few months, all the other Project Employment network members (with the exception of Darwin) changed their names. The network members in Tweed Heads, Adelaide and Albury-Wodonga changed their names to Personnel Employment. The Tweeds Head Service across NWS and the Gold Coast is now called On-Q Human Resources. Bunbury changed its name to Forrest Personnel and Wollongong changed its name to Essential Personnel. It should be acknowledged that every member of the original network has since gone on to be successful and highly regarded open employment providers in their own right.

In addition to establishing a profile within the Australian disability employment sector, Project Employment was also attracting attention overseas. In 1987, Lewis was invited to be a keynote speaker at the 8th Asian Federation for Mental Retardation Conference in Singapore and in 1986 the 16th World Rehabilitation Conference in Tokyo. In the same year, Lewis and Robertson were invited back to Singapore to present a three-day workshop to local disability organisations and government representations on how to establish and operate an open employment service for people with disabilities.

In 1988, Robertson was awarded an Australian Institute of Management ‘Women in Management’ scholarship and in 1989, received special recognition in the ‘Excellence in Management Award for Women’. In the same year she was appointed to the Disability Advisory Council in Australia.

In September 1989, the Board was advised that PE Personnel had become the first agency in Western Australia to transfer from Section 13 funding, under the former Handi capped Persons Assistance Act, to Section 10 funding. This followed an exhaustive review of the agency’s ability to meet the principles and objectives of the Disability Services Act.

In 1992, PE Personnel established another new employment service, this time in the northern suburbs of Perth. This was in response to the growing number of school leavers with disabilities seeking to move directly into open employment.

In October 1997, PE Personnel and its offspring, BIZLINK, became the first disability employment agencies in WA to receive ISO 9002 certification as Quality Endorsed Companies.

In late 1997, a move to new premises afforded a perfect opportunity to again consider a name change. With the year 2000 rapidly approaching, the Board wanted their name to reflect the advent of the new millennium. There was also a subtle implication in that the agency had an ‘Edge’ over its fellow agencies, being the first of its kind in Australia as well as being a national leader in disability employment services. And so Edge was born. The Board was comfortable with the name Edge, and the agency took on its third name and moved into its fourth office in 14 years.

Edge’s reputation as a national and international best practice open employment agency for people with disabilities reached new levels in 2003. Over an 18-month period, Lewis and Robertson delivered four keynote addresses:

  • May 2003: The European Union Conference on Supported Employment in Helsinki.
  • September 2003: The Australian Association for Competitive Employment in Hobart.
  • October 2003: The New Zealand Federation of Vocational and Support Services National Conference in Wellington.
  • January 2004: The Rehab 2004 International Conference in Dubai.

In 2003, Lewis was elected President of ACROD, becoming the first Western Australian and the first representative of an open employment service in ACROD’s 40 year first.

In 2002-2003, Edge Training Solutions was managing seven Commonwealth and State funded research and development projects.

By 2003, the number of staff reached 45 and in just five years, the agency had outgrown yet another building. It was at this time that Edge successfully tendered a block in the Subiaco Centro redevelopment area. The block located at 38 Hood Street, is where you will find our head office today.

In March 2013, we opened our new office in Joondalup. After outgrowing our original office, we expanded into the unit next door in November 2017.

Expansion continued and we set up an office in the South in September 2015 in Cockburn.

June 2018, saw us open our fourth office in East Victoria Park and in 2021, we outgrew another office and had to relocate our Cockburn office to accommodate our growing team.

In partnership with Curtin University, the pilot program Charged Up for Work was created in 2020 to assist high school students to prepare for their upcoming transition from school to work. The first seven week workshops were delivered in Term 1 2021 and have run every school term since. The goal of the program is to provide students with the right skills and tools to set them up for future success.

With the changing employment landscape, Edge became a registered NDIS provider in May 2020 and started providing Finding and Keeping a Job supports and School Leaver Employment Supports.

The Edge team again expanded their NDIS offering in 2024, with Daily Living Skills.

In 2024, Edge Employment Solutions are celebrating their 40th year. In this time, they have secured over 9,000 jobs for people with disability.

Today, we are proud to be one of Western Australia’s oldest employment agency specialising in disability support and continuing to operate with the same core mission at our heart; changing lives through the power of employment.

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