Toll wants other businesses to follow its lead in helping people suffering addiction issues overcome their problems and find jobs
By Brad Gardner | October 9, 2012
Toll wants other businesses to follow its lead in implementing programs to help people with a history of crime or addiction overcome their problems and find jobs.
The company’s First Step and Second Step programs provide counselling services, mental health care and employment opportunities to people whose ability to find work has been compromised by addiction of criminal behaviour.
Toll says the First Step initiative, which focuses on helping people overcome addiction, provided clinical treatment to 1,200 last financial year, taking the number of those treated in the past eight years to more than 7,200.
The Second Step Program offers 35 positions a year throughout Australia, mostly full-time, and Toll says it has helped more than 270 people gain employment.
“Our hope is that our leading role in these initiatives will encourage other organisations to support individuals to deal with what would otherwise be insurmountable problems,” it says in its recently-released annual report.
“To that end, we continue to speak with agencies and businesses who wish to engage in their own similar programs.”
The annual report says Toll is also working with indigenous people to offer job and community development opportunities.
Toll says it is currently developing a reconciliation plan that addresses the needs of the business, stakeholders and indigenous people. It is due to be published this financial year.
“From this, we will create an Indigenous Employment Strategy that will position us to work successfully with the indigenous community to create sustainable employment opportunities for indigenous people in a supported workplace environment,” the annual report says.
