- 0430 608 605
- support@ungerfriends.com.au
- Perth, WA
Unger & Friends runs three connected programs designed to take a young man from employment readiness through to paid independent work and beyond that, into a social life built around genuine friendships.
Each program has a distinct purpose. Together they form a complete pathway.
Unger & Friends runs three connected programs designed to take a young man from employment readiness through to paid independent work — and beyond that, into a social life built around genuine friendships.
Each program has a distinct purpose. Together they form a complete pathway.
The first stage of the program and where the work begins.
Securing the right placement inside a major supermarket takes time. Rather than leaving participants in a holding pattern while that process is underway, Foundations keeps them active, engaged, and building the practical habits that employment requires.
Participants take part in structured volunteering activity during this period, chosen based on what suits them best. Current activities include farm volunteering, community litter and container collection, and op shop volunteering. Each activity is selected for its ability to develop the same core capacities that the supermarket environment demands: the ability to show up reliably, follow through on tasks, work alongside others, and build physical stamina for shift work.
Foundations is not a lengthy stage. It runs during the weeks leading up to placement, long enough to build a solid foundation, short enough to keep the momentum toward employment firmly in focus.
What Foundations develops:
By the time a placement is confirmed, participants are not walking in cold. They are walking in ready.
This is what we do.
A real, paid role inside a major supermarket. A structured program built around the way young men with autism actually learn. And a team that works alongside every participant, shift by shift, until the job is entirely his own.
Currently delivered inside Coles stores across Perth, with further major retailer involvement to follow.
How the program works
From day one of the placement, participants are supported in the actual job, in the actual store. Not in a classroom, not in a workshop, on the floor, learning by doing, with one of our team working alongside them. Every task is taught through demonstration, repetition, and patient hands-on coaching until the participant can complete it independently and to a high standard.
The program runs in structured stages. After the initial period of employment, a formal assessment takes place involving the participant, the store manager, and an independent assessor. The purpose of this assessment is to understand the participant’s progress and determine the right level of ongoing support going forward. From there, the program continues in stages, each one moving the participant closer to full independence in the role.
What the program produces
By the midpoint of the program, most participants are completing independent shifts. By the end, they are fully independent employees, on the roster, in the team, showing up and doing the job without support.
But employment is only part of what changes. The structure of a regular job, the relationships built with coworkers, the experience of earning a wage and being valued for a role, these things produce a kind of confidence and direction that is difficult to manufacture any other way.
Program outcomes:
Places in the program are limited.
If you would like to find out whether the program is the right fit for your son, get in touch sooner rather than later.
The program builds the job. Social Nights builds the friendships that come with it.
One of the most consistent things we hear from families is that their son wants friends, real ones, built around something genuine rather than a shared diagnosis. Social Nights exists for exactly that reason.
Open to all participants of the supermarket employment program, current, past, and future, Social Nights brings young men together in real social settings, doing activities worth showing up for. No agendas. No structured social skills exercises. Just a group of young men who already have something in common, spending time together outside of work.
*Social Nights is currently being developed. Participants of the program will be among the first to hear when it launches*
Fees align with the NDIS Price Guide to ensure clarity and value. Services are delivered with a commitment to high standards, professional development, and ethical practice. Participants receive consistent, reliable support from trained staff who understand their needs. Our focus is always on empowering individuals and ensuring every funded hour leads to meaningful outcomes.
