Jigsaw Academy

At Jigsaw, we are focused on understanding your personal employment goals and developing a plan to best support you to achieve those goals. As a trainee, you will be supported by our team of dedicated Trainers. Working alongside you throughout the day, they offer consistent, personalised support through a mix of group training sessions and 1:1 mentoring to help you build skills, confidence and independence. Where needed, we also provide additional supports ensuring you can fully participate in the program

Jigsaw has developed a comprehensive, fully accessible pathway that builds capability across 20 core skill areas, including communication, accountability, focus, problem-solving and reliability – designed specifically for people with disability. 

These soft-skills outlines the non-technical skills, knowledge and behaviours essential for effective participation in any workplace. As you learn the skills through 1:1 training and group sessions, you’ll get to practice them each day with hands-on participation in Jigsaw’s social enterprise. 

When you are confident and ready for mainstream employment, we’ll work with you to develop your resume, prepare for job interviews, and search for opportunities that match your skills, interests and employment goals.

The Jigsaw ethos is about learning to work through work. With this ethos at the heart of what we do, a day in Jigsaw is designed to reflect a typical office workday. 

As a trainee, you will participate in 1-on-1 training and  group sessions, while developing your skills across a variety of work tasks including file management, scanning, data entry, and quality control. 

Regular breaks are scheduled throughout the day giving you time to relax, recharge, enjoy a meal and connect with your colleagues.

No problem. We’re here to support you to get job-ready for whatever industry you choose. Our on-the-job digitisation training is just one of the tools we use to train you in how to work, by working. Whether you want to work in IT, reception, hospitality, retail or admin support, we’ll train you in the transferable soft skills to get where you want to go.

Most participants complete our core Academy program within 24 months. However, the beauty of Jigsaw’s person-centred approach is our flexibility. Your journey through the Jigsaw pathway will be unique and tailored to you as you progress at your own pace, aligning with your skills and goals. 

Britt accelerated through the pathway and secured mainstream employment in record time, whilst Sam took a few years to build up his confidence and skills. Some trainees, like Liam, choose to transition into mainstream employment straight from Academy, while others return to study or decide mainstream employment is not the right path for them. 

No matter what your goals and how they change along your journey, Jigsaw is here to provide the support you need to achieve them.

No, they don’t. Once trainees consistently demonstrate strong skills in the workplace, and there is a job opportunity, they will be eligible to apply for short-term award-wage employment with Jigsaw as a stepping stone to achieving their goal of mainstream employment. Some of our trainees do not wish to pursue a paid traineeship as they are not interested in the work tasks involved in the role. Some return to study, explore volunteering roles or pursue mainstream employment straight from Academy. So, we work with our trainees to explore and secure opportunities when they are right for the individual and the business.

To be invited to apply for a paid traineeship, you must consistently demonstrate all 20 skills taught in Jigsaw Academy. You must also showcase a level of proficiency in the tasks required to do the job. Proficiency in the skills required to obtain a paid traineeship will be discussed in reviews, which take place every six months.

Similar to mainstream workplaces, participants are responsible for their transport to and from our training hubs. Some of our participants arrange private transport, some take public transport, and others choose to carpool. Our Community Engagement Leads can help facilitate connecting you with other carpooling participants, otherwise, we are happy to connect you with suitable transport services within your local area.

Jigsaw is now an IEA specialist provider in Canberra. In our other regions, Jigsaw remains an innovative social enterprise embeds a comprehensive, skill-based training program within a real workplace. 

Whilst an ADE will provide supported employment and an IEA will place candidates with disability into mainstream employment, Jigsaw offers a training pathway within our business to build your job-readiness skills, gain professional experience and be supported to transition into mainstream employment once you are job-ready. 

It depends entirely on the individual, but we recommend attendance for 2-3  days per week. 

Jigsaw’s person-centred philosophy means we take an individual approach to learning so the pace for everyone is slightly different. Most participants graduating from our program progress through our 20 core modules within two years. However, during your time with Jigsaw, we work closely with you to ensure you are properly supported to work towards your goals at a pace that’s right for you.  

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) provides funding to Australians with permanent and significant disability to access support and services. Funding is designed to support you to acquire new skills, achieve greater independence, participate in your community, and achieve your goals.

Eligibility for the NDIS is determined by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA).

To check if you’re eligible, visit the NDIS website. If you meet the criteria, the NDIS may provide funding for supports that help you live your life and work toward your goals.

Participants at Jigsaw access support through several key NDIS categories depending on their individual goals. The most frequently used funding categories are:

• Capacity Building Employment (Finding and Keeping a Job)
  • School Leaver Employment Supports (SLES)
• Core Support
  • Assistance with Social and Community Participation

Yes, Jigsaw is a social enterprise of Fighting Chance Australia: an NDIS Registered Provider (Provider Number 4050003203).

This means that participant’s NDIS funds can be NDIA managed, plan-managed, or self-managed, when attending Jigsaw.

As a registered NDIS provider, our prices reflect the rules set out in the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits established by the NDIA.

Jigsaw (as a social enterprise empowered by Fighting Chance) is also compliant with the NDIA’s eligibility terms to use the Temporary Transformation Payment (TTP) conditional loading and will use the TTP prices where applicable.

For a full list of our support rates and pricing policy, please visit our Support page on the Fighting Chance website.

Most of our trainees are supported at a 1:3 ratio for five hours and receive one hour of 1:1 support, on each day they attend.

However, we know your journey is unique to you, so we’ll work closely with you to develop a plan that ensures you receive the support you need to achieve your goals. 

We currently require our trainees to have a current NDIS plan with available funding in order to attend Jigsaw.

If you do not have an NDIS plan, please visit this page on the Fighting Chance website for more information about how to apply.

If you have any other questions about Jigsaw, how to use your NDIS Plan funds, or how we can best support you to achieve your employment goals, we’d love to speak to you! 

Reach out to us at:

e: hello@fightingchance.org.au

p: 1300 166 734