{"id":29479,"date":"2025-10-22T14:05:25","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T04:05:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/?p=29479"},"modified":"2025-10-22T14:05:28","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T04:05:28","slug":"queensland-timber-trades-raise-the-bar-for-people-with-disability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/queensland-timber-trades-raise-the-bar-for-people-with-disability\/","title":{"rendered":"Queensland Timber Trades Raise the Bar for People with Disability"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Two local Queensland timber businesses \u2014 Kennedy\u2019s Timbers and the Maryborough Cross Arm Mill \u2014 have been recognised at the Endeavour Foundation\u2019s Business Excellence and Impact Awards, each taking major awards for creating meaningful employment pathways for people with disability. The ceremony, attended by 300 industry leaders, advocates and entrepreneurs, honoured organisations and individuals whose partnerships, programs and innovations help people with disability live fuller, more independent lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kennedy\u2019s Timbers received the Partnership Excellence Award for a long\u2011running collaboration with Endeavour Foundation that integrates people with disability into production for nationwide architectural projects. \u201cWell, we certainly didn\u2019t expect to be a finalist, and now a winner,\u201d said Michael Kennedy, of Kennedy\u2019s Timbers. \u201cInitially, we didn\u2019t know how to navigate the partnership or what was involved in hosting people with disability at our site, but we were shown the ropes and now wouldn’t work without our Endeavour crew. They do such great work with us.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe now know what\u2019s possible, and we can\u2019t wait to continue this partnership. \u201cIn our case, we\u2019ve also found people really enjoy working with timber because it\u2019s an organic material, and it\u2019s creating products that are so magnificent; they gain a real sense of achievement from turning a lump of wood into a piece of timber that will go into an architectural home,” Kennedy said. \u201cWe would encourage other employers to take our experience on board and partner with Endeavour Foundation because great things can come out of it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Kennedys
Michael Kennedy accepting the Partnership Excellence Award for a long\u2011running collaboration with Endeavour Foundation that integrates people with disability into production for nationwide architectural projects. (Photo Credit: Supplied)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Maryborough Cross Arm Mill won the Results That Shine Award after producing more than 47,000 timber crossarms annually \u2014 totalling more than 5.8 million kilograms of timber \u2014 and repurposing offcuts into stakes and pallets while providing supported employees with training and clear pathways to mainstream employment. \u201cThis win is not only about our team, but everything we achieve together,\u201d according to Russell Shipp, site manager at the mill. \u201cIn terms of providing support for people with disability, we are passionate about the pathways our employees take when with us from supported to mainstream employment, and I\u2019m happy to say the employees with us now are excited for that next step.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTimber work is hands-on, and with that comes a great opportunity for employees to create, replicate and build strong elements to aid even bigger works. It\u2019s physical, it\u2019s exciting, and we are just so honoured to have achieved this award.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Endeavour Foundation’s Head of Philanthropy, Sharon Wood, said the awards were created to spotlight individuals within the community, allowing them to shine and be recognised for their impressive contributions on an industry stage: \u201cFrom researchers who are paving the way in inclusive humanoid robotics, an organisation who\u2019s helped us create Accessible Tourism videos in the Whitsundays, a business boosting fundraising dollars by donating $1 for every work hour, a family who\u2019s helped to donate a tractor for our Bundaberg farm, or another business who\u2019s creating job opportunities and sustainable work solutions at the same time \u2026 and the list goes on.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Russell
Russell Shipp accepting the Results That Shine Award. Marybourgh Cross Arms produces more than 47,000 timber crossarms every year \u2014 totalling more than 5.8 million kilograms of timber \u2014 and repurpose offcuts into stakes and pallets while providing supported employees with training and clear pathways to mainstream employment. (Photo Credit: Supplied)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Clarissa Brandt, Acting CEO of Timber Queensland, commended Kennedy\u2019s Timbers and the Maryborough Cross Arm Mill for taking a lead in increasing workforce diversity. \u201cHaving the Endeavour Foundation\u2019s first Business Excellence and Impact Awards recognise two timber industry-related businesses highlights the workforce development opportunities for businesses willing to look outside the box,\u201d Brandt said. \u201cThey\u2019ve created a win\u2011win situation \u2013 developing a capable and committed workforce in a tight labour market and offering opportunities to learn and grow to individuals who often face challenges finding suitable employment.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brandt said Timber Queensland last year partnered with Jobs Queensland to develop a workforce plan for the Wide Bay region: \u201cThis plan prioritises working with people with a disability to tap into the potential of an underutilised talent pool and implementing innovative strategies for career development,\u201d she said. \u201cWe are thrilled that Kennedy\u2019s Timbers and the Maryborough Cross Arm Mill have been recognised for providing direction and showcasing how to do the job.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other winners included Shamrock Civil (Charity Champion), Chloe Haidenhofer (Advocacy in Action) and Komatsu Australia (Community Leadership). The ceremony also acknowledged six long\u2011standing partners that have supported Endeavour Foundation for 25 years or more, including Woolworths, Payne Print, Henkel, Clorox, Podravka and Mackay Sugars. Endeavour Foundation encouraged businesses interested in employing people with disability to explore its programs and supports via endeavour.com.au.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two local Queensland timber businesses \u2014 Kennedy\u2019s Timbers and the Maryborough Cross Arm Mill \u2014 have been recognised at the Endeavour Foundation\u2019s Business Excellence and Impact Awards, each taking major awards for creating meaningful employment pathways for people with disability. The ceremony, attended by 300 industry leaders, advocates and entrepreneurs, honoured organisations and individuals whose […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29483,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"default","_threads_share_type":"default","_google_business_share_type":"default","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[50,88,37,46,54,1],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[70],"class_list":{"0":"post-29479","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-australia","8":"category-awards","9":"category-building-and-construction","10":"category-industry","11":"category-queensland","12":"category-uncategorized"},"authors":[{"term_id":70,"user_id":2,"is_guest":0,"slug":"jason","display_name":"Jason Ross","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/J-Ross-headshot.jpeg","url2x":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/J-Ross-headshot.jpeg"},"0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29479"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29479\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29485,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29479\/revisions\/29485"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29479"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=29479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}