About BEST Employment Ltd.
BEST Employment can trace its origins back to 1978. The original forebear of BEST was a part of the Sapphire City Youth Committee (CYSS) which was established to provide services to unemployed young people in the Inverell district. It was originally managed by three staff members on a single site.
In 1990, Inverell CYSS changed its name to Inverell Skill Training Inc. and continued to deliver employment-related services such as Skillshare, New Work Opportunities and Job Club.
In 1997, Inverell Skill Training Inc. registered BEST as a not-for-profit company, limited by guarantee to enable the expansion of services throughout the region.
Since 1997, BEST has continued to expand services across the New England North West, Far West and Southern Queensland regions, including delivery of multiple employment programs (Job Network, Job Services Australia, jobactive, Disability Employment Network, Disability Employment Services, Harvest Labour Services, Harvest Trail Services) and multiple community programs including Links to Learning, Young Mothers program, Opportunity Pathways Social Impact Investments, Domestic and Family Violence and Caseworker Support Program.
During this period, BEST also commenced delivering National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) services and a number of social enterprises including the 05 Runway Café (Armidale) and BEST Community Garden (Inverell), delivering training and positive social impacts. Whilst our social enterprises are no longer operating, many social outcomes have been achieved and useful insights gained.
Today, BEST delivers services from more than 20 sites; employs more than 175 staff, has more than fifty volunteers; and delivers Workforce Australia, Inclusive Employment Australia, multiple community programs, a Centrelink agency, National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) services and a retail opportunity shop.
These services continue to deliver on BEST’s commitment to “develop and support independent, thriving and resilient communities throughout regional NSW and QLD”.