After 16 years in the same job, Ryan Gee never imagined he would be out of work.
The 33-year-old spends four days a week working at the Bentley warehouse of disability services provider Activ, untangling and checking headphones for Qantas.
Ryan has a very rare chromosomal abnormality known as Tetrasomy 18P, which his mother Janette Gee said impaired his intellectual abilities and fine motor skills.
"He loves going to work, he likes being a working man and he loves the company and friendship that he gets there … and he really likes bringing home his pay cheque," Ms Gee said.
Ryan is one of more than 700 supported employees affected by the Activ Foundation's decision to close its seven WA industrial sites in July.
The large-scale industrial workshops were established to provide people with a disability supervised work and social opportunities.
However, Activ recently announced it would be moving away from that model and transitioning to more personalised and community-based work, such as cleaning, maintenance and gardening.
It also plans to establish a new academy to help people with disabilities develop social skills, live independently and access therapy.
Activ has blamed National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) funding changes for its decision to close the industrial worksites.
Families left devastated
Ms Gee said her son was proud of working at Activ and would rarely miss a day.
"If he's feeling unwell or really tired, I would tell him to have a day off, but he always goes, 'we're busy at work, I have to go or those people will miss me,'" she said.
"He learns to belong to a community that values him, he's in a safe environment and doesn't have to worry that if he goes to work, that he's going to be teased or bullied.
"He feels it's important for him to go and I mean, not all of us can say that in our jobs."
The former school principal said her family was devastated by Activ's announcement and no longer knew what Ryan's future looked like.
"It took nine months for Ryan to learn to untangle the cords on the headsets and plug them in to see if the light went red and they were still working," she said.
"If he wasn't in a supported environment, there's absolutely no way he could learn even the simplest task.
"Families are now in crisis trying to work out what's going to happen."
'They've just made a marginalised community more marginalised'
Ms Gee is also one of the moderators of a Facebook group for people affected by Activ's site closures. The group already has more than 300 members.
She said most of the families were disappointed with the organisation's lack of communication and felt it had "betrayed their trust".
"They [Activ] say they were there to support those people that need extra support, but in fact, they've just made a marginalised community more marginalised by putting them out of work," she said.
Activ left with no choice: CEO
Activ chief executive Michael Heath claimed financial challenges left the organisation with no choice but to close the workshops
"We had to act immediately or Activ would have vanished in 2023," Mr Heath said.
"We are doing all we can for our supported workers and walk beside them during this transition but it needs to be understood that the alternative is shutting Activ down completely."
Activ is seeking $36 million to cover its running costs for the next three years to help supported employees and their families transition to alternative work, study, or support arrangements.
Mr Heath was pleased both the state and federal governments acknowledged a "significant financial injection was necessary to keep Activ's workshops afloat in the short term" but believed a change to NDIS funding was needed for a long-term fix.
WA Premier Mark McGowan said his government was in "continual contact" with new NDIS Minister Bill Shorten about the matter and was hopeful a conclusion would be reached soon.
"I'd like to see it continue, whether that's long term or not is another matter," he said.
"The shock that took place with the 700 individuals and families was obviously very difficult so if it continues to allow people to adjust and go into alternative employment for the longer term, that would be a good outcome."
Activ urged to slow 'process down': Minister
His comments were echoed by WA's disability services minister Don Punch, who acknowledged the "anguish of supported employees and their families" following Activ's announcement.
"We've been asking Activ from the beginning to slow this process down and allow for meaningful negotiations and discussions with the Commonwealth government," he told ABC Radio Perth.
"To be told out of the blue that your job is going and many of these people have put in decades of service through Activ is not appropriate."
Mr Punch said he was also in discussions with Mr Shorten and was confident the issue would be made a top priority.
Despite employing more than 700 people with disabilities and 90 support staff, Activ said it had only identified 74 suitable alternative supported employment jobs, and 150 places at the Activ Academy.
For most of the affected families, the reality of that means they will be left out in the cold.
Perth mother Paula Samson's 24-year-old twin daughters, Kate and Emma, work at Activ, but she fears they will both be out of a job in the coming weeks.
"I'm disappointed that we've sort of been left feeling powerless," Ms Samson said.
"This is having a devastating effect on families because the upheaval [and] the doubt is impacting their mental health … it's impacting whether the parents or carers can keep working."
The 'trust' and 'reputation of Activ has been broken'
Ms Samson said her daughter Kate earns $3 an hour, but would happily work for free.
"We don't send our child there for the money, it is to be actively involved in in something that's worthwhile to society, and it's the social aspects that are important," she said.
"What I thought was a wonderful, supportive environment for my daughters to work in … I'm totally disillusioned now.
"So even if there is a solution done with federal government, the trust has sort of been broken and the reputation of Activ has been broken, because of the way they've done this."
While most disability support providers have made a transition to the NDIS, some are continuing to advocate for supported employment programs.
With more than 600 employees, Workpower offers a range of commercial businesses, employment programs and community-based services for people with disabilities.
"We know that employment is such a huge part of our life here in Australia, and that doesn't change if you have a disability," chief executive Lee Broomhall said.
"Supported employment offers so much … yes, it's a routine, but for the most part, a lot of our workforce are coming for the social connection, for the friendships that they've made, for the sense of belonging, and for doing something meaningful."
Ms Broomhall said Workpower had been working closely with the WA disability sector and the NDIA to find opportunities for the displaced employees from Activ.
"We've got approximately 60 existing vacancies that we can provide, so we're in the process of talking to families and sending information and we've held some tours this week as well," she said.
