Career change leads to a rewarding role in disability support

A mid-life career change is giving TAFE SA graduate Dirk Venema a new sense of purpose and helping him realise a long-held goal to work in the disability care sector.

Dirk, 47, says he’s “always had a need to help people” and is thriving in his roles at Community Living Options (CLO), where he was nominated for an award in his first year of service, and the Wooden Toy Factory at the Encounter Centre in Victor Harbor.

It’s been a steep learning curve for the former tradie, who was a bricklayer and stonemason for more than 30 years before enrolling in the Individual Support (Disability Care) course at TAFE SA’s Victor Harbor Campus.

Dirk, a single dad with two teenage daughters, says Fee Free TAFE was the catalyst for his career change, providing him with the encouragement to “have another go” at formal study.

He had initially enrolled in the course online in 2020, but with few computer skills and dyslexia he says he struggled with the content and couldn’t complete the course.

“When I saw it was being offered fee free in 2023, I decided I’d give it one more go and I enrolled to study on campus,” he says.

Face-to-face classes suited Dirk and although he still found the course “hard work”, he flourished in the supportive campus environment.

“My lecturer was amazing and I made some great friendships and appreciated the support from the librarians and other staff who helped me with my computer skills,” he says.

While studying, he attended a disability expo at Victor Harbor where he learnt about CLO and the services they provide.

“I liked the way they operated, their policies and procedures. I did a paid placement with them and it was a good introduction to the sector,” he says.

Now employed as a disability support worker, Dirk is drawing a lot of satisfaction from his new career.

“I like being surrounded by different people after years of working on my own and being nominated for an award with CLO in my first year in the industry made me feel like I was on the right path,” he says.

Dirk, who lives at Middleton, is keen to share his love of outdoor pursuits such as surfing and fishing with his clients but acknowledges there is satisfaction in everyday tasks as well.

“Because of my interests I want to support people to enjoy outdoor activities but as time goes on what I’m enjoying most are the simple things, like taking someone for a walk who hasn’t had a chance to get outside all day,” he says.