Article Feature: PerthNow Local Newspapers Digital Edition
We’re proud to share that our long-standing partnership with the City of Mandurah has been renewed, with Intelife awarded a new three-year outdoor cleaning and associated services contract, along with the option of a further two-year extension. It’s a moment worth celebrating, both for the people we support in the Peel region and for the community we’ve been part of since 2015.
This contract means our Greenfields-based team will continue cleaning public barbecues, collecting roadside litter and sand-sifting playgrounds across Mandurah’s parks and public recreation areas. These are spaces where families gather on weekends, where school groups visit on excursions, where tourists stop on their way through the Peel, and where locals walk their dogs in the early morning. Keeping them safe, clean and welcoming is unseen work, in many ways, but it’s the kind of work that quietly holds a community together.
For the 32 Intelife employees working across the Mandurah area, the renewal means something just as important as a continued contract. It means ongoing, stable work that allows them to build skills, earn a wage and feel genuinely connected to the place they help care for. Stability of employment is something many people take for granted, but for people with disability it can be life-changing.
It shapes confidence, independence, financial security and a sense of belonging that ripples out into every other part of life.
A partnership built over a decade
Intelife has been delivering services in Mandurah for more than ten years now, and that longevity is something we don’t take for granted. Long-term relationships like this one give our teams the chance to truly know the spaces they care for. Crew members learn the rhythms of the parks and reserves they maintain, get to know the regulars, and take pride in the small details that visitors might never notice but which add up to a public space that simply works.
Speaking about the renewed partnership, Mayor Amber Kearns said the City’s procurement choices were guided by a clear commitment to positive social outcomes. “Creating real opportunities for people in our community is what matters most,” she said. “This partnership with Intelife means local people with disability can build their skills, earn a wage, and feel genuinely connected to the place they help care for.”
It’s an approach that reflects a broader shift in how local governments across Western Australia are thinking about the role of procurement. When a council chooses where to spend its money, it isn’t only buying a service. It’s making a choice about what kind of community it wants to be. The City of Mandurah has been a leader in this space, demonstrating that high-quality service delivery and meaningful social impact aren’t competing priorities.
Recognition of the team on the ground
For our CEO Paul Fleahy, the announcement reflects the strength of a relationship built carefully over a decade. “This relationship ensures we are not only maintaining public spaces but also supporting people with disability to have meaningful, stable employment, knowing their work makes a difference in their own community.”
That sense of pride is something we see in our Mandurah crews every day. The work is hands-on, varied and visible. From early morning litter runs along the foreshore to the careful detail of cleaning public barbecues before a busy long weekend, every shift offers the kind of practical, real-world experience that helps team members grow. Many of our employees in Mandurah have been with us for years, taking on more responsibility over time, mentoring newer team members, and building careers they’re genuinely proud of.
City of Mandurah CEO Casey Mihovilovich noted that the tender was awarded through a competitive process open to registered disability service providers. We’re honoured to have been chosen to continue this work and we recognise the trust that decision represents.
Looking ahead
We’re grateful to the City of Mandurah for their continued trust, and to the team in Mandurah who turn up each day with care, skill and pride. We’re also grateful to the wider community for the warmth and recognition our crews have received over the years, often in the form of a simple wave or thank-you in the park. Those small moments matter.
At Intelife, we believe inclusive employment is at its best when it’s everyday and ordinary, when people with disability are simply part of the team getting on with the job. Partnerships like this one show what’s possible when local government, social enterprise and community come together with a shared purpose.
Here’s to the next three years.
To learn more about partnering with Intelife or supporting inclusive employment in your business, get in touch. info@intelife.org
