NDIS reforms are stifling inclusion: Here’s why Hotel Etico won’t back down

By Andrea Comastri CEO & co-founder, Hotel Etico Australia

A reflection on the recent article by White Box Enterprises. Complete alignment and a reason for frustration and motivation at the same time!

As the CEO and co-founder of Hotel Etico Australia, I deeply resonate with the insights shared by White Box Enterprises on building impactful social enterprises.

Read the latest AccomNews print edition HERE

At Hotel Etico, Australia’s first not for profit social enterprise hotel employing and training young people with disability in hospitality and independent living skills, we are committed to creating meaningful employment pathways for people with disabilities, and many of the lessons White Box has learnt align closely with our own experiences.

1.There must be a market need

A noble mission alone is not enough—long-term sustainability requires “solving a real problem that customers are willing to pay for”. Like in all the initiatives from White Box, Hotel Etico has identified a clear market demand for high-quality, inclusive hospitality services. Our guests not only appreciate our commitment to inclusion but also the exceptional service they receive. With that said, markets can shift rapidly, and in our brief history we have experienced challenges at Hotel Etico, particularly in adapting our operations during the pandemic, reinforcing the need for resilience and flexibility in social enterprises.

This approach ensures that we are not just a charity but a viable business that in a very short period of time has been able to demonstrate its ability to derive up to 80 percent of its revenue from trade and services. I still remember the days where, a CEO of a “traditional charity” mostly funded by tax payers money, we were celebrating when able to generate 5-10 percent of our revenue from trade or services…how the world has changed!

2.Strongly consider the talent of the people you want to support

At Hotel Etico, our trainees develop confidence and independence through practical work in hospitality while being paid full award wages from day one. This model acknowledges individual strengths while fostering personal and professional growth.

At Hotel Etico, we tailor our training to help people with disabilities excel in roles that suit them.  Placing emphasis on building confidence before unlocking talent is a philosophy we strongly embrace. People with disabilities, especially intellectual disabilities and neurodiverse, are great for work in hospitality. They have great determination and troubleshooting ability, are very sociable, and are great learners.

3.Find corporate partners who are mission-aligned

Partnerships are definitely crucial to success, especially when trying to create systemic change. At Hotel Etico, we have worked closely with businesses that share our vision of inclusivity.

We have learnt that corporate buy-in must go beyond surface-level support. True partnerships require commitment from leadership, as well as from the bottom up, ensuring long-term engagement rather than short-term transactional relationships. Hotel Etico has been extremely successful in aligning with corporate partners in the tourism and hospitality industry, partnering with great and well-known brands like Novotel, Mercure, Fullerton, Ibis, The W, Fairmont, Scenic World, Trilogy Hotels and others, who now employ and support many of our graduates and are transforming, through them, their internal cultures to be more inclusive. We have also received great support from and worked closely with peak bodies like Accommodation Australia and Destination NSW, as well as corporates, media and a whole ecosystem dedicated to societal change, helping us create true systemic and lasting change.

4. Take risks, but balance these

Like White Box, at Hotel Etico, we take calculated risks, ensuring we have the right structures in place to support our mission, great leadership that grows and adapts over time and exceptional talent. 

White Box’s philosophy of having multiple ‘parachutes’ resonates strongly with our approach (…however, see my footnote!)

For example, while launching our Graduates Program, we carefully balanced ambition with financial and operational safeguards. The emphasis on testing the market quickly and efficiently before making large investments is something we have incorporated into our own strategic planning. We have taken many risks but have been responsible and taken calculated ones, adapting our model to the NDIS and its “supposed” focus on employment, capacity building and inclusion of people with disabilities.

5. Leadership matters

We absolutely agree that strong leadership is essential for scaling a social enterprise. Our leadership team prioritises both people and outcomes, ensuring a balance between financial sustainability and social impact.

I particularly appreciate White Box’s perspective on the ‘ownership mentality.’ Running a social enterprise is not just about managing operations—it requires personal investment and a willingness to go above and beyond. As leaders, we must create an environment where our team feels both supported and challenged to grow.

I believe we have shown great leadership by creating an innovative model never seen before in Australia, putting together employment, training, and independent living through a wholistic approach with wrap-around support that truly transform the opportunity for a life of dignity and inclusion for young people with disability, who are some of the most excluded and discriminated against when it comes to employment.

Unfortunately, all of this is not enough!

Hotel Etico is facing significant existential challenges at the moment and a difficult time in its history.

In just under four years, we have built an incredible reputation of an innovative social enterprise that makes real difference.

However, the recent changes to the NDIS mean changes are applied top down without a clear understanding of the innovative and wholistic support Hotel Etico takes to inclusion and the positive long term impact this has not just on individuals and their families, but to society and ultimately the tax payer, because a person with disability can be a productive community member, paying tax and contributing to societal growth.

The NDIA and its overly intricate ecosystem struggle to understand the sophisticated, complex yet truly effective and impactful nature of Hotel Etico’s model and tries to fit us into a box that doesn’t exist, without really looking at the real and tangible impact the model is creating, which in a short amount of time has:

1. Worked, very deeply and transformatively, with 44 young people with disabilities and their families
2. Secured ongoing open employment for more than 80 percent of our graduates, all paid full award wages
3. Created dramatic and lasting changes in inclusion in the tourism and hospitality industry, and
4. Created massive changes in perspectives from the general public around disability and inclusion, with guests and patrons being able to experience inclusion in a true work setting at the hotel and Niccolo’s restaurant.

The NDIS changes mean that, all of a sudden, approval of support packages for our trainees have dramatically slowed down, almost grinding to a halt, reduced in quantum and payments of services provided are extremely slow, resulting in growing receivables that create significant cashflow problems putting in question the viability of the business.

It is incredibly frustrating to be swept up in reforms that take a one size fit all approach without really understanding the nuances of the change our innovation creates.

But we won’t give up and will fight teeth and nails to ensure Australia becomes more inclusive and the Australian tourism and hospitality industry becomes the most inclusive tourism and hospitality industry in the world!

We are working around the clock to ensure we can adapt, implementing painful and courageous changes, but we are also extremely motivated to advocate at government and societal level so that a different approach is taken when considering support for innovative models that work.

Because it is clear that a social enterprise approach is the best way to address these type of societal challenges. But complex problems require complex and innovative solutions that work.

If you think you can help Hotel Etico survive this unprecedented challenge, please reach out.

Call to Action:

You can donate to Hotel Etico’s Facing Our Fears fundraising campaign HERE