Ostara are experts at wasting your time. They don't have anything to offer job seekers. As a small provider they are lazy and unmotivated and would prefer to hang out chatting in their empty office, than get on the hunt for their clients. This apathetic attitude makes their work sloppy, they make a lot of mistakes and constantly screw up details, dates and times. But don't expect them to ever be responsible for their mistakes - it's always the job-seeker's fault of course - or they blame Centrelink. They have zero options for job seekers from my experience and make zero effort to find options. The staff are usually nice but extremely "eh whatever". It appears their attitude is they believe they can't find people with a disability work, so why bother trying? One woman I had was discriminatory against me for being disabled! She was so self absorbed and thoughtless in her "approach" to me that she didn't even realise how discriminatory she was being, even though I politely asked her for respect and acknowledgement. When I rang Ostara HQ to speak about my issues faced with the office I got the usual customer service speak "I'm sorry you feel that way" but no genuine acknowledgement of just how much Ostara had wasted my time over months and months. There was certainly no mention of the backhanded subtle discrimination I faced from their worker and when I pressed for the discriminatory attitude to be recognised, I got no response. And this is a disability provider? The area manager was also supposed to call me to discuss my situation but I never heard from her. They really don't care. Just yet another window dressing not for profit using disabled people to gain funding and grants but won't actually work to help disabled people- in fact the opposite. Shameful.

I registered with Ostara in July 2014 and they were nothing but trouble. They don't have offices all over Australia as noted on their website. They rented a tiny little room when I went for appointment in Cheltenham vic. I signed a heap of paperwork and then 'the centrelink system' sent me back to my old employment agency. I was treated like it was my fault. After a lot of too-ing and fro-ing I'm still not registered with them. They are supposed to help people looking for work. This is not what I got. I signed up with this agency as on the website was a couple of good back-to-work programs etc: Work For Wellness - Designed for women like, this holistic empowerment program helps lift your self confidence and self esteem related to re-entering the workforce.

I never got a chance to attend as were never enough people enrolled and as they had so much trouble trying to register me, I couldn't attend anyway.......

DO NOT register with Ostara - is a absolute waste of time

Approximate cost: $nil