People with a disability working for the APS fell to just 3% in 2014, from 5% in 1999. The figures showed public service participation rates for people with a disability in Australia were almost half that of Canada (5.8%) and almost a third of the UK’s (8.8%).
Moreover, the damning APS statistics are only a snapshot of broader labour force participation rates.
In 2012, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported nearly half of all working-age people with a disability were not in the labour force (they were neither employed nor actively looking for work). While one third were permanently unable to work, one fifth had no employment restriction and reported that it was not their disability that was preventing them from working.
The report also found 2.2 million (14.4%) Australians aged 15-64 identified as living with a disability.
Among OECD countries, Australia ranked 21st among 29 countries in employment participation rates for people with a disability. Outgoing Disability Commissioner Graeme Innis said in an address to the National Press Club in July of last year, “45% of [people with disabilities] live in poverty, last among OECD countries.”
Inclusion of people with a disability in the workforce is clearly a pressing issue and one that presents regularly in our casework. Whilst confronting discrimination in the workplace and changing the public’s attitudes and understanding of disability is clearly necessary, there are also practical measures and schemes that conscientious employers can take advantage of.
JobAccess
JobAccess is an information and advice service funded by the Australian government. It aims to help people with disabilities find work.
One of its key programs, the Employment Assistance Fund, provides financial aid to people with a disability to purchase work-related modifications and services. Assistance is available for people who are about to start a job, currently working and for those who require assistance to find and prepare for work.
The Fund may be used to reimburse the cost of modifications and services including, but not limited to:
- The cost of modifications to the physical work environment
- Modifications to work vehicles
- Adaptive equipment for the workplace
- Information and communication devices
- Auslan interpreting
- Specialist services for employees with specific learning disorders and mental health conditions
- Disability awareness training
- Deafness awareness training, and
- Mental health first aid training.
NDIS Rights Fact Sheets
Redfern Legal Centre, Fitzroy Legal Service and Hobart Community Legal Service have come together to develop a number of factsheets to help people with a disability navigate the new National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
NDIS Rights Fact Sheets cover topics including: dealing with service providers, advocacy, making complaints, contracts, decision-making, access to information, eligibility and more. For example, did you know that:
- You are entitled to have an advocate support you in anything related to the NDIS; you have a right to choose your advocate and that you don’t have to limit your choice to the advocacy organisations the NDIS tells you about.
- You are entitled to expect good support under the NDIS; that if you’re unhappy with the support you are receiving, you can complain about the service provider and get them to change what they are doing, or ask to be supported by a different service provider altogether.
- You can complain about decisions the Agency makes about your eligibility and your support and how the Agency treats you.
The fact sheets on the website are accessible via download in PDF format, in Easy English, and MP3, and can be read or listened to online.
