This report summarises the major themes raised by people with disability and their families and carers, Australian Disability Enterprises, employers of people with disability, peak bodies and other interested stakeholders, during the recent consultations on the development of the Government’s supported employment policy Supported employment plays a vital role in improving the social and economic participation … Continued
“Yes, they may need flexibility, reasonable adjustments, time off from time to time. But who doesn’t? And too often, all employers see is a diagnosis, not the value of the richness of experience these people bring. Too often employers view mental health in the workplace through the lens of deficit and risk.”
Mick Smart, age: 32, was injured falling down a retaining wall as a work-for-the-dole contractor. Now suffers chronic pain and mobility issues and is unable to find work. “I have been with multiple job agencies for three years and not even once have we discussed a potential job. My life is full of seemingly endless and ultimately pointless appointments, and every fortnight comes with a reminder of “mutual” obligation activities – volunteering, mandatory job searches, bogus training programs – all with an assessed work capacity that seems to disregard my medical condition.
Here sits senator Jordon Steele-John, the West Australian Green who in November last year, just weeks after turning 23, became the Australian Parliament’s youngest-ever senator. He’s sitting alone at the back of the room because he can’t get to the floor of the chamber to greet the new arrival. It’s an all too common experience for someone … Continued
rexplains the cruel cycle of poverty and devastation being inflicted on the mentally and physically ill by ongoing welfare cuts. THIS story is to explain to people who don’t live with mental illness, the security a home can bring.
“I WANT to be like a normal citizen and work hard – I don’t want to be on Centrelink.” David McNae has been out of work for the best part of four years. He was unemployed for three years before getting a job late last year to only be laid off in July. He has spent the past four months trying to find work only to come up short – and he has an idea why.
At a time of record high youth unemployment, the rollout of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) may seem a blessing: it will require about 70,000 full-time equivalent workers over the next three years, or one in five of all new jobs created. The catch? Many of those jobs are casual.
Only 53 per cent of Australians with disability are employed, compared to 83 per cent of all working-age people. Australia ranks 21st out of 29 OECD nations when it comes to employment rates for people with a disability.
Joining Jon Faine in the studio to chat and take listeners’ calls are: Alastair McEwin – Australian Disability Discrimination Commissioner Tess Karambela – Facilitator, Kick Start Your Dreams program, Melbourne City Mission. She is in the final semester of her Social Work degree at RMIT Matthew Wright – Branch Manager, Design and Inclusion, NDIA (National Disability Insurance Agency) where he leads the … Continued
Susy Yates is a hardworking and respected member of the House With No Steps but it was not always this easy for her. Ms Yates, who has Down syndrome, said she was forced to leave her first job out of school at a supermarket after being bullied.
The public sector is well suited to employing people with autism but more needs to be done to foster workplace diversity, according to disability employment advocate Bill Gamack.
Some of those barriers are physical – ramps, adjustable desks, screen readers and accessible toilets – everyday, practical kind of things. Transport to and from work can also be a barrier to overcome. However, the bigger issue, and the one that can’t be seen, is the attitudinal barriers that people with disabilities face from potential … Continued
The Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission had 8170 inquiries raising 11,823 issues in the past financial year. Disability was raised 1808 times, which is more than any other form of discrimination followed by race, gender, sexual harassment, age and carer status.
An annual Productivity Commission report, which examined government services across the disability, aged care, child protection and youth justice sectors, has revealed workforce and social participation rates have fallen among Australians with disabilities.
According to Suzanne Colbert, chief executive of the Australian Network on Disability, there is no reason why a sales role where deep product knowledge is required, whether that be selling phones or tools, couldn’t be filled by someone in a wheelchair.