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The Way Forward – A New Disability Policy Framework For Australia

Part 7: Offering Better Employment Opportunities

Recommendation 5

DIG recommends a change of focus for Disability Employment Services (formerly Disability Employment Network) to direct candidates with disability into the mainstream recruitment market, rather than act as employment agencies in their own right; and to ensure that services are appropriately targeted and delivered in a way that the private sector will access them.

DIG also recommends that access to funded services in the Disability Employment Services be available to people in Australian Disability Enterprises who want to take up employment in the open labour market.

Key DIG findings

Australia is not performing well in assisting people with disability to benefit from employment. Not only is Australia’s rate of workforce participation by people with disability lower than most Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, Australia’s rate is actually declining while the employment rate of people with disability in like countries is increasing.

The OECD recently noted that Australia’s employment rate for people with disability is disappointing, given the growth of our economy over recent years.

The OECD ranked Australia:

The labour force participation rate of Australians with disability in 2003 was 53 per cent, compared with 81 per cent for people without disability. The unemployment rate was 8.6 per cent compared with 5 per cent for people without disability.

People with a profound level of core activity limitation had a much lower labour force participation rate (15 per cent) and a higher unemployment rate (14 per cent).

The labour force participation rates for people without disability rose from 76 per cent in 1988 to 81 per cent in 2003. However, for people with disability there was little change over this period with participation rates remaining between 51 and 53 per cent.32

In Australia, only 35 per cent of people with disability receive their primary income through a wage, compared with 63 per cent of people without disability. In 2003, the median gross personal income per week of people aged 15–64 years with a reported disability living in households was $255, compared with $501 for people without disability. Median gross personal income per week decreased with increasing severity of disability, being lowest ($200 per week) for people with a profound core activity limitation.33

Increasing the ratio of disabled-to-abled incomes in Australia to OECD average levels would represent an additional $14.3 billion in yearly income.34

Improved participation in employment by people with disability would also flow on to improved participation by carers who also experience lower employment outcomes than other Australians. In the 2003 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers, almost two-thirds of all carers aged 15–64 years were employed (1.3 million people) compared with 73 per cent of non-carers. Of these employed carers, around 790,000 were employed full-time and a further 473,000 part-time. Around 48 per cent of primary carers of this age were employed and these carers were more likely to work part-time than full-time. This is consistent with the intensity of care provided by primary carers, who may find it more difficult to combine their caring role with paid employment. Of carers aged 15–64 years, around 79,000 were unemployed, and a further 660,000 were not in the labour force.

Access

Access to buildings is a fundamental issue for people with disability seeking employment. The DIG notes that in December 2008, the Federal Attorney-General, the Hon Robert McClelland MP, and the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator the Hon Kim Carr, tabled the draft Disability (Access to Premises – Buildings) Standards (the Premises Standards) in Parliament. The draft was referred to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs (the Committee).

On 15 June 2009, the Committee tabled its report on the Premises Standards entitled Access All Areas. The Commonwealth Government has indicated that it is considering the report. Action on these standards has been a long time coming. Since 2000 when the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 was amended to give it the power to develop a Standard on Access to Premises, there have been various drafts and consultation processes.

The DIG urges the Commonwealth Government to resolve these issues as quickly as possible and to ensure that fair requirements for access to public premises for people with disability are not compromised by cost concerns.

Business case

Despite this poor national record, there is a clear business case for hiring people with disability, which includes many benefits. The Australian Employers’ Network on Disability recently released ‘Opportunity’, the business case for including people with disabilities as customers and employees, with details available on their website at www.emad.asn.au.

Many Australian and international examples show that employing people with disability can lead to increased productivity, reduced absenteeism, reduced turnover, increased morale, more positive organisational culture and reduced workers’ compensation. As the population ages and skills shortages emerge, there is a greater imperative to use the entire potential workforce. In addition, people with disability and carers represent a largely overlooked multi-billion dollar market segment.

Employment services

As well as mainstream Job Network Services, Disability Employment Services (DES) (formerly known as Disability Employment Network) are funded to provide assistance to people with disability to find and keep work. A network of organisations delivers this support around Australia.

A job seeker can be referred to DES if they have a permanent (or likely to be permanent) disability; have a reduced capacity for communication, learning or mobility and require support for more than six months after placement in employment.

The DIG notes that from 1 March 2010, existing caps on disability employment services will be removed and for the first time, all job seekers with disability will have access to individually tailored employment services while employers will have access to greater support.

The Commonwealth Government also funds supported employment places for people with disability in businesses, including in packaging, horticulture, animal husbandry, laundry, catering and woodwork. Australia-wide, there are more than 18,000 people with disability working in around 362 of these business service outlets, now known as Australian Disability Enterprises.

Employers’ views

A significant barrier for people with disability is the attitudes of employers. A recent study of the views of private sector employers in small and medium size enterprises (SME) about the employment of people with disability found that there is an openness to consider people with disability, but there is little awareness of them.35 Employers in the SME market use mainstream recruitment agencies to find staff and rarely find candidates with disability included in fields. SMEs also have strong negative views about dealing with government and they are reluctant to engage with government agencies when it comes to the recruiting staff.

Employers expressed concerns about perceived risks of employing people with disability, including workplace safety issues. This is despite evidence that people with disability have a lower number of occupational health and safety incidents compared with employees without disability, and that workers’ compensation costs are also lower for people with disability compared with other employees.36

In the disability employment sector, the research found a complex array of specialist providers (the DES), government agencies, studies and resources, a lack of focus on the basic business needs of employers (finding the best person for the job as quickly as possible), and an overly internal focus on the activities within the disability sector.

There are some excellent programs and ideas available, however, employers were unaware of these. While SMEs appear to be open to considering people with disability, that potential workforce is not on their radar. There needs to be a more active ‘selling’ of the benefits of employing people with disability. SMEs also need assurance that additional support services are available when employing a person with disability.

Both the disability sector and governments could be significantly more effective when it comes to working with SMEs. To improve the employment of people with disability in the private sector, there must be greater understanding of the issues faced by these employers and they must be seen as valued partners. The DES should target and deliver their services in a way that more effectively engages the private sector.

The DIG believes that people with disability are likely to have more employment opportunities with mainstream recruitment agencies because these are the agencies that employers approach when looking for staff. DES should work with mainstream agencies to improve their capacity to market candidates with disability. It seems more appropriate for DES to direct candidates to these agencies rather than acting as recruitment agencies in their own right. This may also be less stigmatising for people with disability if the appropriate assistance is available.

Disclosure of disability to recruiters is also an issue. Many people do not reveal their disability for fear of discrimination or exclusion from consideration. There is no legal obligation to disclose unless it is likely to affect job performance or ability to work safely.

It is important that education and information activities continue to promote positive employer attitudes to the employment of people with disability.

Moving from Australian Disability Enterprises to open employment

The DIG also heard feedback during its consultations about people wanting to make the transition from Australian Disability Enterprises (previously known as Business Services or sheltered workshops) to open employment.

Currently, people working in these enterprises who want to try working in open employment are guaranteed that they can return if they find that open employment does not suit them. This guarantee helps people to try and succeed in open employment. However, people in Australian Disability Enterprises are not eligible to use a DES to help them prepare for or find and keep work.

In the interests of giving people with disability the best opportunities to participate in the open labour market, the DIG recommends that this exclusion from DES is changed, and that people in Australian Disability Enterprises are not required to give up their positions before they can use a DES.

National Mental Health and Disability Employment Strategy

The DIG notes that the Commonwealth Government is currently developing a National Mental Health and Disability Employment Strategy and supports the proposed actions to overcome shortcomings of the disability employment services system identified in the recent consultations. These include:

The 2009-10 Budget included $6.8 million to establish an Employer Incentive Pilot to support ongoing employment opportunities for up to 1,000 DSP recipients as part of the Strategy. Employers will be eligible for an employment incentive of up to $3,000 for each participant who undertakes ongoing employment for a minimum of 8 hours per week for 26 weeks.

  1. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 2003, Transforming Disability into Ability: Policies to promote work and income security for disabled people, OECD, Paris.
  2. ABS 2003.
  3. ABS 2003.
  4. Allen Consulting Group 2008, Encouraging private investment in disability accommodation and services, p.36.
  5. ADC Associates 2009, Increasing the Employment of People with Disability in Small and Medium Enterprise: A Discussion Paper, Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA).
  6. Australian Safety and Compensation Council 2007, ‘Are people with disability at risk at work?’.

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