Employment of People with Disability in Australia - Case Study Example

Employment of People with Disability in Australia Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Date Introduction The right to work is one of the fundamental human rights in Australia. Individuals should work regardless of their age or any form of disability. In 2014, the Attorney General issued a notice requiring the Australian Human Rights Commission to inquire the discrimination against age and disability in the Australian employment sector. Apparently, denying individuals the right to work denies them the dignity, sense of purpose and independence associated with work. The essay targets to describe the current state of employment of people with disability in Australia. It also discusses the existing legislation and Government Policy associated with the employment of people with disability. The essay also identifies and discusses the barriers linked to the employment of people with disability in Australia. Furthermore, it discusses the proper ways of addressing these barriers. The essay also describes the existing supports that are available to people with disability and employers regarding the employment of people with disability and the extent of the utility of the supports. Finally, the essay describes the ways of improving the employment situation of the people with disability in Australia. The Current State of Employment of People with disability in Australia The employment of people with disability and older people has portrayed a declining index in Australia. As a result, unfair discrimination has prevented thousands of Australians from getting employment opportunities in the Australian labor. However, it is evident that this is against the labor law that prohibits any sort of discrimination based on gender, age or disability in the Australian employment sector. The diminishing levels of participation of Australians with disabilities and older Australians in the employment sector have negative implications for the employers, the national economy and individuals in Australia. The labor force participation of individuals aged between 60 and 64 years and above 65 years has increased in Australia. However, it is significant to understand even though the level of participation of older people has increased in Australia, it is still lower than the participation levels in certain countries such as Japan, Canada and New Zealand (OECD, 2015). By mid-2010, 71% of Australians aged between 55 and 59 years, 51% of the individuals aged 60 and 64 years and 24% of the persons aged between 65 and 69 years participated in the labor force. According to the results of the statistics, it is evident that the employment rates of Australian individuals decrease with the age of the individuals (ABS, 2010). By 2012, the participation of people with disability in the employment sector was 52.8% as compared to the 82.5% participation of people without disabilities (ABS, 2012). By 2007, the statistics were almost similar. For instance, 17% of male employees and 16% of female employees were disabled as compared to the 83% and 84% non-disabled counterparts in the employment sector. Therefore, the results also indicate that just as is the case in the present situation, the non-disabled individuals have an upper hand regarding their employment in the Australian labor market (Mavromaras et al. 2007). In 2007, the employment results revealed that 48.4%, 4.5% and 47.2% of the disabled individuals were employed, unemployed and not in labor force respectively. However, the results were different for the non-disabled individuals since 76.6%, 4.0%, and 19.4% were employed, unemployed and not in labor force. In 2009, 2.2 million Australians in the working age had a given form of disability. The results implied that approximately 15% of the working individuals in Australia had one form of disability or the other (Deloitte, 2011). The SDAC report regarded disability as any form of the condition that would have an impact on the everyday lives of individuals. The report revealed that 70% of the disabled individuals in the working age exhibited a particular form of the limitation on a core activity. Severe limitation prevailed in one-third of the disabled individuals whereas two-thirds of the persons had mild or moderate limitation on a core activity. Half of the remaining 30% had a specific core limitation whereas the other half did not report any limitation (Deloitte, 2011). The Australian Government’s Policy and Legislation on the employment of people with disability The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability (CRPD) outlines the general rights of the disabled individuals in employment matters. As a matter of fact, Article 27 of the CRPD protects the right of the disabled individuals to work (CRPD, 2007). It includes The right to work based on no discrimination of the disabled individuals. The right to access to vocational and general technical training. The right to favorable and just work conditions that encompasses equal work remunerations and opportunities that guarantees equal value, healthy and safe working conditions. The right to the full participation in the life aspects and an independent life that guarantees equal access to communication, transport and information technologies and other services and facilities. The right of the individuals to live in the community on an equal basis; including an equal access to choices and the full community participation and inclusion (ICRPD, 2007). In relation to the Australian legal framework, it entails the legislation for anti-discrimination at both the federal and state levels. The Commonwealth laws governing work relations also form part of the legislation for the employment of people with disability. The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 The Act prohibits the discrimination of individuals in Australia on the basis of disability. It covers both direct and indirect forms of discrimination (AHRC, 2011). Direct discrimination entails treating a disabled individual less favorably as compared to a non-disabled person under similar conditions. On the other hand, indirect discrimination refers to the existence of a rule of law that has an equal impact on all the individuals but results in the unfair treatment of disabled persons. The areas of protection covered by the DDA encompass employment, access to premises, education, purchase of land, activities related to associations and clubs and the provision of services and goods. It also covers the administration of laws and programs for the Commonwealth Government and sports. The prohibited employment activities associated with disabled persons include Discrimination against disabled individuals in offering employment opportunities. Discrimination based on the employment’s conditions. Discrimination in employee dismissal. Limiting the available training and transfer opportunities and other employment benefits. Subjecting the worker to detriment. However, it is lawful to refuse to employ a disabled individual in the event that she/he does not have the required skills and capabilities to perform the role. The Fair Work Act 2009 The FWA also prohibits any act of an employee aimed at taking an adverse action against a prospective employee or an employee due to disability or other attributes such as age, sex and race. Some of the adverse actions encompass refusing to hire an employee, subjecting the employee to detriment or employee dismissal. Moreover, there exist several forums that handle complaints associated with disability-based workplace discrimination. Some of the forums encompass the Australian Human Rights Commission, state and territorial agencies, the Fair Work Ombudsman and the Fair Work Commission. Moreover, there exist several government policies that influence the participation of disabled individuals in the Australian labor force. Some of the policies include the National Disability Strategy 2010-2020 (CAG, 2010), the National Disability Agreement, the National Mental Health Policy (2008), and the Fourth National Mental Health Action Plan (2009-2014) (Department of Health, 2009). The Barriers to Employment of People with disability in Australia Based on the findings obtained by the Australian Human Rights Commission from the National Disability Survey and National Disability Forum, the access to employment turned out to be the greatest concern raised by the disabled individuals of the working age (AHRC, 2014). It was evident that many individuals having the capability to work wanted to work but did not have the access to employment. The results of an inquiry conducted by the Commission in 2005 also revealed similar results. Misconceptions and negative attitudes pertaining disability are some of the major barriers that hinder disabled persons from accessing employment in Australia. The misconceptions and negative attitude prevail among the employers (Deloitte, 2011). Apparently, the major barriers are consistent with the results of a research conducted by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission in 2005. According to the Commission’s result, some of the main barriers associated with the access of disabled individuals to employment include the concerns raised by the employers regarding the risks associated with hiring a disabled individual. The employers have a perceived misconception that there are more risks associated with employing a disabled person as compared to hiring a non-disabled prospective employee. It is evident that the concern about more risks has a positive correlation with the concern about the costs of employing and retaining the disabled employees. Therefore, Australian employers associated disabled working-age persons to higher costs because of the higher risks associated with hiring them. Finally, the Australian employment system lacks a readily accessible comprehensive information pertaining disabled employees that would encourage the employers to use their services. Graffam et al. (2002) revealed contrary results to the existing misconceptions. From his research on the effects of hiring disabled employees on costs, performance, attendance and other work aspects, Graffam found that disabled employees utilize less costs as compared to non-disabled counterparts. The research also revealed that the productivity of disabled employees was either equal or higher than that of the non-disabled persons. They also exhibited better workplace attendance and lower occupational safety and health incidents thus implying reduced costs associated with retaining them at the workplace. Confining the disabled individuals to the Disability Support Pension (DSP) regardless of their willingness and ability to work also turned out to be a barrier to the employment of the disabled individuals. Moreover, the education system does not provide adequate opportunities that would enable the disabled individuals to work effectively in the labor force. The other barriers encompass access to transport services, training and support of the disabled individuals. Despite the recent introduction of employment support services, it is evident that there are limited places that offer the support services. Moreover, the employers also associated hiring disabled employees with increased difficulties linked to their access and flexibility. Small business also have limited resources that cannot cater for the additional needs of the disabled individuals. As a result, the owners of such businesses find it difficult to hire disabled employees. Employers also find it difficult to comply with the existing laws and regulations pertaining the employment of disabled persons in matters such as health and safety, insurance, workers compensation, anti-discrimination among others. Disabled individuals also portray difficulties in reporting and monitoring requirements thus prompting employers to hire non-disabled persons (AHRC, 2015). Overcoming the Barriers Since the negative attitudes and misconceptions held by employers about employing people with disability turned out to be the greatest barriers, changing the negative attitudes is the first strategy that would transform the employment sector. In order to achieve the objective, it is imperative to implement the personal, organizational and structural policy options aimed at changing the attitudes of the employers. For instance, the personal policy options aim at changing the individual attitudes. The introduction of awards programs such as the Australian Disability Awards Program creates awareness regarding the potential of the disabled individuals besides increasing their access to employers thus creating employment access. On the other hand, the organizational policies change the attitudes of the specific domains of life. Some of the possible approaches in the employment domain include leadership from the top, establishing recruitment and support networks, provision of information, recognition and resources, and the sharing of best practices. Creating workplaces that consist of managers that have disability experience is detrimental towards increasing the levels of employment of people with disability. Structural policies encompass policy laws and statements that yield behavior change. It creates a pivotal role in the establishment of positive attitudes and the effective monitoring and implementation means (DEA, 2013). According to Thompson et al. (2011), some of the approaches of overcoming the barriers include the adequate resourcing of the overall strategy and the effective addressing of the personal, organizational and structural policies mentioned above. Moreover, the inclusion of the disabled persons in the design and implementation of the Disability Strategy is paramount to overcoming the existing barriers. It is also proper to recognize the diversity associated with disabled individuals with respect to their various types and circumstances. In the quest for positive attitudes as a replacement for the current negative perceptions, it is imperative to implement the strategy over a long period. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the Australian Government to invest in a long-term social strategy aimed at transforming the attitudes of the society towards employing disabled individuals. The IPS has also turned out to be an evidence-based solution to the employment of individuals that exhibit mental-health issues and other non-vocational barriers to employment. Education on the IPS Model will transform the perception of the employers regarding the employment of individuals with the disability in Australia (Catty et al. 2008). The Support available to Employers and People with Disability The Australian Government has developed significant programs, policies and mechanisms to increase the level of employment of people with disability in the labor market. The National Disability Strategy 2010-2020 is one of the strategies developed by the Commonwealth Government to achieve the objective (CAG, 2010). The Strategy entails a 10-year plan that targets to improve the living standards of disabled Australians including their caregivers and families. Increasing the levels of employment of disabled Australians in the labor market is the principal objective of the Strategy since it contributes significantly to the enhancement of the living standards of the disabled Australians. The National Disability Agreement introduced in 2009 aimed at ascertaining that the all the Australian states and territories targeted to increase the percentage of disabled employees participating in the labor force by a 5% margin before the end of 2018. The Agreement ascertains that all the states and territories work towards meeting the objective set by the Commonwealth Government. The National Mental Health Policy established in 2008 and the Fourth National Mental Health Action Plan (2009-2014) provide the approach of the Australian Government towards the prevention, early intervention, inclusion and care of the Australians suffering from mental health issues. The Action Plan includes the employment of Australians suffering from mental illnesses based on the ‘social inclusion and recovery’ and ‘participation an inclusion’ measures. As a strategy aimed at increasing the proportion of people with disability in the employment sector, the Australian Government has also developed specific mechanisms. The Disability Employment Services is one of the mechanisms that targets to help disabled Australians secure and maintain a job besides ascertaining the adoption of strategies that encourage the employment of people with disability in the Australian organizations. The Australian Disability Enterprises is the other mechanism of the Commonwealth Government that support commercial organizations that have introduced supported employment of disabled individuals. The Employment Assistance Fund targets to provide funds for the modifications of commercial entities to support the employment of people with disabilities. Finally, the JobAccess provides advisory information regarding the workplace solutions, service providers, employers and the employment of people with disability. The Australian Public Service also launched the ‘As One’ Disability Strategy comprising of the RecruitAbility Scheme aimed at supporting disabled individuals to apply for jobs in the APS (APSC, 2011). The Scheme guarantees support to the disabled job applicants that occupy the job positions successfully. With effect from July 2013, the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has introduced significant reforms to the individuals working with either significant or permanent disability to encourage their indirect and direct participation in the labor force. The assistance may include helping the disabled individuals to develop their job search goals and assisting in the arrangement of transport services such as a taxi. Finally, the Disability Support Pension (DSP) provides financial support to the disabled individuals that cannot work for more than fifteen hours in a single week (DHS, 2015). Effective Utility of the Support to the employment of people with disability Apparently, the support to the employment of people with disability aimed at increasing the access to information for both the disabled job seekers and the Australian employers regarding the advantages of employing people with disability. The support also to increase the access to the information to create more employment opportunities for the disabled individuals. Thirdly, the support programs and mechanisms intended to achieve the desired satisfaction levels in consultations and inquiries made to the programs and mechanisms of the Commonwealth Government. Finally, the support intended to improve the access to premises for the disabled job seekers. Therefore, in order to determine whether people with disability and the employers utilized the support initiatives effectively, it is proper to evaluate the performance of the initiatives based on the four objectives. Access to Services and Information Even though the Australian Government had implemented several strategies aimed at enhancing the access to information and services, the results were still dismal at the end of 2006. Information and service access still stood out as a barrier to the employment of people with disability in Australia. According to the Better Information and Communication Practices Guide developed by FaSCIA in 2000, it was mandatory for disabled individuals to gain access to information regarding the proper programs and services in the appropriate formats. However, six years later, there is a little progress in the access to information implying that the stakeholders do not utilize the available information resources effectively. As a later strategy, the Government has opted to avail the information on readily accessible Government websites to enhance its access to the stakeholders. Access to Employment, Consultation Services, and Premises As a result of the insignificant increase in the access to information caused by the ineffective utility of the existing support services, the participation of people with disability in the labor force has been declining gradually. There has been a positive increase in the consultations made between the stakeholders of the support initiatives. For instance, the peak disability bodies and the disabled customers and employees consult with the established departments of the Australian Government in matters pertaining the employment of people with disabilities. The results indicate that the disabled customers and employees have made effective utility of the established Government agencies and Initiatives aimed at addressing their employment needs in the community. The concern associated with enhancing the access to premises for the disabled individuals also resulted in the enhancement of the accessibility of premises to enable disabled workers to move freely in the organization. The modification of the premises emanated from the increased awareness among the employers regarding the essence of employing people with disability. Therefore, this provides substantial evidence of increased information access because of the improved utility of the available support information services (Erebus International, 2006). Improving the Employment Situation for People with Disability The Commonwealth Government can utilize several strategies to improve the participation of people with disability in the labor force. Apparently, the strategies should aim at replacing the negative perceptions and misconceptions of the employers with positive attitudes by heightening the merits associated with employing disabled individuals in the workforce (PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2011). The strategies may range from providing support to the employers to capacitate them to provide supported employment of disabled individuals to the addressing of the public discourse pertaining the employment of disabled persons. As a way of ensuring that the employers meet the set desired employment levels, the Government can also impose quotas and targets that would compel employers to employ disabled individuals to meet the targets. Support and Promotion It is evident that the National Disability Recruitment Coordinator and JobAccess programs have existed for a while. However, they have yielded minimal results regarding the employment of disabled persons in Australia. Higher retention rates and lower absenteeism levels are some of the benefits associated with employing people with disability. According to a study conducted on 634 Australian employers in 2002, the results revealed that disabled employees exhibited better performance rating, recruitment and sick leave, attendance, and safety and insurance. Therefore, organizations that employed disabled workers realized increased overall performance. With the knowledge in mind, the Government should support and promote employers to hire people with disability. Reporting on Disability Employment The Government should introduce baseline measures to govern the transparent methods of recruiting employees and disability employment. Subsequently, all employers should abide by the employment reporting guidelines to enable the Government to track the progress of the objective. The employers should report fundamental indicators associated with the disabled individuals to their enterprises. The introduction of mandatory disability disclosure reporting would ensure the setting of the desired targets by the company boards thus helping to increase the number of disabled individuals in the workforce. Setting Quotas and Targets and Workplace Disclosure and Privacy The Government should also introduce active policies of the labor market and employment quota schemes to ensure the attainment of the desired levels of disabled employees in the workforce (Greve, 2009). Workplace disclosure maintains the balance between the rights of the employers and the disabled employees working for the organization. Therefore, the employers should not require disabled individuals to disclose their disability provided that the disability does not affect their ability to work at the organization. Conclusion Despite the existing strategies adopted by the Australian Government to increase the proportion of disabled employees in the workforce, recent research reveals that the percentage of disabled employees is far much lower than that of the no-disability counterparts. In fact, the proportion has been declining on a continuous basis. The Government's legislation and policy regarding employment prohibit any form of discrimination in the recruiting and promotion of employees at the workplace. The negative attitudes and misconceptions of the employers suffice to be the primary barrier to the employment of people with disability in the Australian labor market. The Government has introduced various support initiatives such as the National Disability Strategy and the National Disability Agreement. The increase in the consultation services made by the peak bodies and disabled individuals to the Government agencies implies an increase in the information access and services thus reflecting an effective utility of the established support services. The major ways of improving the employment of people with disability include support and promotion, reporting on disability employment, setting quotas and targets and the establishment of effective workplace disclosure policies. References Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). (2015). Disability and Labor Force Participation, 2012. Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). 2010. Australian Social Trends, Sep 2010, cat 4102.0 - Older People and the Labour Market (2010). Retrieved from: http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4102.0Main+Features30Sep+2010 Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC). (2011). Federal Discrimination Law. Australian Human Rights Commission. (2015). 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