‘Unintended barriers’ keeping Australians with a disability from workforce

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Non-inclusive recruitment methods, along with a lack of representation, are forcing Australians with a disability to abandon their career dreams.

The adage that you cannot be what you cannot see rings true for almost 4.4 million Australians living with a disability, who are significantly under-represented in the workforce, says Australian Network on Disability chief executive officer Corene Strauss.

Poor recruitment practices – including job advertisements that are not accessible for all job seekers, and unwarranted selection criteria that rule out many people with a disability – are a major obstacle to employment, she says.

“I wouldn’t say it’s deliberate, but I would say employers put unintended barriers up that prevent people with a disability from getting the role,’’ Strauss says.

Low expectations

Most job ads are incompatible with screen readers, which convert text to speech for people with visual impairment, Strauss says. And stringent job criteria – often not necessary for the role being advertised – put those with a disability at a distinct disadvantage.

“Things like having a driver’s licence always appear (in the selection criteria) – even when you don’t need a driver’s licence (to perform the role). If you need to (travel), you could just get an Uber,’’ she says.

The increasing use of artificial intelligence, as well as psychometric testing, often also rules out candidates with a disability, Strauss says.

She says poor representation “definitely’’ impacts the type of employment sought by those with a disability, whether it be their first role or as they progress their career.

“If you have a disability and you’re not seeing people with a disability in the boardroom or the C-suite or anything in the workplace then it builds really low expectations,’’ she says.

“You start to think, `Who would hire me?’ because you can’t see anyone else like you in the workplace.’’

Many employers are reluctant to hire workers with a disability due to assumptions that costly adjustments to the workplace will be needed – yet more than half of adjustments required have zero cost, Strauss says.

“Where there are costs, the average cost is only $1000,’’ she says.

Shift 20 Initiative participants: Nathan Borg (now working for Bonds), Lara Nakhle (AAMI), Sara Shams (ANZ), Eva Kalpidis (Weetbix) and Tiffany Thomas Kane (Oral-B), pictured with Dylan Alcott.

Lara Nakhle grew up singing the AAMI jingle and is now living out her dream of singing it for the new campaign.

‘Always have to prove myself’

Lara Nakhle, who has been blind since birth, says stereotypes surrounding her disability shaped her choice of career.

The 25-year-old, who gained fame after appearing on reality TV show The Voice, has a degree in psychology. When she finishes her postgraduate studies in creative music therapy in coming weeks, she will seek work as a music therapist.

“From very early on, I just kind of knew I wouldn’t be able to do anything with science, as that’s too visual, and I dropped maths after Year 10 because that’s quite visual,’’ Nakhle says.

“Other vision impaired and blind people had chosen psychology and they were doing really well, so I thought I should do that too.’’

Used to being referred to as “that singer who is blind’’, Nahkle has had both her music and work talents questioned, based on her vision impairment.

Determined to normalise disability within the community, Nahkle has joined the Shift 20 Initiative, which sees some of Australia’s best-known brands replace scenes within their TV commercials to include talent with a disability.

“I feel like I’m always having to prove myself to people,’’ says Nahkle, who sings the TV jingle for insurance company AAMI.

“Just because I’m going to be a therapist who has a disability doesn’t mean I should be perceived any differently from a therapist that doesn’t (have a disability).

“I hope people watch these ads and think that people with a disability are just like them.’’

Dylan Alcott’s foundation is spearheading the Shift 20 Initiative. Picture: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

Ready to go

The Shift 20 Initiative, spearheaded by the Dylan Alcott Foundation, hopes to increase disability representation, inclusion and accessibility in Australian advertising.

But Dylan Alcott, former Australian of the Year and retired tennis player, hopes it will also positively impact employment opportunities by showing employers that people with a disability can perform the same jobs as able-bodied workers.

“The people with disabilities are ready to go (to work) but the opportunities are just not there … because people think we can’t do anything,’’ Alcott says.

“People with a disability can put themselves out there, but there’s no point if industry is not ready to give them a chance. And if you’ve put yourself out there two or three times and got knocked back, you’re not going to do it again.’’

Alcott believes too many employers shy away from hiring a worker with a disability for fear of saying or doing the wrong thing. But he wants them to know “if you get it wrong, that’s OK, it’s about wanting to do better’’.

“Rather than assume people can’t do something, (employers should) ask them if they can,’’ he says.

“We want to shift perceptions so that when society thinks of people with disability, they don’t only think of gold medal Paralympians or someone in an accident, they see a person, just like them.

“Hopefully that will encourage people to have a different perspective so you might then hire someone in your business with a disability.’’

Disability in the workforce:

• More than 4.4 million (or one in five) Australians have a disability

• Less than half (2.1 million) Australians with a disability are working. This compares with 80.3 per cent of people without a disability who are in the workforce

• About 10 per cent of workers with a disability are under-employed

• Almost one in five (18.9 per cent) of people with a disability experience discrimination. In almost half of those instances, the source of discrimination is an employer

• 34 per cent of people with a disability are managers and professionals

• Graduates with a disability take 61.5 per cent longer to gain full-time employment than other graduates.

Source: Australian Network on Disability