Boost autism employment by subsidised wages or job quotas

The draft autism strategy acknowledges the low employment of autistic Australians needs a significant boost. Here’s a few ideas to consider.

Finding ways for more autistic Australians to find meaningful work is one of the commitments in the Albanese government’s draft national autism strategy.

Governments could subsidise employers for the first year’s wages of autistic workers to help bed them into long-term jobs as some Scandinavian countries do, or go one step further and set mandatory employment quotas similar to those in France for disabled workers.

The public service could also play a critical role as a “model employer” in the attraction, recruitment and retention of autistic workers. And organisations that employ more people with autism could be prioritised in public procurement processes.

These are some of the ideas being floated after the Albanese government’s draft national ­autism strategy on Monday said autistic people were eight times more likely to be unemployed than other Australians. But it left detailed action to be developed through consultation over the next two months, ahead of a final strategy being delivered by the end of the year.

Bodo Mann, chief executive in Australia of global company auticon, which matches employers with autistic employees, said creating better social and economic results for the 15-20 per cent of people who were neurodiverse, including autistic people, was the “next frontier”.

“The first thing Australia could consider is what they do in some Scandinavian countries, which is for the government to subsidise the first year’s wages of an autistic employee,” Mr Mann said.

“This helps ensure they have the right training for the job and also the coaching and psychological support to help them navigate their way in a workplace.

“It is an expensive undertaking, and to drive change here the government might need to step in at that early stage.”

Mr Mann said a more direct option was a version of the ­approach adopted in France where there is a disabled employment obligation quota. The system sets a minimum quota of 6 per cent of disabled workers for any employer with at least 20 staff. If the employer doesn’t comply it pays a contribution to a public body finding solutions to the underemployment of people with disabilities.

The national autism strategy, an Albanese government election commitment, was developed with input from more than 2000 individuals and organisations.

Grattan Institute disability program director Sam Bennett said most of the research to date on employment results for people with autism spectrum disorder had focused around information and communications technology, “specifically around data management in both banking and the public service”.

“But there is more that government can and should be doing to set the example in areas that are within its direct control,” Dr Bennett said.

“(This includes) setting more specific and ambitious targets for employment of people with autism in the public sector and favouring businesses that employ people with autism through public procurement processes, both of which were recommended more broadly by the Disability Royal Commission.”

Social services minister Amanda Rishworth said working groups had been established to make recommendations for “tangible and practical actions” to be included in the final national autism strategy, to be delivered later this year.

“Improving employment outcomes for Australians who face additional barriers to economic participation has been a key priority of mine in this portfolio,” Ms Rishworth said. “Importantly this includes autistic Australians.”