employment
Toolkit to
confidence
The Employer Toolkit is a one-stop shop for
disability employment. JobAccess General
Manager Daniel Valiente-Riedl explains how
it enables organisations to develop inclusive
practices and empowers employers to hire
people with disability.
H
iring and managing staff disability enables organisations to and tap into the diverse skills people
can be complex and time- reap long-term rewards, contributes to with disability have to offer.
consuming. However, it the livelihood of people with disability
Employers can navigate through
is core to attracting and retaining and their families, and benefits the five sections of the Toolkit, which
talent and, more significantly, broader community and economy covers a range of topics relating
shaping workplace culture. What through inclusive participation. to disability employment – from
if your business could access the
Despite this, the percentage of
creating inclusive policies, to finding
potential of an additional one million people with disability in the labour and interviewing jobseekers with
skilled Australians for the job? force reached the lowest level disability and making adjustments
recorded since 2002. Employers have in the workplace. Each section
people with disability of working age much ground to cover when it comes is explained through a series of
not in the labour force, organisations to bringing people with disability into short videos, supplemented by
have a remarkable opportunity to the workforce. Though a majority of downloadable resources and
widen their talent pool. People with employers are open to hiring people additional links to related information
disability bring a range of skills with disability, nearly two in five say on the JobAccess website.
and different perspectives to the that it’s a ‘step into the unknown’ as workplace. Employing people with lack of information and awareness extensive information and practical
holds them back. advice, there are other supports
With nearly half of the 2.1 million
To address this, the Australian
employment
While the Toolkit provides
available. Employers can work with
Government launched an Employer JobAccess to promote job vacancies
Toolkit on the JobAccess website to people with disability and even
to help organisations build their get funding to make necessary
disability confidence. The free, workplace adjustments. Larger
easy-to-access Toolkit is designed to organisations can enter into a 12-
support all employers, big or small, month partnership with the Employer
irrespective of where they may be on Engagement team to receive
their journey to becoming disability personalised support in developing
confident. It acts as a user-friendly workplace policies and practices
tool that time or resource poor that accommodate people with
professionals can browse at their own disability. JobAccess is here to help.
pace to develop inclusive practices
58
Left: Daniel
Valiente-
Riedl.
Below:
Leisa
Prowd,
accessibility
and
inclusion
training
facilitator,
features
throughout
the
Employer
Toolkit.
www.jobaccess.gov.au
linkonline.com.au