Talking about employment

Several aspects of employment and people with disabilities continue to be covered regularly in the media (it is being discussed in some depth on national radio as this list is being compiled), bringing ongoing anomalies to the attention of the community - how much headway are we making? Not every one of these links addresses the employment of people with intellectual disability directly, there are common considerations of stigma, perceptions, education, and provision of support, among others:

Industrial matters:

10,000 workers with disabilities paid below minimum wage: when will they get justice?

Josh Bornstein, The Guardian, 4th February 2015
... According to the federal and high courts, these employees have been illegally underpaid in breach of the Disability Discrimination Act for more than a decade. They are entitled to be compensated by the federal government. Instead, the government has done everything it can to block that effort ...

Disability wage tool defeated in Senate as Jacqui Lambie votes against Palmer United Party

The Age, 25th November 2014
The federal government has suffered a surprise defeat on a temporary scheme to determine future wages for intellectually disabled Australians ...

Education matters:

Study Finds Postsecondary Programs Boost Outcomes

Shaum Heasley, Disability Scoop, 20th January 2015
Individuals with intellectual disabilities who attend postsecondary programs are finding greater success in the job market than those who do not pursue further education, a new study suggests.

Graduates of postsecondary programs reported higher rates of employment since completing high school, according to findings published online this month in the Journal of Intellectual Disabilities. The research offers support for a growing number of programs at colleges and universities specifically geared toward young adults with developmental disabilities ...

• Abstract available online

Participation matters:

Work participation among people with disability lower than 20 years ago

Paul McGrath, PM (ABC Radio), 5th February 2015

Official figures released today have a confirmed a trend that disability groups have been warning about for years. Work force participation among people with disability has actually declined over the past two decades. And today's Bureau of Statistics data show a third of those who have found jobs aren't working as many hours as they'd like ...

Ready for work but is work ready for me?

Thea Calzoni, Every Australian Counts, 3rd February 2015

... Social acceptance is related to the role a person is given in the workplace. Why, with all her performance skills and ability with words, has Pippa not been welcomed into a ‘front of house’ job? So far her paid work has been out the back – in fast food kitchens or shelf stacking – never in customer service. This is a common experience of people with disability, regardless of their many abilities ...

Technology the key to changing the culture of disability
Lisa Visentin, Sydney Morning Herald, 29th January 2015

Chief among (the Able Movement's) aims is to showcase the inherent employment potential of people with disabilities, and to shift the perception away from seeing the employed person with a disability as merely a beneficiary of an employer's sense of social responsibility.

Disability advocates say Federal Government employment policies not working

Norman Hermant, AM (ABC radio), 20th January 2015

Advocates say despite years of Federal Government policies designed to boost employment, it is as hard as ever for people with a disability to enter the workforce.

The number of people living with a disability working for the Australian Public Service fell from 5 per cent in 1999 to just 3 per cent last year. The latest figure puts Australia behind countries such as Canada, with 5.8 per cent of its public service identifying as living with a disability, and the UK, where the figure is 8.8 per cent ...

We need to talk about disability

James Adonis, The Age, November 21, 2014
... Some people with disability opt out of the workforce because they have no choice; their disability is so severe it renders them unable to work. Many more, however, want to be employed but feel they can’t apply for jobs because of the stigma permeating many workplaces ...
Conversations That Matter: Improving Employment Opportunities

Panel Discussion hosted by Deakin University, 14th October 2014

Billionaire Urges Disability Hiring

Michele Diament, Disability Scoop, 8th October 2014

One of the richest people in the world is calling on employers to join him in hiring people with intellectual and developmental disabilities ...