Address details


Down Syndrome NSW
Level 6/410 Church St, North Parramatta
9am-5pm Monday - Thursday
T: 9841 444


Monday 13 February 2017

Employment matters

Jessica May, Enabled Employment, 31 January 2017
... ”There’s no disability, just a bad attitude’ – a quote from Scott Hamilton.

So what’s wrong with that statement? What it does is tell people with a disability who are out of work that it’s their own fault they’re unemployed, and that their attitude towards work is the reason they are unemployed ...  it is not the attitude of people with a disability that is responsible for the appalling unemployment rates of that cohort – it is the attitude of prospective employers, and people without a disability who are responsible for providing employment opportunities for them.

Partly to blame is our definition of diversity. We include women, people who identify as LGBTI, Indigenous Australian or culturally diverse people for equal opportunity in our employment policies and statistics. But there is very rarely a mention of people with a disability in diversity policies or practice ... There’s no real diversity, no hope of reflecting the structure of our society, without the inclusion – the real and genuine inclusion – of people with a disability in the workforce.

Erin Perugini, Bloomberg Labor and Employment Blog, 27 January 2017
Why Focus on Millennials with Disabilities? By 2020, 46 percent of U.S. workers will be millennials. Additionally, one-fifth of the U.S. population has a disability. This is a large segment of the workforce, and yet millennials with disabilities face many obstacles in the workplace ...

Calls for quotas to boost employment of people with a disability (audio file and transcript)
Karen Michelmore, AM (ABC Radio), 19 January 2017
Australia's rates of employing people with a disability are among the lowest in the developed world. They've been stagnant for 20 years, and in some areas, are getting worse. Advocates and experts are now calling for radical change. Some want quotas introduced, to encourage businesses to hire more people with disability, or risk a fine ...

Margaret Burin, ABC Mobile, 12 December 2016
... "The more people have contact with disabled people, the more they learn that it's not dangerous, it's not contagious, they've got something beautiful to give and you've got something wonderful to learn about yourself" ...


Disabled employees still offered $2.79 an hour despite it being ruled discriminatory
Joanna Crothers, ABC News, 9 December 2016
Many people with disabilities are still working for less than $3 an hour almost four years after Australia's High Court ruled they were being underpaid at Government-supported workshops ...

AltaGas Ltd. Turns Pilot Project into a Full-Time Position
Ready Willing and Able, 25 October 2016
When Michelle Dulmadge, Director of Operational Human Resources and Administrative Services at AltaGas Ltd. in Calgary, Alberta, was approached about inclusive hiring with Ready, Willing and Able (RWA), she wanted to ensure that the role they would provide would be both a meaningful experience and important to the company.

“It’s not about creating a job – it’s about assigning meaningful work that already exists,” says Dulmadge. Dulmadge was connected to RWA through partner organization, Inclusion Alberta, where she met Stephen. “Stephen was enthusiastic, prepared and excited to contribute to our team,” shares Dulmadge ...

No comments: