People with disability experience more barriers to employment than people without - we think this is unacceptable.
The statistics show Australian businesses have a long way to go to improve employment opportunities for people with disabilities. The reality is one in five Australians have a disability, yet only half of those of working age have secured employment. Life Without Barriers believes it’s time for people with a disability to be heard, and to change these statistics for the better.
To help bridge the gap, Life Without Barriers has made a submission to the Disability Royal Commission acknowledging the community services sector, as a great way to bring people with a disability into the workforce.
Life Without Barriers Chief Executive Claire Robbs said, “The community service industry is the fastest growing industry, with one in five new jobs created in Australia today being in our sector. If we can create pathways to employment for people, that will go a long way to creating opportunities for people with disability to be in meaningful employment and the overall numbers of people with disability in employment.
As part of the submission, Life Without Barriers has highlighted some of the issues people with disability face when attempting to gain employment. Issues such as a reluctance to disclose their disability due to fear of discrimination and creating a culture where they are treated as a valued employee.
Life Without Barriers has firm targets for employing more people with disability, pledging 12 percent of new recruits be people with a disability by 2022, from the 9 percent currently. And as an organisation hoping to educate others in the sector about their role in employing more people with disability.
You can read our full submission to the Disability Royal Commission here.
To learn more about Life Without Barriers’ Employment Without Barriers click here.
