Special measures for employing people with intellectual disability

APS agencies can play a significant role in increasing the participation of people with intellectual disability in employment.

Special measures provisions are available under Clauses 4.2(6)(b)(ii) and 4.3(3)(b)(ii) of the Public Service Commissioner’s Directions 1999 (the Commissioner’s Directions) to assist people with intellectual disability to gain APS employment. These provisions allow non-SES employment opportunities to be advertised as restricted to applicants who have an intellectual disability. They cannot be used more broadly to target potential employees with other disabilities.

It is good practice for agency heads to consider and record their reasons for using the special measures provisions. Key factors justifying their legality might include the inequitable employment outcomes experienced by this group of people and the fact that this situation is not improving.

It is also good practice for agencies to be explicit about the legal basis for the decision to restrict selection to applicants with an intellectual disability. This could be done by noting in the advertising material and on selection documentation that ‘the filling of this employment opportunity is intended to constitute a special measure under Clause 4.2 (or 4.3) of the Commissioner’s Directions 1999’.

Agencies that establish positions for applicants with intellectual disability may wish to consult an appropriate Disability Employment Network provider to assist in ensuring that the duties, selection criteria and selection method are appropriate.