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Last updated: 30 August 2006

Employment of people with disability in the APS

Chapter 5 Supporting managers

Managers fear that employing people with disability will be too time consuming, be a cost to the budget of their work units and adversely affect their ability to meet their outputs.¹⁰⁷

5.1 Reducing the complexity, cost and risk for managers

To address these concerns, managers need access to expert support, appropriate funding, relevant information and appropriate organisational policies.

5.1.1 Disability coordinators and case managers

Key to achieving cultural change will be to ensure access to information and expertise within agencies to support both managers and staff with disability. An option adopted by some agencies with a better record in employing people with disability is to appoint a disability coordinator and/or case managers to manage the needs of staff with disability and handle the return to work programmes of staff following extended illness or injury. In some larger agencies, the disability action officer position focuses solely on the employment of people with disability. In smaller agencies, the duties are commonly combined with other workplace diversity, OHS, case management and HR responsibilities.

IBM acknowledges that a central point of contact and support at the operational level was crucial in the early days of its cultural change strategy. The success of that strategy means the central point of expertise at the operational level is no longer essential, with managers across the organisation dealing with disability issues as part of their day-to-day business. Nevertheless, IBM retains a position at the strategic level to continue to foster the new culture and ensure that new staff and managers understand the importance of diversity to IBM’s business model.¹⁰⁸

The disability coordinator will need adequate resources to find solutions to the needs of employees with disability; have information at hand to answer queries from staff and managers, or be in a position to access that information in a timely manner; and be able to work with strategic employment organisations. The existence of the position and the services it offers should be publicised to all staff.¹⁰⁹

At one level, the existence of dedicated positions such as this is at odds with the notion of mainstreaming the employment of people with disability. In particular, their existence can sometimes persuade organisations they have done enough to satisfy their diversity obligations and that responsibility for all disability matters can be left to the disability coordinator for resolution.

On the other hand, centralising the administration of disability support measures in one location allows the build-up of greater expertise and effectiveness over time, to more effectively support both managers and staff. In so doing, it makes managers’ jobs easier and helps to change the perception that employing people with disability is too hard.

Ideally, the position would be required for an initial period of three to five years, by which time the culture would be more supportive of people with disability and the duties of the position could be mainstreamed under the broader umbrella of agencies’ diversity programmes.

5.1.2 Funding and resources

Managers of people with disability need adequate resources to fund reasonable adjustments. Preferably, these come from a centralised fund within agencies and not individual branch finances.

Where monies come from the budgets of individual work units:

people with disability report they are reluctant to make their needs known because this could affect the ability of the unit to fund other requirements
concerns about the unquantifiable nature of some costs (such as AUSLAN interpreter fees) mean these services are not provided as often as they should be
the training needs of people with disability who require adaptive technology to access that training are commonly overlooked if the additional cost of that training would deny training to others in the unit
some people with disability experience difficulties in having their adaptive technology transferred between agencies, and sometimes within agencies, with the result that adaptive technology has to be purchased again by the gaining unit or agency.¹¹⁰

Many of those consulted, including APS managers and employees with disability, favoured the centralised funding approach already adopted by some agencies.

Agencies are encouraged to ensure adaptive technology and other portable reasonable adjustments are transferable within their agency and, to the greatest extent possible, transferable to other APS agencies.

Agencies are able to access the Workplace Modification Scheme¹¹¹ to assist with the costs of workplace modifications for employees with disability. Under that Scheme, while the owner of the equipment or workplace modifications is to be agreed, in most cases the employee will have ownership, thus facilitating the portability of that equipment in appropriate cases.

Of particular concern to managers is the impact on their ability to achieve outcomes when an employee requires extended time-off as a result of their disability (particularly through episodic illness). Solutions agencies could consider in addressing these difficulties include:

greater use of flexible work arrangements, such as job-sharing arrangements, so that in the absence of one of the participants some continuity remains
reallocating priorities and deadlines
funding additional positions or parts of positions to cover the absences.

5.1.3 One-stop shop

Managers, people with disability, disability coordinators, case managers and human resources staff require easy access to comprehensive information on the employment of people with disability. Comments by participants in this review unanimously supported the one-stop information shop called JobAccess¹¹² incorporating a website and an information line, developed by DEWR. DEWR is encouraged to incorporate in the one-stop shop information relevant to the APS employment of people with disability.

Information that managers and employees suggested should be available on the website included:

types of disability and their effects
reasonable adjustments
the management of people with disability, including performance management
disability support schemes (for example, the Supported Wage System)
success stories of people with disability in the workplace
where to go to for assistance
a chat-room facility to allow employees to discuss strategies for managing workplace issues and share ideas and information.¹¹³

The need for the one-stop shop to be accessible, up-to-date, and for employers and employees to be able to seek advice by phone, was also emphasised.

5.1.4 APS better practice guides

Effective organisation-wide policies and procedures are needed to support the recruitment and retention of people with disability.

The Australian Public Service Commission already publishes a range of better practice guides on employment-related issues. The Commission will incorporate into those guides advice on the recruitment and retention of people with disability in the APS including attracting candidates with disability, making reasonable adjustments, and facilitating learning and development opportunities. The Commission was also funded in the 2006–07 Budget to undertake a case study evaluation of approaches to the recruitment and management of people with disability. It will develop a good practice guide as an outcome of that evaluation.

In adapting better practice guides to their circumstances, or in developing their own, agencies are encouraged to consult employees with disability and disability representative organisations.

Some agencies are well-advanced in developing their own better practice policy. FaCSIA, for example, is working with Diversity@Work to develop a strategic approach to the employment of people with disability. The policies being developed provide a useful model for agencies’ consideration.¹¹⁴. Better practice guides on recruiting and working with people from diverse backgrounds, including people with disability, have also been developed by many State and Territory governments including the ACT, Queensland, and New South Wales Governments.¹¹⁵

5.1.5 Salary setting

Some managers expressed concern about the implications of employing people with disability whose productivity may be less than that of people without disability.

While some people with disability may be less productive than people without disability, a large-scale study of the benefits and costs to Australian employers of employing a person with disability found people with disability generally perform better than their colleagues without disability on such factors as attendance, sick leave, OHS, compensation and insurance costs.¹¹⁶ The study also stressed the positive impact that people with disability can have on the productivity of teams around them.¹¹⁷

The value to an organisation of a good working environment, especially effective working relationships, should not be understated. ‘Good working relationships’ was the top satisfaction factor identified by respondents to the 2005 State of the Service Employee Survey.¹¹⁸ Agencies should thus balance the contribution employees with disability make on these factors when evaluating their total contribution to the workplace.

Most APS employees with disability are paid full wages prescribed in collective agreements, AWAs or award wages. However, there may be times when the productivity of a new employee with disability may be below what is expected, due to the effect of their disability. In those circumstances, a productivity-based wage assessment may be independently determined under the Supported Wage System.¹¹⁹

The APS Award provides for supported salary payment of employees with disability. This provision is generally mirrored in agencies’ collective agreements.¹²⁰ Agencies may wish to consult DEWR when renegotiating collective agreements, in the light of recent changes to the Workplace Relations Act 1996.

The performance management system also provides a useful avenue to address any issues concerning the productivity of existing employees. If a manager suspects a lack of performance is due to the person’s disability, an assessment should be arranged to determine if this is the case. If it is, appropriate modifications can be made to the job to promote more effective performance. If, despite those modifications and assistance from the manager to improve performance, the employee’s performance does not improve and termination of employment is being contemplated, the manager should consider accessing the ‘jobs in jeopardy’ arrangements offered by the Disability Employment Network and CRS. Information about these arrangements is available from local Centrelink Disability Officers.¹²¹ Individual case management by specialist case managers also plays a valuable role in situations such as this, where there can be an interaction of performance and health issues, and should be considered from the earliest stages of such processes.

5.1.6 Awareness of mental health in the workplace

In applying their duty of care, APS agencies need to be better informed and equipped to appropriately and effectively manage mental illness, depression and related disorders in the workplace. Wherever possible, early identification and treatment will reduce the negative impacts of mental illness on both the employee and the workplace.

It is important to ensure that employees with such disorders are safe and adequately supported to access timely treatment to facilitate their recovery and return to work.¹²² However, many managers and colleagues are unaware of how to identify symptoms of mental illness and how to assist their staff and colleagues who are affected.

A number of current management practices, such as offering time-off work or a holiday, may only compound the problem, making the situation worse. In some cases, poor performance or lack of motivation in the workplace may be linked to a mental illness. The evidence suggests that psychiatric disorders, depression and related illnesses, including anxiety and substance misuse, are not managed well across private and public sector organisations.¹²³

Untreated depression, for example, can significantly reduce work performance. Depression accounts for over six million working days lost each year in Australia. It also accounts for more than twelve million days of reduced productivity each year, with serious implications for work safety.¹²⁴ More than a million people around Australia experience depression, anxiety or related substance use disorders each year. Each employee with untreated depression will cost his or her employer $9,770 per year. As depression ‘affect[s] one in five people at some point in their adult lifetime, these figures also transfer to workplace settings’.¹²⁵ Most of these people (72%) do not seek treatment, thus prolonging a negative impact on the workplace.

Increasing awareness and knowledge, reducing stigma and increasing managers’ and employees’ competence and confidence to take proactive steps to manage depression and other related disorders ultimately reduce the personal, social and economic cost of such disorders in any organisation. APS managers and staff can be better equipped to effectively manage these in the workplace through systematic training programmes, such as the beyondblue National Depression in the Workplace Program.¹²⁶

Through this educational process, APS agencies can become more aware of helpful behaviours and identify responses that may be unhelpful or even detrimental to recovery. Reducing the stigma of mental illness or depression is also critical because attitudes play a key role in achieving behavioural change and broader acceptance, resulting in higher retention rates of employees with these disorders.

Employees’ Assistance Programmes and/or expert case managers within an organisation can also contribute to increased awareness and knowledge among managers.

5.1.7 Ongoing disability awareness for all employees

Effectively changing the culture of an agency requires ongoing exposure of employees at all levels to the issues facing people with disability. Agencies can raise awareness of those issues through learning and development programmes. Such awareness raising need not be limited to formal disability awareness training programmes, although this is a good place to start, but should be incorporated into management training, induction sessions and other learning and development activities addressing people management and team development.

In addition, agencies may wish to promote the achievements of their employees with disability. Defence, for example, conducts an annual photography competition featuring people with disability.

5.1.8 Networking with other organisations

Overseas experience suggests organisations participating in a support network of employers achieve positive outcomes in improving employment opportunities for people with disability. Over 600 private and public sector organisations in the United Kingdom, employing nearly a quarter of the UK workforce, are members of the Employers’ Forum on Disability.¹²⁷

In Australia, APS agencies can access the combined experience of more than 66 Australian organisations through one such organisation, the Australian Employers’ Network on Disability, managed by Employers Making a Difference Inc.¹²⁸ Current members of the network include DEWR, FaCSIA, and the Department of Health and Ageing (Health).

Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission 2005, WORKability II: Solutions—People with Disability in the Open Workplace, HREOC, Sydney.
Interviews with IBM as part of this review (December 2005; February 2006).
Consultations with agencies and employees as part of this review (December 2005–February 2006).
Focus groups with employees conducted for this review (December 2005–February 2006).
Details of the Workplace Modification Scheme are available at: <http://www.jobaccess.gov.au/JOAC/Employers/ Employer+incentives/Workplace_Modifications_S.htm>
JobAccess can be accessed at: <http://www.jobaccess.gov.au/JOAC/home>
Focus groups conducted with employees for this review (December 2005–February 2006)
The policies can be obtained from the Disability Coordinator of FaCSIA (Ph. 02 6200 9669).
<http://www.psm.act.gov.au/publicationsaz.htm#R>; <http://www.opsme.qld.gov.au/ee/pubs/diverse_two.pdf> ; <http://www.eeo.nsw.gov.au/>
Graffam et al, ‘Employer Benefits and Costs of Employing a Person with a Disability’. See the discussion of this study in Chapter 1 of this report. Some similar results were also identified in a study conducted for Telstra in 1999 which concluded that people with disability worked on average 4.1 years in a call centre, compared to 3.2 years for people without disability; people with disability had 11.8 days absent, compared to people without disability who had 19.24 days absent, over a 15 month-period; and that there were no significant differences when comparing people with disability to people without disability in the areas of performance, productivity and sales <http://www.jobaccess.gov.au/JOAC/Employers/ Disabilities+and+work+strategies/Benefits_to_business.htm>
Graffam et al, ‘Employer Benefits and Costs of Employing a Person with a Disability’.
Australian Public Service Commission 2005, State of the Service Report 2004–05, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, p. 170.
For details see <http://www.jobaccess.gov.au/JOAC/Employers/ Employer+incentives/SupportedWageSystem.htm>
Advice on the operation of the Supported Wage System is available at: <http://www.jobaccess.gov.au/JOAC/Employers/ Employer+incentives/SupportedWageSystem.htm>
For details see <http://www.jobaccess.gov.au/ JOAC/Coworkers/How+to+guides/Advice_and_support.htm>
At its 17th meeting on 10 February 2006, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) discussed mental health as an issue of national significance, treating it as a major problem for the Australian community. Later in 2006, COAG is to consider an action plan determining COAG’s future direction in this area <http://www.coag.gov.au/meetings/100206/index.htm>
N. Highet 2005, The National Depression in the Workplace Program, beyondblue: The National Depression Initiative, Melbourne; I. Hickie, G. Groom and T. Davenport 2004, Investing in Australia’s Future: The Personal, Social and Economic Benefits of Good Mental Health, Mental Health Council of Australia and Brain & Mind Research Institute, Canberra.
Highet, The National Depression in the Workplace Program, beyondblue; G. Andrews et al 1999, The Mental Health of Australians, Mental Health Branch, Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care, Canberra.
Highet, The National Depression in the Workplace Program, beyondblue and interview (8 February 2006).
According to Dr Highet (8 February 2006 interview), a number of APS agencies (such as Comcare, the ATO, Centrelink and the Departments of Defence, Veterans’ Affairs and Health and Ageing) have already started using this programme.
<http://www.employers-forum.co.uk/www/index.htm>
For details, including costs, see <http://www.emad.asn.au>

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