Employment of people with disability in the APS

Better practices to promote the employment of people with disability

Objective 1: A culture that values diversity and actively promotes the employment of people with disability.

Members of the Management Advisory Committee are committed to taking a leading role in:

promoting their agency as one committed to upholding the APS Values of providing a workplace free from discrimination and promoting equity in employment
promoting the APS performance culture and the APS merit and community access values as complementary in supporting the employment of people with disability
highlighting the business case for recruiting and retaining employees with disability
mainstreaming policies and procedures to encourage the recruitment and retention of people with disability by integrating them into the day-to-day business planning processes of the agency
establishing clear expectations of managers and senior executives in developing a diverse workforce
reporting on progress in developing that diverse workforce.¹

Objective 2: Flexible recruitment strategies that are accessible to applicants with disability.

Better practice strategies individual agencies will consider in meeting this objective include:

developing closer links with organisations specialising in placing people with disability in employment, including the National Disability Recruitment Coordinator and the Disability Employment Network
accepting applications in different formats and giving people with disability reasonable time to lodge applications
ensuring selection criteria reflect only the inherent requirements of positions, and that methods of selection do not indirectly discriminate against applicants with disability
ensuring recruitment agencies contracted by APS agencies encourage and support applicants with disability
making reasonable adjustments to direct testing arrangements required by applicants with disability
ensuring delegates and selection panels are cognisant of the diverse needs of applicants with disability.²

In addition:

The Australian Public Service Commission will develop guidance for job seekers on selection processes in the APS, including addressing selection criteria. The material will be widely publicised to disability networks and recruitment agencies.

The Australian Public Service Commission will also explore the possibility of enabling APS vacancies advertised in the Australian Public Service Gazette to be downloaded by the National Disability Recruitment Coordinator to distribute through its networks to prospective candidates with disability.

The Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaCSIA) will review the current Commonwealth Disability Strategy framework on employment to ensure performance measures for outsourced recruitment processes are appropriate to encourage and support applicants with disability.

Objective 3: Accessible training, cadetship and mentoring opportunities for people with disability.

Better practice strategies individual agencies will consider in meeting this objective include:

establishing training schemes to provide work experience that will assist people with disability to compete in merit-based APS selection processes
participating in mentoring programmes such as the Willing and Able Mentoring

Program in order to identify appropriate mentors for students with disability interested in a career in the APS.³

Objective 4: Special employment measures to employ people with intellectual disability.

Better practice strategies individual agencies will consider in meeting this objective include:

incorporating strategies to employ people with intellectual disability by utilising the special employment measures (under clause 4.2(6)(b)(ii) of the Public Service Commissioner’s Directions 1999), redesigning jobs and accessing the provisions of the Supported Wage System where appropriate
using organisations such as the National Disability Recruitment Coordinator and/ or the Disability Employment Network to assist agencies to design appropriate positions, develop the selection criteria for such positions, identify suitable applicants, ready the workplace and provide long-term, on-the-job training and support to successful applicants.⁴

The Public Service Commissioner, in consultation with other relevant agencies, will issue a circular to advise agencies about the availability of the existing special employment measures to raise awareness and usage.

Objective 5: Accessible premises, workplaces and supportive work environments for people with disability.

Better practice strategies individual agencies will consider in meeting this objective include:

Accessible premises
- ensuring new premises and modifications to existing premises are readily accessible by people with disability
- undertaking an assessment of the accessibility of existing premises to identify and prioritise modifications or additions needed to ensure an accessible work environment.
Accessible workplaces
- identifying, in consultation with new employees with disability and with the assistance of organisations such as the National Disability Recruitment Coordinator and/or the Disability Employment Network, the reasonable adjustments required by new employees with disability, before the new employees commence duty
- undertaking, in consultation with employees with disability, and with the assistance of organisations such as the Disability Employment Network and/or the National Disability Recruitment Coordinator, an assessment of the reasonable adjustments required by existing employees with disability
- using the Assistive Technology for Employees of Australian Government, Better Practice Checklist No. 22,⁵ in designing e-government initiatives.
Flexible work practices
- incorporating in collective agreements and workplace diversity programmes flexible work practices that allow all employees, including employees with disability, to achieve an appropriate work–life balance
- offering AWAs to employees with disability that tailor flexible work arrangements on an individual basis. Agencies could seek advice and assistance from the Office of the Employment Advocate in designing appropriate AWAs
- centralising, within agencies, funds to make reasonable adjustments to the workplace and provide adaptive technology for employees with disability attending learning and development activities
- supporting the higher education aspirations of employees with disability
- developing networks for employees with disability
- identifying an SES officer to act as a senior-level advocate for employees with disability.⁶

The Department of Finance and Administration (Finance) is encouraged to review the Government Information Technology Contractual Framework Version 4 to ensure the contractual obligations on contractors to provide accessible information technology (IT) systems are adequate.

Objective 6: Reduced complexity, cost and risk for managers employing people with disability.

Better practice strategies individual agencies will consider in meeting this objective include:

developing a source of information and expertise within the agency to assist managers and employees, or ready access to external sources of information and assistance
integrating that expertise, including the services of any disability coordinators and/or case managers, into performance and other management practices
adequately funding reasonable adjustments in the workplace, through centralised funding arrangements as well as the Workplace Modification Scheme
ensuring adaptive technology and other portable reasonable adjustments made for employees with disability are transferable within the agency and, to the greatest extent possible, transferable to other APS agencies
providing training and awareness programmes for managers and other APS employees on mental illness, depression or related disorders through organisations such as beyondblue and the Mental Health Council of Australia
participating in networks such as the Australian Employers’ Network on Disability.⁷

DEWR is encouraged to incorporate in the one-stop information shop, JobAccess, information that is relevant to the APS employment of people with disability.

The Australian Public Service Commission received funding for a case study evaluation of approaches to the recruitment and management of people with disability in the 2006–07 Budget. It will develop a good practice guide aimed at increasing the participation of people with disability in APS employment as an outcome of that evaluation.

The Australian Public Service Commission will also incorporate better practice guidance material addressing the particular needs of people with disability in recruitment, retention and performance management processes into existing APS publications and resources such as the Get it Right recruitment kit for managers.

Objective 7: Consistent conceptual framework for defining disability.

To ensure a consistent whole-of-government approach, all APS agencies are to:

adopt the definition of ‘disability’ in section 4 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 for developing their recruitment and retention strategies relating to the employment of people with disability
adopt the definition of ‘disability’ used by the ABS Disability, Ageing and Carers: Summary of Findings 2003 survey to collect data and statistics from APS employees
use the questions identified in Chapter 6 of this report to collect data from their employees, and to actively encourage employees to provide this data.

When seeking personal and employment data (including disability data) from employees, APS agencies should provide a written statement, of the kind required by Information Privacy Principle 2 in section 14 of the Privacy Act 1988, about why the information is being collected and how it will be used.

Agencies should follow up each employee who reports a disability in order to identify the reasonable adjustments they may need.⁸

Objective 8: Continuous improvement in recruiting and retaining people with disability.

The Australian Public Service Commission will continue to survey agencies and APS employees on issues relating to disability in the State of the Service Agency and Employee Surveys.

The Public Service Commissioner will continue to report on the recruitment and retention of employees with disability in the State of the Service Report.

In light of the outcomes of the 2008–09 State of the Service Report, the Management Advisory Committee, through the Australian Public Service Commission, will review the achievements and progress of APS agencies at that time.⁹

For further details of the better practice strategies outlined in Objective 1, see Chapter 2 of this report.
For further details of the better practice strategies outlined in Objective 2, see Chapter 3 of this report.
For further details of the better practice strategies outlined in Objective 3, see Chapter 3 of this report.
For further details of the better practice strategies outlined in Objective 4, see Chapter 3 of this report.
AGIMO, Assistive Technology for Employees of Australian Government, Better Practice Checklist No. 22 <http://www.agimo.gov.au/practice/delivery/checklists/assistive>
For further details of the better practice strategies outlined in Objective 5, see Chapter 4 of this report.
For further details of the better practice strategies outlined in Objective 6, see Chapter 5 of this report.
For further details of the better practice strategies outlined in Objective 7, see Chapter 6 of this report.
For further details of the better practice strategies outlined in Objective 8, see Chapter 6 of this report.