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Launch of MAC 6 Report : “Employment of People with Disability in the APS”

Presentation by the Australian Public Service Commissioner, Lynelle Briggs, 30 August 2006

Introduction

Thanks to Roger for sharing his inspiring story with us. I read recently that his mother had tried to reduce his expectations when he first tried to join the APS. Imagine what we would have lost if these predictions had come true.

Looking around me I see some of our staff who have also made significant contributions using their diverse skills and abilities. They have told us that job design, technology, flexible work practices and, most importantly, understanding supervisors have made these contributions possible.

Thank you to those public servants who contributed to the report we’re launching today for your candour, openness and honesty in sharing your good and bad experiences. Your stories provided some insights into the realities of living with a range of disabilities in the APS. Through your contributions we stayed in touch with the real issues confronting people with disability in the APS, and were able to find practical and realistic ways forward.

Imperative for Change

The APS has long been expected to take a leadership role in promoting the employment of people with disability. With the tightening labour market, the APS needs to explore new ways to become an employer of choice, and more practical ways to demonstrate this leadership. We need to acknowledge and promote those aspects of public service work that set us apart. We know that in general employees are seeking an environment that is flexible, allows them to balance their work and life interests, encourages good working relationships and provides interesting and challenging work. 

We’ve worked hard to achieve such an environment in the public service – we should be proud of its flexibilities and promote them as factors that would, indeed, make us an employer of choice for people with disabilities.

It is important that the Australian Public Service demonstrate to others our commitment to providing an inclusive and welcoming workplace. We can, and should, demonstrate that the adjustments that are required to accommodate a person with disability in the workplace are often readily available and easily implemented. Research shows that making such adjustments can benefit the entire organisation.

A safe and rewarding workplace is after all, one of the APS Values that we all must uphold. These Values also require us to recognise and value the diversity of the Australian population.   In serving the public we need to ensure we acknowledge and respect their views. Employing people with disability enables us as public servants to use that diversity of experience and expertise.

The implementation of the Welfare to Work initiatives has created an environment where people with disability will increasingly be seeking employment in the APS. The Workability Report, the review of the Commonwealth Disability Strategy and the Employers Demand Action Plan all call on the public sector to play a leadership role in increasing the employment of people with disability.

Our performance is being closely and expectantly watched by people with disability, their peak bodies and employment providers. There is good cause for these expectations. The public service is not only one of the largest employers in the country but we also have a proud tradition of leading improvements in the treatment of people from diverse backgrounds.

Our record to date

However, our official employment records fail to demonstrate our commitment to people with disability. There are approximately 1 in 5 people in Australia who have a disability in the broader community. Yet recorded participation rates of people with disability in the APS have declined continuously from 6.6% in 1985–86 to 3.8% in 2004­–2005. While there are some issues about the quality of the data, there can be no argument that we are clearly not hitting the mark.

The Management Advisory Committee report I am launching today, Employment of People with Disability in the APS, is our response to this challenge. 

The report is practical and action oriented. It provides guidance that agencies can take up and run with on a day to day basis. The objectives MAC members have committed to implement are underpinned by extensive consultation with agencies, managers, employees with disability, and HR managers in the APS; and draw on the lessons of private sector organisations and public sector organisations with positive experiences in dealing with people with disability.

One of the key areas of focus for the MAC report has been to unpack the reasons for our declining numbers, and there is of course, no one answer.

Perhaps one of the more obvious reasons relates to the significant decline in the number of APS 1-2 positions in the APS. We have historically had a large number of people with disability at these classification levels, and the overall loss of APS 1 and 2 jobs has disproportionately affected this group.

We have also outsourced or abolished a range of corporate services such as mail handling, printing, cleaning and tea ladies. Again these are areas of historically high employment for people with disability, particularly people with intellectual disability.

Having said this, the number of people with disability has declined at all levels of the APS, so there is more to it than that. 

Government requirements and workforce changes have driven us to become a more educated workforce. Our average entrant into the APS is an APS 3 with graduate qualifications. There are significantly fewer APS employees with disability who have graduate qualifications. This seems to have contributed to the lowered representation rates across levels and could be why public servants with disability report they are less successful when competing for promotions.

The report found that people with disability tend not to apply for jobs if they are unsure of their ability to meet the inherent requirements of the job. The broad selection criteria, that have often resulted from classification broad banding and multi-skilling, seem to prevent people with disability from being able to make an accurate assessment of their suitability for the job. They are therefore reluctant to apply. 

Hand in hand with these changes is renewed emphasis on individual performance management, which has co-incided with demands for increased public service efficiencies. The report found that this performance focus places increased pressure on managers and people with disability to deliver results. This focus is, of course, essential in a modern public service.

I sometimes wonder just how many people with disability have left the APS because they simply couldn't cope physically or mentally due to heavier workloads. I also fear that our performance focus may sometimes create an environment where managers are less prepared to take risks. Some managers still consider that employing someone with disability is risky and will have a negative impact on productivity. 

People with disability have told us that these factors, together with a fear of being discriminated against, add to their reluctance to disclose their disability status. This reluctance has the unintended consequence that agencies cannot always make appropriate adjustments for people with disability, which worsens the situation even more.  It’s time for people with disabilities to be brave, to identify, and to speak up about necessary improvements in the workplace.

Key messages from consultations

The report also highlights some of the good things that are happening for people with disability in the APS.  I was pleased to see that job satisfaction levels continue to rise for this group. During consultations, people with disability told us that strong relationships with managers and colleagues and flexible arrangements were important to them. These relationships enabled them to access support when they needed it.

Some of the common concerns raised by people with disability were lack of access to development opportunities, adequate consideration during technological upgrades and access to buildings and premises.

Agencies with higher numbers of people with disability ensure the needs of people with disability are covered in internal policies. Some have a designated position to advocate for people with disability experiencing difficulties in the workplace related to their disability. These agencies strive to prevent discrimination in the recruitment process by working with employment agencies specialising in supporting people with disability. 

Other agencies found it difficult to access and identify examples of better practices. There is some confusion about the flexibilities available for recruiting people with disability, particularly intellectual disability and acquired brain injury.

The merit principle is central to how we select employees in the APS. However, it seems that this principle is sometimes applied inflexibly. Any selection process can be conducted to make adjustments for applicants with disability. Using the flexibilities available will allow us to balance the merit principle with creating a fair and equitable workplace.

A key message from our consultations is the need for the APS to continue to support a diverse culture. I acknowledge that it is not easy and will require constant attention and focus. However, if we get it right we will be well on the way to being an employer of choice.

So what are we going to do?

The Employment of People with Disability in the APS report takes a holistic approach to increasing the employment of people with disability. It commits agency heads to taking a leadership role, ensuring their management practices are supportive, and continually reviewing what they do. It sets out eight objectives for the APS and strategies for meeting these objectives. I will briefly talk about each of these objectives and the key actions.

This first objective is “a culture that values diversity and actively promotes the employment of people with disability”. Clearly, we need to continue to develop a culture that promotes the APS as a place that supports people with disability. This will only happen with good leadership. MAC members have committed to taking a leadership role in developing this culture by working with their managers to ensure polices and practices supporting people with disability are integrated with the day to day business planning processes of the agency.  

The next objective is “Flexible recruitment strategies that are accessible to applicants with disability”. The actions under this objective address concerns raised in relation to accessibility of our recruitment processes for people with disability. They focus on developing closer links with organisations specialising in the employment of people with disability. Agencies have also committed to training delegates and selection panels to raise their awareness of the needs of applicants with disability.

Objective 3 is “accessible training, cadetship and mentoring opportunities for people with disability”. This is about creating a level playing field for people with disability. It encourages agencies to consider using work experience programs, cadetships and training schemes to provide valuable work experience for people with disability. It has been demonstrated that such experiences assist people with disability to compete for employment.

Special employment measures to employ people with intellectual disability is the fourth objective.  The Commission will be updating its guidance on the use of these measures. Agencies can also work with specialist employment providers to implement appropriate programmes.

The fifth objective, “accessible premises, workplaces and supportive work environments for people with disability” is about making APS workplaces supportive for people with disability. Actions under this objective address the issues of access to premises, access to flexible work places and flexible work practices. All of these are crucial to retaining people with disability.

“Reduced complexity, cost and risk for managers employing people with disability” is the objective that identifies actions agencies can take to encourage managers to employ people with disability.  Skilled managers who understand the needs of people with disability are essential to retaining these employees. Agencies are encouraged to ensure managers and employees are able to address the diverse needs of people with disability. This includes access to support and advice where required.

We have for a long time needed a consistent definition for people with disability in the APS. The MAC has agreed that we will use the Disability Discrimination Act and the ABS definition for different purposes. Agencies need to begin collecting data using the approach outlined in the report.

The last objective is about reviewing our progress. We will continue to include questions relating to disability in the State of the Service Report. MAC will also formally review progress in 2008-09 to allow cultural change to occur. I expect to see significant progress by that time.

Where to from here?

Secretaries, Agency heads and their HR staff have now got the information that they need to review their own culture, policies and practices.

Action by all agencies on this front is critical it makes good business sense. It is also a specific requirement on Agency Heads. The Public Service Commissioner’s directives – which are a legally inforceable – require agency’s to put in place measures to eliminate employment disadvantage on the basis of, amongst other things, physical or mental disability.

The Commission is conducting an evaluation to reinforce the work of this report. It will result in a Better Practice Guide in relation to the employment of people with disability which we expect to launch in July next year.

At the same time, we will be developing tools to assist agencies in implementing these changes and working to increase awareness of issues surrounding people with disability through our existing events and networks.

However, people with disability need to work with us by disclosing their disability. This allows us to take action.

I would like also to especially encourage agencies to look to celebrate the contributions made by people with a disability in the workplace.

I want to offer my particular thanks to the project team who put the report together - Brenda Berkeley from Treasury, Loucas Nicolaou from FaCSIA and Kate Dawson from Defence. This team worked hard and did a great job, and I would like thank them for their dedication to the role. Stephen Hunter, our compere, ably led the team and the Deputy Secretaries Steering Group. I would also like to thank these members for their input and advice.

The value of the report was enhanced by the people consulted by the review team. These included organisations representing people with disability, agencies, people with disability both within and outside the APS and other government agencies involved in disability policy issues.  Again thank you for your contributions.

Finally I would like to encourage agencies to take action. The time is right, the information is at hand and the commitment is there to really make a difference. I am looking forward to the APS becoming an employer of choice for people with disability.

With that, it gives me great pleasure to launch the sixth Management Advisory Committee Report: Employment of People with Disability in the APS, together with this framework leaflet which covers the objectives and strategies in the report.

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