Inclusive Onboarding Toolkit overview

The APS Inclusive Onboarding Toolkit (Toolkit) assists agencies to foster accessible and inclusive onboarding practises. The toolkit helps agencies to meet their obligations under the Public Service Act 1999, which states that agencies must foster a workforce that reflects the diversity of the Australian population. The Toolkit is for business areas, managers and employees.

The Toolkit contains practical information and resources that can be used to:

• create a workplace culture that is accessible, inclusive and safe
• assist business areas to provide disability and neurodivergent appropriate supports during onboarding
• build manager disability and neurodiversity confidence when onboarding employees
• support employees with disability and/or neurodivergence when navigating a new work environment to access the supports they need during the onboarding process

Note on language: the Toolkit acknowledges individual preferences for person-first or identity-first language. This is covered in more detail in a later section. While the Toolkit generally uses person-first language, we encourage individuals to use, and be supported to use, the language conventions they prefer to describe themselves.

Why inclusive onboarding is important in the APS?

Representation of people with disability and neurodivergence is vital in the APS as it enables us to reflect the diversity of the Australian population, in turn, delivering better informed policy and services. Despite this, data from the APS Employment Database (APSED) shows the representation of people with disability in the APS has grown minimally in the past 20 years.

Representation is a foundation for true inclusion, equity and innovation. When people with disability and neurodivergence see themselves reflected across all levels of a workplace, it affirms that they are welcome and their contributions are valued.

Representation helps challenge stereotypes and foster workplace cultures where diverse ways of thinking and working are valued. It makes space for people to bring their best selves to work. Improving onboarding through this lens focuses on creating a welcoming environment where every new team member is supported to thrive.

Interconnections and interdependencies

This Toolkit meets the intent of various national priorities and strategies including:

• Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021 – 2031, and associated Targeted Action Plans
• National Autism Strategy 2025 – 2031, and associated Action Plans

This Toolkit leverages and supports the succession of APS Disability employment strategies and workforce targets, including the recent APS Disability Employment Strategy 2020 – 2025.

What is disability?

In alignment with the APS Disability Employment Strategy 2020 – 2025, this Toolkit supports all employees with disability, whether they have conditions that are visible, invisible, chronic or episodic; or whether they are life-long or acquired throughout life from injury or other conditions. It encompasses a range of lived experience and focuses on reducing the specific barriers or challenges that individuals may experience at work.

The APS uses the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) definition of disability. The definition informs data collection and reporting used by the Australian Public Service Employment Data (APSED). The definition states that “persons are considered to have a disability if they have a limitation, restriction or impairment, which has lasted, or is likely to last, for at least six months and restricts everyday activities”. This can include sensory, intellectual, physical, psychosocial, mental health, head injury, stroke or acquired brain injury, or other.

This Toolkit also recognises that experiences of disability are intersectional. That is, they are influenced by other aspects of identity and demography, such as age, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, race, socioeconomic status, religion, location, living arrangements, and marital status ¹ . The intersection between disability and other identifiers may result in unique experiences of marginalisation in the workplace.

Models of disability

There are different ways of thinking about disability. The models of disability help us to understand how society views and responds to disability. This includes the medical model of disability, the human rights model of disability, and the social model of disability. This Toolkit aligns with the social model of disability.

The social model of disability understands disability as the interaction between people living with impairment and an environment filled with physical, attitudinal, and social barriers. Disability is not inherent but is produced by a world where systems, processes and structures do not accommodate the wide variety of experiences that make up humanity.

In the workplace, the social model of disability recognises the systemic barriers that exist to disproportionately disadvantage people with disability. These reflect institutional barriers to process, policy, systems or environment, such as: organisational policies that have been designed to be “all inclusive”, but don’t adequately address the needs of people with disability; environmental barriers that prevent people with disability from accessing certain locations; or organisational barriers that limit opportunities to equitable development.

Language around disability

The language people use to refer to disability is personal. We acknowledge and respect the rights of people to choose how they refer to their lived experience of disability.

There are ongoing conversations about how we talk about disability. This Toolkit uses person-first language. Person-first language puts the focus on the individual, not their disability, and aims to recognise a person before describing their disability. Person-first language is predominantly used to refer to people with disability, unless the individual or group prefers otherwise. Examples include:

• people with disability
• participants with disability
• new team member with disability.

What is neurodiversity/neurodivergence?

Neurodiversity is an umbrella term used to describe the various ways people process the world and information. ² 

Neurodivergence is a term used to describe a person or people who process information in a way that is different to the majority of the population.

There is no official list of identities or conditions where a person can be referred to as neurodivergent, however some examples include:

• Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• Autism, also known as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
• Dyslexia
• Dyscalculia
• Dyspraxia

Language around neurodivergence

Language around neurodivergence is personal and continues to change. The language one neurodivergent person uses to describe themselves may differ from the language another person uses. Everyone has the right to choose the language that suits them best.

This Toolkit acknowledges that not everyone views neurodivergence as a disability, however elements of the toolkit may still be applicable to them.

TIP – ask and listen: what language to use

You can show respect and inclusion by asking a person about their language preferences. Listen to how someone shares their personal information as this will indicate how they choose to identify in relation to their disability or neurotype.

If someone tells you they are neurodivergent, you can ask something like:

“Thanks for sharing that with me. What language do you prefer around dyslexia?”

“What kind of language do you prefer I use about Autism?”

Footnotes

[1] Department of Social Services, Good Practice Guidelines for Engaging with People with Disability - ↵ Return to text

[2] Australian Disability Network, What is neurodiversity? - ↵ Return to text