Disability recruitment

Discussion with employers indicates that recruiting people with disability is practical and enhances organisational performance. However many job applicants feel they will be disadvantaged if they share information about their disability with prospective employers. To attract candidates with disability, we suggest you consider the following issues.

Make it safer for people to share their information with you

Consider the words you use eg. “sharing” information about disability has a different connotation to “disclosing” information.

Explain why you’re asking candidates to share disability information i.e. to help you create conditions that allow them to demonstrate their ability. Modifications our industry partners have had success with include giving candidates:

• more time
• information in accessible formats
• phone interview options
• interview questions in advance
• an environment catering to light, noise and colour sensitivity
• permission to use adaptive technology, assistance dogs, own laptop to complete exercises, or a support person in video interviews.

Normalise inclusive practice 

Show that inclusive practice aligns with organisational strategies and values by explaining how you use disability information to:

• enable smooth onboarding processes for appointed candidates. During the current COVID-19 pandemic, the Australian Network on Disability has developed information on supporting employees with disability through new ways of working.
• ensure the kind of equitable management that accommodates individual work styles for people with and without disability, resulting in maternity and parental leave, ergonomic assessments, working from home and other flexible arrangements, and use of adaptive technology.

Access government funding, resources and support

To get your workplace ready, make work-related modifications and access support services for employees living with disability: 

• access the JobAccess Employment Assistance Fund
• use the JobAccess Employer Toolkit
• review the Job Access advice and support for employers
• for organisations in Victoria, also access the Victorian Public Service Disability Employment Toolkit.

Make a job available only to people with a disability

Available information suggests you can identify that a job is to be filled only by a person with disability because of the inequality they experience in the job market. To ensure you are consistent with anti-discrimination legislation, as a start, seek advice from your legal team on:

• Australian Human Rights Commission Identified Positions quick guide
  
• Disability Discrimination Act 1992 section 45 Special measures
  
• Fair Work Ombudsman’s Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2018-2021 (PDF)
  
• Australian Public Service Commissioner’s Directions 2016. See Part 3 – Recruitment and selection, item 27, Affirmative Measure – Disability.
  

Disability awareness and acceptance resources

• Australian Network on Disability - a group supporting organisations to advance the inclusion of people with disability in all aspects of business and.org.au
• Amaze - a group raising awareness and influencing positive change for people on the autism spectrum amaze.org.au
  
• Spectrospective - stories of autism and work spectrospective.com.au
• Search LinkedIn for the hashtag: #EmployTheirAbility