Enabling Employment Opportunity for People with Disabilities
27/01/2011
Dignity for Disability MP Ms Kelly Vincent praises former Macquarie banker Bill Moss, on his suggestion that the Federal Government encourage businesses to employ people with disabilities by introducing disability employment targets for the top 500 ASX companies.
“Mr Moss has proposed that the Federal Government introduce targets for the top 500 ASX companies to help ensure that their workforces are comprised of at least 3% people with disabilities, and I believe that his idea has merit” said Ms Vincent.
“The latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that one in five Australians has a disability, yet when was the last time that you saw a person in a wheelchair working as a receptionist, let alone as a lawyer, doctor or company director?
“While we have great organisations like Bedford, Orana and Barkuma who offer supported employment opportunities for people with disabilities, we need ‘normalise’ the concept of people with disabilities as working in mainstream employment.
“Just last week a sales person at a furniture store was visibly surprised to learn that I would not be available to take delivery of my new couch because I had to be at work. He didn’t seem to accept that people in wheelchairs also held down jobs.
“It was not long ago that women were very much marginalised in the workforce, but affirmative action has helped to facilitate higher participation rates. The Labor Party’s quota system encouraged a higher proportion of women in our parliaments. But these women did not rest on their laurels – that is obvious when considering that we now have a female Prime Minister and three premiers who are women.
However, Ms Vincent stopped short of suggesting that the major parties should introduce quota systems for people with disabilities.
“That is not to say that people with disabilities aren’t high achievers. People with disabilities made a clean sweep of the Australia Day awards, our Senior Australian of the Year Ron McCallum is totally blind, our Australian of the Year Simon McKeon has been diagnosed with MS and Jessica Watson, our Young Australian of the Year has dyslexia.
“All I am saying is that affirmative action in employment for people with disabilities will go a long way towards enabling employment opportunity for people with disabilities.”
