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WORKability 2: SOLUTIONS Final report of the National Inquiry into Employment and Disability

2 Inquiry methodology

2.1 Introduction.

2.2 Issues papers.

2.3 Interim report - WORKability I: Barriers.

2.4 Written submissions.

2.4.1 Preliminary Submissions.

2.4.2 First Round Submissions.

2.4.3 Second Round Submissions.

2.5 Roundtable discussions and individual meetings.

2.6 Working groups.

2.7 Consultations with the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations.

2.8 International research.

2.9 Next steps.

2.1 Introduction

The primary goal of this Inquiry has been to identify and develop measures to improve the participation, recruitment and retention rates of people with disability in the open workplace.

The Inquiry has sought to achieve this goal by collaborating with all those involved in the employment process. Thus, the products of this Inquiry are the result of ongoing consultation with a large variety of constituents, including individuals with disability, community groups representing people with disability, unions, employment service providers and their peak bodies, employers and their peak bodies and government agencies.

The processes used by the Inquiry to engage the various parties involved in employment and disability include:

• publishing short Issues Papers (March-August 2005)
• publishing an interim report - WORKability I: Barriers (August 2005)
• gathering and publishing written submissions (March-November 2005)
• conducting roundtable discussions and individual meetings (March-September 2005)
• convening four working groups (August-November 2005)
• consulting directly with the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) (March-November 2005)
• researching international models (August-November 2005).

These methodologies are discussed in more detail below.

While the Inquiry will be complete on the publication of this report, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission intends to pursue various issues that have arisen from this process (see Chapter 12).

2.2 Issues papers

On 4 March 2005, the Inquiry published four Issues Papers designed to focus attention on specific questions and to elicit written submissions by 15 April 2005.

The papers discussed the following issues:

Issues Paper 1: Employment and disability: The statistics

Issues Paper 2: Employment and disability: The issues for people with a disability

Issues Paper 3: Employment and disability: The issues for employers

Issues Paper 4: Employment and disability: Commonwealth Government assistance.

A fifth Issues Paper was released on 8 June 2005:

Issues Paper 5: Mapping of Commonwealth Government Services - Stage One of the Information Gathering Exercise.

The focus of Issues Paper 5 was to publish the information gathered by the Inquiry as a result of a Commonwealth Government agency meeting on 15 March 2005. It is the first step towards a clearer map of government service provision. The Inquiry asked for feedback about the scope and quality of the information in that paper by 24 June 2005.

A sixth Issues Paper was published on 19 August 2005:

Issues Paper 6: Interim Report - Executive Summary, Interim Recommendations, Next Steps.

Issues Paper 6 requested feedback on the interim report and its interim recommendations by 30 September 2005.

All Issues Papers are available on the Inquiry website at: www.humanrights.gov.au/disability_rights/employment_inquiry/index.htm#issues.

2.3 Interim report - WORKability I: Barriers

The submissions provided to the Inquiry by July 2005 focussed mainly on the barriers to employment for people with disability and their actual or potential employers. The Inquiry was of the view that it would be useful to publish a summary of those submissions, as early as possible, so that it could be used as a platform for developing the solutions proposed in this final report.

Accordingly, an interim report - WORKability I: Barriers - was published on 19 August 2005.[1]

WORKability I: Barriers sought to:

• summarise the information and ideas contained in the written submissions received by 1 August 2005
• select the issues within those themes that appeared to be the most pressing
• develop interim recommendations to address the most significant barriers
• develop an agenda for further research and action in the remainder of 2005
• seek comment on the appropriateness of the interim recommendations and plan of action.

As discussed further in Chapter 3 of this report, WORKability I: Barriers examined the information needs, costs and risks facing employers and people with disability.[2] It also considered the specific issues arising at the three stages of the employment process: job readiness, job seeking and job retention.[3]

WORKability I: Barriers made 28 Interim Recommendations and sought further submissions regarding those proposals.[4]

WORKability I: Barriers also highlighted eight areas for further development, as described in sections 2.6-2.8 below.[5]

WORKability I: Barriers can be viewed or downloaded from the Commission's website at: www.humanrights.gov.au/disability_rights/employment_inquiry/index.htm .

2.4 Written submissions

The Inquiry has made substantial efforts to ensure that all individuals and organisations involved in the employment process have had an opportunity to contribute their views.

There have been three phases to the submission process, as described below.

2.4.1 Preliminary Submissions

The Commission sought preliminary views as to the usefulness of conducting this Inquiry (Preliminary Submissions). The Commission received 22 submissions on the topic, all of which commented on the possible benefits of the process.

A list and electronic copies of the Preliminary Submissions can be found at: http://www.humanrights.gov.au/disability_rights/employment/responses_rfc.htm.

2.4.2 First Round Submissions

When the Inquiry was launched on 4 March 2005, there was a general call for submissions (First Round Submissions). The Inquiry set an initial deadline of 15 April 2005 however it continued to request and accept responses and suggestions from all interested parties until the end of July.

As at 1 August 2005, the Inquiry had received 133 written submissions. The submissions came from a wide variety of constituents, including:

• individuals with disability
• carers of people with disability
• disability peak bodies
• groups representing people who are blind and vision impaired
• groups representing people who are Deaf and hearing impaired
• groups representing people with intellectual disability
• groups representing people with physical disability
• groups representing people with mental illness
• groups representing people living with HIV/AIDS
• community legal services
• community welfare groups
• social service advocacy groups
• employment services and peak bodies
• private sector employers and peak bodies
• State equal opportunity commissions
• Federal government agencies
• State government agencies
• vocational education and training agencies
• education service providers
• unions
• academics.

A list of the First Round Submissions can be found in Appendix 1 at the end of this report. Electronic copies of the submissions, where available, can be found at: www.humanrights.gov.au/disability_rights/employment_inquiry/subs1/index.htm .

The First Round Submissions formed the basis of WORKability I: Barriers and its Interim Recommendations.

2.4.3 Second Round Submissions

The Inquiry sought to test the factual content and interim recommendations contained in WORKability I: Barriers with all parties to the employment process and the community more generally. The Inquiry therefore requested responses to the interim report by reopening the submission process (Second Round Submissions).

The Inquiry set an initial submission deadline of 30 September 2005, however it continued to accept responses until mid November.

As at 21 November 2005, the Inquiry had received 29 additional submissions. The submissions came from a variety of constituents, including:

• individuals with disability
• disability peak bodies
• groups representing people who are blind and vision impaired
• groups representing people who are Deaf and hearing impaired
• groups representing people with intellectual disability
• groups representing people with mental illness
• community health and welfare services
• employment service peak bodies
• private recruitment agency peak bodies
• vocational education and training agencies
• Federal government agencies
• State government agencies.

A list of the Second Round Submissions can be found in Appendix 2 at the end of this report. Electronic copies of the submissions, where available, can be found at: www.humanrights.gov.au/disability_rights/employment_inquiry/subs2/index.htm.

The content of the Second Round Submissions is discussed throughout this final report.

2.5 Roundtable discussions and individual meetings

The Inquiry conducted the following group consultations (in addition to the working group consultations discussed in section 2.6 below):

• Canberra - 15 March 2005: Federal government consultation[6]
• Sydney - 31 March 2005: Inter-sector consultation[7]
• Melbourne - 7 April 2005: Inter-sector consultation[8]
• Brisbane - 22 April 2005: Employer-only consultation[9]
• Sydney - 7 July 2005: Employer-only consultation[10]
• Sydney - 10 October 2005: Employer-only consultation.[11]

The Inquiry also attended various forums of direct relevance, including:

• Melbourne - 29 June 2005: Mental Health Council of Australia Forum on Promoting Supportive Workplaces for People with Mental Illness
• Melbourne - 13 July 2005: Department of Employment and Workplace Relations Employer Roundtable
• Sydney - 20 July 2005: Mental Health Council of Australia Forum on Promoting Supportive Workplaces for People with Mental Illness
• Sydney - 9 September 2005: Employers Making a Difference Consultation with Members.

Finally, the Inquiry held a number of one-on-one meetings with people from various agencies and organisations including:

• Association of Competitive Employment
• Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
• Australian Public Service Commission
• Business Council of Australia
• Catholic Commission for Justice, Development and Peace
• Council of Small Business Organisations Australia
• Department of Employment and Workplace Relations
• Diversity@Work
• Employers Making a Difference
• Equal Opportunity Commission of Queensland
• Equal Opportunity Commission of South Australia
• Equal Opportunity Commission of Victoria
• IBM Australia Limited
• Mission Australia
• National Australia Bank Limited
• Open Minds Employment Service
• Rio Tinto Limited
• Victorian Employers Chamber of Commerce and Industry
• Westpac Limited
• Dr Harvey Whiteford, University of Queensland.

2.6 Working groups

WORKability I: Barriers noted that the Inquiry would convene four working groups focussing on the following issues regarding the employment of people with disability:

• creation of robust work trial schemes
• clarification of occupational health and safety, disability discrimination and unfair dismissal concerns
• flexibility in the workplace
• provision of ongoing supports.[12]

Representatives from 45 different organisations joined one or more of these working groups. The organisations included disability organisations and their peak bodies, employment services and their peak bodies, employers and their peak bodies, the ACTU, welfare groups and government agencies. Between 28 and 37 individuals participated in each group.

The working groups were conducted through a combination of face-to-face meetings and email communication.

More detailed discussion of these working groups can be found in Chapters 4-7 of this report.

The Commission hopes to continue the work of these groups into 2006, as noted in Chapter 12.

2.7 Consultations with the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations

The Inquiry has been in ongoing communication with Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) from the outset of the Inquiry.

In particular, WORKability I: Barriers highlighted two specific areas for focussed consultation:

• progressing the development of a one-stop-information-shop
• improving the Workplace Modifications Scheme.[13]

The Inquiry met with DEWR staff on 5 October 2005 regarding these two issues and continues to follow their progress.

For further discussion about the consultations see Chapter 10 of this report.

2.8 International research

As suggested by several of the First Round Submissions, the Inquiry highlighted two areas for further research:

• international approaches to providing supports to people with disability and their employers in the open workplace
• international approaches to government accessible procurement policies.[14]

Research was conducted through a combination of web-based material and email communication with various international organisations, government agencies and academics. The results of the research are set out in Chapter 8 (provision of supports) and Chapter 9 (accessible procurement policies).

2.9 Next steps

The publication of this final report marks the completion of the National Inquiry into Employment and Disability.

However, there are several issues that have arisen in the context of the Inquiry which would benefit from further development. Those areas, and the Commission's proposed actions in the future, are described in Chapter 12.

Next chapter

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