Mark Coulton (Parkes, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to speak about Employ-Ability Week. Next week in Dubbo a local organisation is promoting Employ-Ability Week. For over 20 years Break Thru People Solutions has been helping job seekers to connect with employers, and next week they will be promoting the employment of individuals who have a disability. One in six Australians of working age has a disability, but often the disability can be minor and the employer may not even know.

In a recent survey of 230 employers in the Orana region in central New South Wales found that one in five employers indicated they were interested in employing people with a disability. I believe that this low number is because there is a general lack of awareness in the community about what the term 'disability' means. Academic studies have concluded that workers with a disability are not more likely to be injured at work than other employees. Businesses should also be open to receiving information about employing people with disabilities and talking to local service providers.

It is important to bust some myths in relation to employing people with disability. Workers compensation claims are no higher for employers of people with a disability, and these workers are actually less likely to have a workplace injury. Evidence shows that productivity levels for most people who have a disability are equal to those of other employees. In other cases, eligible people with a disability can access a process of productivity based wage assessment to determine fair pay for fair work. There can be a misconception that people with a disability struggle to fit in with the existing workforce. People with a disability make up 20 per cent of the population, so most people will have friends or a family member with a disability. Employers who are concerned about absenteeism can be assured that research shows that there is a 39 per cent lower use of sick leave amongst staff with a disability compared to other employees.

Break Thru solutions will be working to promote their disability employment service in Dubbo over the next week, beginning from 1 March. Break Thru solutions are a disability employment service provider and are able to assist individuals with employment, integrating education and training, non-vocational assistance, rehabilitation services, work experience, job search and job placement.