With Australia currently experiencing a candidate short market, there is an underutilised talent pool that more employers should consider – employ a person with a disability.<\/p>\n
Whilst diversity and inclusion are a growing focus for more and more organisations, the representation of people with disabilities is still disproportionately low.<\/p>\n
Did you know that 1 in 5 people<\/a> in Australia have a disability with approximately 80 per cent of disability being acquired in a person\u2019s life?<\/p>\n Of the 2.1 million Australians of working age (15-64 years) who have a disability, only 47.8 per cent<\/a> are employed, compared to 80 per cent of nondisabled people in the same age bracket.<\/p>\n \u201cEmploying a person with disability may require adjustments to the recruitment process or workplace, however some employers may not be aware of how simple and inexpensive it can be to accommodate an employee with disability,\u201d<\/em> said Kylie Heffernan, General Manager at Horner.<\/p>\n Disabilities are diverse in their forms and are not always visible.\u00a0 They can result from accidents, illness or genetic disorders, may be permanent or temporary and may have minimal or substantial impact on a person\u2019s abilities.<\/p>\n The only thing that distinguishes a person with a disability is they may require some form of adaptation\/adjustment to enable them to do certain things in the same way as people without a disability.<\/p>\n \u201cSome employers shy away from employing a person with disability but many of these workers are talented, productive, reliable, creative and very loyal,\u201d<\/em> explains Kylie.<\/p>\nWhat does a \u201creasonable adjustment\u201d mean?<\/strong><\/h2>\n