New disability strategy to increase Australian Public Service employment opportunities

Marking International Day of People with Disability, the Morrison Government has today released a new Australian Public Service (APS) employment strategy to make employing people with disability a mainstream part of the APS culture. 

The Australian Public Service Disability Employment Strategy 2020-25 sets the direction for all public service agencies as employers and focusses on the attraction, recruitment and retention of more people with disability at all levels within the APS, in addition to creating more accessible workplace cultures and environments. 

Minister for Families and Social Services Anne Ruston said employment opportunities were the key to unlocking improved economic security, independence and wellbeing for all Australians with disability. 

“The strategy sets a goal to increase the employment of people with disability across the APS to seven per cent by 2025, up from 3.7 per cent in 2019,” Minister Ruston said.

“It demonstrates our ongoing commitment to ensuring people with a disability have equal opportunities in the APS and recognises the significant contribution they make to the workforce.

“Meaningful employment is an absolute game-changer in anybody’s life and that shouldn’t be any different for somebody with a disability.”

Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Stuart Robert today acknowledged International Day of People with Disability and highlighted the important work the NDIS does in supporting people with disability into employment. 

“International Day of People with Disability is an important occasion to recognise the more than 400,000 Australians with disability who receive NDIS supports,” Minister Robert said.

“The NDIS provides people with significant and permanent disability the supports they need to participate fully in their communities including putting practical steps in place to enable more participants to enjoy the benefits of work.

“Currently, 24 per cent of NDIS participants work and we are well on the way to achieving our target of 30 per cent employment by 30 June 2023.”

Minister Robert also acknowledged that the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) is leading the way as an APS employer of people with disability, representing 11 per cent of its workforce, many of whom work at the agency’s state-of-the-art accessible headquarters.  

Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister and Cabinet Ben Morton said all workplaces had a role to play when it came to achieving positive, long-term employment outcomes for people with disability including the APS. 

“The Strategy is all about opportunity,” Assistant Minister Morton said.  

“It provides an opportunity for the APS to demonstrate strong leadership and champion best practice in relation to disability employment. With an enormous range of roles and opportunities, the APS has the potential to be an employer of choice for people with disability.

“It also provides people with a disability a wider choice of employment opportunities. In turn this leads to rewarding and meaningful careers with development opportunities and greater economic independence.”  

The Australian Public Service Disability Employment Strategy 2020-25 was developed by a cross-agency team led by the Australian Public Service Commission and is the product of extensive consultation with people with disability, from within and outside the APS. 

It forms part of a suite of new measures designed to increase the richness and diversity of the Australian Public Service.