20 April 2011

More disability for the ACT Public Service

| johnboy
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Chief Minister Stanhope has proudly announced a new employment strategy to double the number of disabled employees of the ACT public service to 700.

The target would be achieved through training and mentoring programs and through the earmarking of dedicated jobs for employees with disabilities across the service.

Mr Stanhope said while 16 per cent of working-age Australians identified as having a disability they made up just 1.6 per cent of the total ACT public service workforce – a figure that was unacceptably low.

“People with disabilities can sometimes be overlooked by employers who are unable to recognise the great experiences that can result from welcoming them as co-workers, clients and customers,” Mr Stanhope said. “Through this strategy, the Government wants to challenge stereotypes and encourage a workplace where people see beyond a person’s disability, to focus instead on their abilities.

“It is also very much in the Government’s interests to employ a workforce that better represents the diversity of our community, because such a workforce is better placed to understand and respond to the community it serves.”

Readers will no doubt be thrilled to learn the strategy glories in the title of “Employment Strategy for People with Disability 2011-2015”.

The Greens’ Amanda Bresnan in turn is pleased but points out it was just September 2010 when Mr Stanhope rejected the need for targets.

The Greens received Liberal support to pass a motion calling for the establishing of targets in September 2010, a move the Chief Minister initially rejected.

“The falling employment rate of people with disabilities in the ACT Public Service over the last two decades has been shameful. People with disabilities make up around 17% of our community, but only 1.5% of our ACT Public Service,” Ms Bresnan said.

Both of them neglect the issue that many people reporting as disabled have moved over from long term unemployment as centrelink has tightened up, although we hasten to add that this is by no means universal

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colourful sydney racing identity8:04 am 21 Apr 11

LSWCHP said :

Hang on.

The OP states “…and through the earmarking of dedicated jobs for employees with disabilities across the service.” My interpretation of that statement is that some jobs will actually be reserved, not for the most suitable individual, but for the most suitable *disabled* individual.

Did I read that right?

No matter how tough disabled people may be doing, bypassing the best person for a job in favour of the best disabled person sounds like The Wrong Thing To Do.

It really depends on what sort of society you want. If you want to go down the path of a corrupted Darwininan ‘survival of the fittest’ society then you are right.

However, if you, like me, recognise that we don’t all start from an equal point and some people need more assistance than others to secure employment and contribute fully to society than there is nothing wrong with this.

That might explain why there is an extrordinarilly high number of Disabled car spots in the staff carpark of the new multi story carpark, at the Canberra Hospital.

Hang on.

The OP states “…and through the earmarking of dedicated jobs for employees with disabilities across the service.” My interpretation of that statement is that some jobs will actually be reserved, not for the most suitable individual, but for the most suitable *disabled* individual.

Did I read that right?

No matter how tough disabled people may be doing, bypassing the best person for a job in favour of the best disabled person sounds like The Wrong Thing To Do.

Just offer them soap in their toilets, that’d get disabled NU students interested in a job. Shamelessly cross linking post:)

georgesgenitals6:16 pm 20 Apr 11

la mente torbida said :

tongue in cheek…removed i would like to apologise for any offence caused

My first reaction was to laugh.

Does Stanhope count?

I think i read that 20 per cent of the population has a disability – 700 looks like tokenism still …

willo said :

umm…..i work in the act public service and just today recieved an email detailing a proposed recruitment freeze by stanhope……so how is he going to meet this target if he is not going to recruit anyone at all?

Wait for current employees to age and start falling apart and developing disabilities? Drive people insane with the stupidity of the policies they are required to implement?

la mente torbida4:47 pm 20 Apr 11

tongue in cheek…removed i would like to apologise for any offence caused

umm…..i work in the act public service and just today recieved an email detailing a proposed recruitment freeze by stanhope……so how is he going to meet this target if he is not going to recruit anyone at all?

colourful sydney racing identity4:25 pm 20 Apr 11

la mente torbida said :

just reclassify some of the existing employees i’ve dealt with…targets met

Well done. you have managed to insult both the abled and the disabled with a single post. Go get yourself a lollypop.

la mente torbida3:52 pm 20 Apr 11

just reclassify some of the existing employees i’ve dealt with…targets met

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