At Life Without Barriers we’re deeply committed to providing more people with disability with meaningful job opportunities and maintaining an inclusive, accessible workplace so they can thrive in their role.
That’s why we have launched our next Accessibility, Inclusion and Employment Plan, or AIEP, which includes new ambitious employment targets: 12% new hires and 9% across our organisation by 2020.
“People with disability are twice as likely to be unemployed and are missing out on the personal, social and financial benefits that work provides,” Life Without Barriers Chief Executive Claire Robbs said.
“And conversely, we as employers are missing out on the unique contributions and perspectives that people with disability can give our workplaces.”
It builds on the impressive results of our 2017-2018 Plan, where we employed 153 new staff in roles across the breadth of our organisation, placed 11 interns through the Australian Network on Disability’s Stepping Into Internships program, and achieved a 10% improvement in our accessibility and inclusion policies, processes and practices, as measured through the Australian Network on Disability’s Access and Inclusion Index.
“We hope sharing our Accessibility, Inclusion and Employment plan encourages other organisations and agencies to develop their own frameworks for fostering inclusive workplaces as well as holding ourselves accountable for the commitments we are making to people with disability,” Ms Robb said.
Studies have long shown that people with disability work harder, make more reliable employees and are likely to stay longer in an organisation than the general workforce.
