Life Without Barriers has welcomed Social Services Minister Paul Fletcher’s recent announcement of a new task force that aims to improve employment outcomes for Australians with disability.
The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Participant Employment Taskforce will work with NDIS participant representatives, employment service providers and related organisations and will look at how NDIS participants are best supported to seek employment, both through the NDIS and through existing mainstream services such as Disability Employment Services.
We want people with a disability to have the opportunity to work if they can. Life Without Barriers recently joined with many of our disability service provider colleagues to launch Alliance20, which will collaborate on solutions to improve the NDIS – and boosting work outcomes for NDIS participants was one of the key issues that we wanted to be addressed.
According to Minister Fletcher, about 14 per cent of working age people in Australia have a disability but people with disability comprise only 9 per cent of the workforce.