. Chapter 13 The diversity and complexity of disability Theresa Smith-Ruig Copyright  2010 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs to accompany Strachan, French and Burgess, Managing Diversity 13-1

. Defining disability The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS 2003) defines a disabled person as anyone who has experienced a limitation, restriction or impairment that has lasted, or is likely to last, for at least six months and restricts everyday activities. The ABS identifies five disability groups: –sensory or speech –intellectual –physical –psychological –head injury, stroke or other brain damage. Disabled people vary widely in several important respects, including the type of their disability, the severity and longevity of their disability (temporary versus permanent) and the extent to which their environment influences their disability. Copyright  2010 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs to accompany Strachan, French and Burgess, Managing Diversity 13-2

. Statistics on the incidence of disability Nearly one in five Australians has some form of disability. Of those with a disability: –83.9 per cent had a physical condition –11.3 per cent had mental and behavioural disorders –4.8 per cent had intellectual and developmental disorders (ABS 2003). Copyright  2010 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs to accompany Strachan, French and Burgess, Managing Diversity 13-3

. Employment statistics Only 49 per cent of people with a disability are employed compared with 77 per cent of the non-disabled population (ABS 2006). According to the ABS (2003), people with disabilities were more likely to work part- time (37%) compared with non-disabled people (29%). Copyright  2010 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs to accompany Strachan, French and Burgess, Managing Diversity 13-4

. Nature of disability According to the ABS (2003): The nature of the disability influenced participation rates. For example, people with sensory disabilities (i.e. vision or hearing) were more likely to be participating in the labour market (54%) than those with psychological disabilities (28%). 58 per cent of working-age people with a disability who were not in the labour force reported being permanently unable to work. The majority (52%) of this group were aged 55 years or older. Some disability groups had higher rates of reported permanent incapacity to work than others – 48 per cent of people with a psychological disability reported being permanently unable to work, compared with 28 per cent of those with a sensory disability (ABS 2006). Copyright  2010 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs to accompany Strachan, French and Burgess, Managing Diversity 13-5

. Comparison of international disability legislation Thornton and Lunt (1997) identified four main types of legislation influencing the employment of people with disabilities: Compulsory employer-based legislation, i.e. Germany and France require organisations to employ a certain quota or percentage of disabled people. Human rights and anti-discrimination legislation, i.e. Americans with Disabilities Act 1990, Disability Discrimination Act 1992 in Australia, UK Disability Discrimination Act Employer requirements for diversity reporting, i.e. in the UK schedule 7 (part 3) of the Companies Act 1985 requires organisations with more than 250 employees to issue a public statement in their annual report regarding their approach to the employment of people with a disability. Laws offering protection against dismissal, i.e. such laws exist in Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden. Copyright  2010 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs to accompany Strachan, French and Burgess, Managing Diversity 13-6

. Disability legislation in Australia The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA) has a section on the rights and obligations of both employees with a disability and employers. Following the introduction of the DDA, organisations and institutions have been encouraged to lodge Disability Action Plans (DAP) with the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC). Lodging plans is a voluntary decision for all organisations except Commonwealth government agencies. The action plans often detail disability initiatives relating to staff and customers of the organisation as well as the broader community. More than 500 plans have been lodged on the AHRC website and are accessible to the public. Copyright  2010 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs to accompany Strachan, French and Burgess, Managing Diversity 13-7

. Disability research According to Thanem (2008), the research on disability has focused on three broad areas: Discussing disability in relation to the business case for diversity management Research into the role and treatment of disabled people in organisations Exploring the barriers faced by disabled people in organisational life Copyright  2010 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs to accompany Strachan, French and Burgess, Managing Diversity 13-8

. Disability research (cont.) According to Graffam et al. (2002a, 2002b), the Institute of Disability Studies surveyed 643 Australian employers of people with a disability and found that there were some financial benefits to employing people with disabilities: First, in relation to making workplace adjustments for employees with a disability, 65 per cent of employers rated the financial effect to be cost-neutral and 20 per cent identified an overall financial benefit. The average recruitment cost of an employee with a disability was 13 per cent of the average recruitment cost of a non-disabled employee. Copyright  2010 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs to accompany Strachan, French and Burgess, Managing Diversity 13-9

. Disability research (cont.) Employees with a disability averaged one-sixth the recorded occupational health and safety incidents of employees without a disability. Ninety per cent of employees with a disability recorded productivity rates equal to or greater than other workers. Ninety per cent of employers who had recently employed a person with a disability indicated that they would be happy to continue to employ people with a disability, and 78 per cent of employers described the match between their employee with a disability and the job as good. Copyright  2010 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs to accompany Strachan, French and Burgess, Managing Diversity 13-10

. Barriers to employment Research has identified that discrimination against disabled people is a major barrier to employment, and occurs as a result of: negative stereotyping stigmatisation negative bias anxiety resentment by fellow workers (Colella & Stone 2005; Bruyêre 2000; Jones 1997). Copyright  2010 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs to accompany Strachan, French and Burgess, Managing Diversity 13-11

. Questions for future research More research is needed in order to determine the answers to these questions: What are the employment experiences of people with disabilities in Australia? Is there a business case for employing people with a disability? Will the increased focus on corporate social responsibility be a driver for organisations to enhance the employment of disabled people? Does Australia need more prescriptive legislative requirements to force employers to be more proactive in the employment of people with disabilities (as is the case in Europe)? Copyright  2010 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs to accompany Strachan, French and Burgess, Managing Diversity 13-12