Disability and accessibility
The NSW public sector is the largest employer in Australia with approximately 400,000 employees. As one in five people in NSW have disability, we need to ensure we have a workforce that is representative of our population and that leverages a large and diverse pool of talented candidates. We want to encourage full participation from people with disability in our workforce, and to retain staff that may acquire disability during the course of their employment.
How we’re doing
Based on the 2016 Workforce Profile Report, 2.8% of NSW public sector employees identified as having disability. Some progress has been made with commencement rates for people with disability in the NSW public sector being the highest in six years. Many employees also choose not to share their disability information. Factors that contribute to this include perceived social stigma, fear of discrimination, or the irrelevance of disability to the work performed.
There is more to be done to increase the representation and inclusion of people with disability in our workforce. We’ve developed several initiatives to create an equitable work environment for people with disability in the NSW public sector. These initiatives are aimed at improving workplace culture and removing barriers, as well as ensuring we are working in partnership with people with disability.
Select an initiative below to find out more:
Disabling the Barriers
Disability Employment Advisory Committee and Sub-Group
Improving workforce culture
Accessible recruitment processes and workplace adjustments
Disability Inclusion Action Plans
The Public Service Commission is also a proud member of the Australian Network on Disability, one of the leading disability employment organisations in Australia.
