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DREAM resources for employers
Reasonable adjustments
An introduction for employers
To ensure people with disability are treated equally and are included in your workplace, you might need to make reasonable adjustments. It is important to have an open and honest conversation with your employees about their access needs and how you can provide for them.
DREAM resources for young people with disability
A young person’s guide to discrimination at work
Knowing your rights
As a young person with disability, you are protected by the Disability Discrimination Act. This makes it illegal for employers to treat you unfairly, or differently from your non-disabled peers, or to refuse to make reasonable adjustments in your workplace.
Talking about your access needs to an employer
Communicating with confidence
You might already know what your access needs are, or you might have a new job and aren’t sure how accessible your workplace is. If you are a wheelchair user, your employer might need to provide accessible parking, or rearrange furniture. If you are blind or have low vision and work with computers, you might need large print materials or screen reading technology.
What young people with disability say about employment
Here's what young people said about financial security and employment
To understand the experiences and perspectives of young people with disability in employment, CYDA hosted a LivedX consultation with nine participants in September 2021.
Key findings:
Young people discussed the significant barriers to meaningful employment, including:
- the low expectations employers have for young people with disability
- poor attitudes by employers and disability employment service provider staff
- overall lack of accessibility and flexibility in most workplaces
Young people shared ideas and solutions to improve employment outcomes for their cohort. These included:
- improved accountability systems for employment programs
- better education and training for both young people with disability and employers
- employers and employment service provider staff
- improved and increased pathways for young people to gain meaningful employment
Calls to action:
- the Australian Government must protect the employment rights of young people
- government at all levels should invest in those creating successful employment service outcomes
- the Australian Government should ensure employment programs address systemic barriers to employment and incentivise supporting the needs of individual jobseekers
- government at all levels should deliver consistent post-school transition supports for students with disability
- tertiary institutions should support students with disability to get work after graduating
Here’s what young people with disability said about Employment
The National Youth Disability Summit hosted by Children and Young People with Disability Australia (CYDA) was the first event of its kind in Australia and took place online for 5 days between 29 September and 3 October 2020.
Over 250 young people with disability attended. These are the key findings on Employment and Identity.
Key points
- young people with disability are one of the most disadvantaged groups in the labour market
- young people with disability in the labour force are more than twice as likely to be unemployed than older adults with disability
- employment has been identified as important to young peoples’ wellbeing and identity
- unemployment and underemployment negatively affects mental health outcomes
- accommodating and inclusive employers disability has a positive impact on the outcomes of young people with disability
- young people with disability have a right to ‘Meaningful Employment’. Meaningful employment means that people with and without disability can work together in regular jobs across all industries and they are paid an equitable income.
- it’s the regular job market, where people apply for jobs or set up their own businesses to earn an income and pay for the things they need.
- you can read more about this from Inclusion Australia. They call this open employment and have a wide range of resources available on employment here
- young people with disability are to be an integral part in system change
Key themes and findings
Identity
- Employers must provide more opportunities for young people with disability to pursue their diverse interests and celebrate their diverse identities through work.
Enablers
- Employers need to actively include young people with disability in decisions about their employment.
- Flexibility and pathways to participate in all aspects of employment are vital for young people with disability.
Barriers
- When employers don’t listen to young people and make ableist assumptions young people, they do not receive supports that they need to succeed in employment.
Solutions
- Young people with disability want systemic change when it comes to employment, and they want to lead this change.
- Employers need to provide inclusive and accessible pathways into employment for young people
Social movement
- Young people identified the need to address power imbalances and take a human rights approach to employment.
Calls to action
Governments
- Increase targeted, evidence-based interventions addressing the negative and misinformed attitudes of employers. The development of these strategies must include the meaningful involvement of young people with disability.
- Provide an adequate safety net for young people with disability that reflects the contemporary cost-of-living.
- Invest in the research and development of creative employment opportunities for young people with disability. Meaningfully include young people in research design, implementation and evaluation processes.
Organisations and employers
- Recognise the insights, experiences, skills and value young people with disability bring.
- Review and change hiring processes to make sure they are safe and inclusive. If unsure, reach out to youth representative and advocacy organisations for guidance.
- Offer information and suggestions around supports available for young people with disability at work. If unsure, reach out to youth representative and advocacy organisations for guidance.
- Proactively reach out to young employees to ask how they may be best supported, and then follow through and provide those supports.
- Leverage learnings from COVID-19 to offer roles that have working-from-home or flexible hours options.
CYDA's research and reports on employment
Useful links
For young people and employers
For young people
For employers
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