In the lead up to the Victorian election on 24 November, Vision Australia is urging the government to commit to improving disability employment in the Victorian Public Service (VPS) by allocating two graduate positions per year to people with disability.
Vision Australia held an event at Parliament of Victoria on Thursday 20 September to present its election priorities focusing on improving access to employment, transport and the NDIS.
Vision Australia Manager of Government Relations Chris Edwards said it’s well known people with disability still remain significantly underrepresented in Australian workforces with figures showing someone who is blind or has low vision is more than 4.4 times likely to be unemployed.
In particular, the transition from finishing tertiary studies to securing employment is extremely challenging for graduates with disability.
“Finding work is challenging for any graduate but it’s even worse for those with disability who are often overlooked when they are competing against their peers without disability,” Chris said.
“We want to create more employment opportunities for people with disability, and our government has a real opportunity to take leadership on this matter.”
Minister for Housing, Disability and Ageing Hon Martin Foley MP, Vision Australia CEO Ron Hooton and Fiona Patten MLC
Vision Australia client Neslihan Sari is lending her story and face to the cause. The PTV paralegal is an Ambassador for VicHealth’s This Girl Can campaign tackling the barriers holding women back from sport but faced substantial barriers in looking for employment.
“Even though I had the skills and qualifications for the jobs I applied for, I kept being scrutinised by employers who assumed I wouldn’t be able to succeed because of my low vision,” Neslihan said.
“After completing my studies, I felt like I fell into the deep end. I was considered a valid and capable candidate but I was constantly being thrown into the ‘too hard’ basket.
“It was always so challenging to have to always try and convince potential employers how I planned to do the role irrespective of my blindness.”
However, Neslihan defended her capabilities, and subsequently led a successful career, an opportunity she hopes all people with disability will be afforded especially if there were two dedicated graduate roles within the public sector for people with disability.
The State Government recently set a six percent disability employment target for their workplaces but in order to help meet this target specific measures need to be implemented.
“Along with the graduate roles, we are asking the government to make a commitment to only having accessible information and communications technology (ICT) in the workplaces,” Chris said.
“For people who are blind or have low vision, access to software, systems and equipment like printers is only possible if they are accessible.
“If the VPS was to commit to making sure all their ICT was accessible this would go a long way in ensuring more people with disability could be employed.”
The full list of Vision Australia’s election priorities including policies to maintain and expand the multi-purpose taxi program, introduce audio announcements on buses and ensure Victorians with disability are not disadvantaged by the NDIS can be viewed here.