Outcome Area 1 - Employment and Financial Security
People with disability have economic security, enabling them to plan for the future, and exercise choice and control over their lives.
On this page
Action 1
Increase employment opportunities across all levels in the South Australian public sector through the targeting of job opportunities for people with disability under Section 65 of the Public Sector Act 2009 (SA) which provides for employment opportunity programs.
The Office of the Commissioner for Public Sector Employment leads this action.
This action is considered completed and ongoing.
Progress throughout 2023
The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Strategy 2023–2026 (the Strategy) was launched with 8 deliverables specifically focussed on improving disability employment outcomes, including the introduction of a minimum disability employment target of 3% across the public sector by December 2026. The Strategy seeks to engage with disability employment service providers to build partnerships that attract and retain employees with a disability; and create employment pathways to increase engagement and participation of neurodivergent employees.
In addition, a review of the Guideline of the Commissioner for Public Sector Employment: Recruitment (PDF 1MB) began in 2023 to identify opportunities for increasing public sector employment of people with disability. A final report with associated recommendations will be available in 2024.
Case study – Enhancing culture and recruitment practices in local council
From July to October 2023 the City of Charles Sturt, in partnership with Multicultural Communities Council of SA, welcomed a young person with a disability from a Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) background to join a 12-week Accessible Tourism project internship. This project was co-designed by people with a disability and employer representatives and aimed at enhancing the culture and recruitment practices of employers to create positive and inclusive workplaces for CALD people with a disability.
Case study – Expansion of the Work Ready Release Ready program
The Department for Correctional Services is expanding the Work Ready, Release Ready program, a rehabilitation program that supports people in prison to transition to community with a focus on vocational and training needs. The program assists people with complex and/or disability needs and will have greater culturally appropriate support for Aboriginal people.
Action 2
Implement the South Australian Public Sector Disability Strategy 2019-2023 and develop new strategies to create a more inclusive, accessible, safe, and informed public sector.
All State Government agencies lead this action.
This action is in progress.
- 35% completed and ongoing
- 55% in progress
- 10% not yet started.
Progress throughout 2023
The Department of the Premier and Cabinet (DPC) continues to maintain an alumni partnership with JobAccess to access all DPC vacancies and broadcast them to South Australian Disability Employment Service Providers. In addition, DPC’s online recruitment module — DPC Connect — enables the department to report on candidate attraction and monitor applicants with disability.
The Department for Education introduced the SBS Disability Inclusion online learning modules in the department’s Learning Management System and the induction program which replaces outdated training. An independent review of the department’s recruitment processes and templates by JobAccess, from the advertising stage through to induction, was undertaken and a disability demographic question was included into the MyWellbeing survey to inform monitoring and reporting capability within the department, and to assess the employee experience for people with disability.
As part of the SA Housing Authority's Employment Pathways Program commitment outlined in 'Our Housing Future 2020–2030', the South Australian Housing Authority is delivering up to 1,000 employment and training outcomes for social housing tenants, including those on the housing register and recipients of Housing SA private rental assistance.
Action 3
Encourage an increase in the number of people living with disability on South Australian Government boards and committees through the implementation of the BoardingCall Communication Strategy.
The Department of the Premier and Cabinet leads this action.
This action is considered completed and ongoing.
Progress throughout 2023
The Department of the Premier and Cabinet has continued to promote BoardingCall across the Government of South Australia and the South Australian community, including people with disability to encourage increased registrations on boards and committees coordinated by State Government agencies.
Action 4
Continue to work collaboratively with the Commonwealth Government and the National Disability Insurance Agency to develop strategies to support a diverse disability workforce, including within regional South Australia.
The Department of Human Services leads this action.
This action is in progress.
Progress throughout 2023
The Department of Human Services (DHS) has continued to represent South Australia at the National Disability Reform Minister’s Council meetings and work directly with the National Disability Insurance Agency Executive Steering Committee to focus on market and workforce initiatives, including initiatives that improve outcomes for Aboriginal people with disability living in rural and remote areas.
DHS continued to engage with disability providers to understand workforce needs and challenges and where appropriate, has escalated matters to the Executive Steering Committee and national forums. DHS also continues to work with the Commonwealth and state and territory governments to consider recommendations arising from the NDIS Review that focus on attracting, retaining and training the disability workforce.
Action 5
Develop data measures to track the percentage of people living with disability who are employed in South Australian Government and local councils.
The Office of the Commissioner for Public Sector Employment and local councils lead this action.
This action is in progress.
- 22% completed and ongoing
- 48% in progress
- 30% not yet started
Progress throughout 2023
The Office of the Commissioner for Public Sector Employment is looking at opportunities to enhance data collection on disability across the public sector workforce. Consultation continues with the disability community and sector to support the development of disability-related questions in the 2024 People Matter Employee Survey.
The Town of Gawler is a current member of Diversity Council Australia (DCA) and participated in the DCA Inclusive Employer Index. Survey results show 7% of the workforce has a disability, compared to the Australian Workforce benchmark of 9.4% and the DCA member average of 6.7%. The Town of Gawler was granted Inclusive Employer Status for demonstrating an active commitment to inclusion, and its ongoing membership in DCA assists in achieving its diversity and inclusion goals.
The City of Onkaparinga updated its Diversity Policy and disability recruitment targets to reflect local representative population statistics and explored ways to identify existing workforce with disability and determine reasonable workforce representation for this cohort based on the population.
The City of Playford completed a Diversity survey to collect workforce diversity data on employees including those who identify as a person with disability. With a 48% completion rate, the survey indicated that 6% of the workforce identified as a person with disability.
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