Australia’s disability employment system is failing those who need it most, according to a new Grattan Institute report.
The report, Opening doors: Better jobs and fairer wages for disabled workers, shows that despite more than $1.3 billion in annual public investment, employment results remain persistently weak – especially for people who need a lot of support.
Only 34 per cent of Australians with profound or severe disability are employed, compared to 82 per cent of non-disabled people.
When people with profound or severe disability are in work, many are paid well below the minimum wage – sometimes as little as $3.31 per hour.
Too many disabled Australians remain excluded from the workforce altogether, diverted into day programs that substitute for work, or confined to sheltered work at low pay.
The NDIS was supposed to drive improvement in disability employment rates, but progress has been slow and uneven, and few people with high support needs have been assisted into mainstream jobs.
International evidence shows that prioritising open employment is the route to better results.
This requires tailored job matching, ‘place and train’ approaches, job customisation, and dedicated pathways from school to work.
The federal government should systematically embed these features in Australia’s disability employment system.
But improved services alone will not be sufficient. Too few employers recruit, accommodate, and retain people with disability.
The government should require large employers to report publicly on how many disabled employees they have, and how many are paid sub-minimum wages.
‘Australia faces a profound choice,’ says report lead author and Grattan Institute Disability Program Director, Dr Sam Bennett.
‘We can do nothing, knowing that the consequences will be too few disabled Australians in work, and too many of them on unconscionably low wages.
‘Or we can build a more effective disability employment system, with reduced welfare payments and higher tax revenue more than offsetting the cost.
‘Our report shows that with clear policy direction from the government, and the ambition to reform the way disability employment is supported, structured, and remunerated, Australia can deliver better results while ensuring no one is left behind.’
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