Embracing disability and diversity in the workplace

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This was published 4 years ago

Embracing disability and diversity in the workplace

By Linda Moon

In a world designed for the able-bodied, wheelchair-bound senator Jordon Steele-John hasn’t let disability dampen his determination to be an active participant of the workforce.

But, as Australia’s youngest senator and Australia’s first federal senator with cerebral palsy, the 24-year-old is an exception in politics.

Jordon Steele-John: “You can’t be what you can’t see."

Jordon Steele-John: “You can’t be what you can’t see."Credit: Tony McDonough

Those with disability experience more discrimination than any other group within society. Of all discrimination cases lodged with the Australian Human Rights Commission in 2016-17, 37 per cent were on the grounds of disability.

Only 48 per cent of working-age people with a disability have a job, compared with 79 per cent of those without disability, according to 2015 ABS data.

As federal senator for Western Australia with the Australian Greens party, Steele-John is trying to change that. He’s advocated for a fully funded national disability insurance scheme and a 15 per cent quota for people with disability in the public service, and has supported the Royal Commission into violence, neglect and abuse of disabled people.

“I hear every day of disabled people who are discriminated against, abused and neglected in their workplaces or in the institutions in which they are forced to work,” he says.

One of his biggest impacts is as a role model for the disabled. “You can’t be what you can’t see,” he says.

Inclusion initiatives

Some organisations are actively embracing diversity. In 2018, Woolworths Group became the first retailer to achieve gold tier status in the Australian LGBTI Inclusion Awards, largely thanks to Rachel Mead.

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When Melbourne-based Mead "came out" as a gay woman at work in the early '90s, she was fortunate to find support from her colleagues.

“I felt they valued me as an individual,” Mead, now 45, and senior culture and people
partner for BIG W, recalls. “I wanted everyone to have that experience.”

In 2016, Mead became interested in LGBTI inclusion initiatives at BIG W.

Along with drafting the Woolworths Group gender diverse and transitioning policy and guidelines, Mead mentors an internal network of LGBTI employees and led Woolworths Group participation in the Midsumma Pride March.

She suggests those interested in promoting diversity in their workplace find an outlet where they can be involved, or create one.

“Seek out those with influence within the organisation. Bring together people passionate about what you’re trying to achieve. You achieve more when you work collaboratively,” she
says.

Martin Moore, a leadership performance expert and former CEO of CS Energy,  says diversity brings a broader perspective of experience and ways of doing things that result in a better workplace.

“Different people bring different value,” he says. “It makes society incredibly more tolerant and understanding.”

Martin Moore says diversity brings a broader perspective of experience and ways of doing things that result in a better workplace.

Martin Moore says diversity brings a broader perspective of experience and ways of doing things that result in a better workplace.

The biggest challenge is overcoming the unconscious biases we all have that automatically exclude people, Moore says.

“We hire in our own image. Because you already are top heavy with males in most organisations, they identify with and tend to hire in their own image other males.”

Moore, who founded the No Bullsh!t Leadership podcast, recommends workplaces implement a clear, measurable diversity and inclusion policy, flexible working arrangements and blind recruitment (the practice of removing names, gender and age from resumes). Also build the talent from the "bottom" up by fostering leadership skills in women and other traditionally disadvantaged groups.

“Because we’re not starting with a blank sheet of paper. We’re fighting against
historical anomalies,” he says.

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