Workforce access a win-win

Government intervention is long overdue for Western Australia’s 100,000 jobseekers with a disability.

Last month, Commonwealth, state and territory governments announced they would miss the March deadline for formally responding to the Disability Royal Commission.

Eleven of the recommendations focus on addressing the barriers people with disability face to work, spanning public sector targets and programs, legislative amendments, and wholesale system reform.

Action is imperative here.

The unemployment rate of people with disability has not shifted for two decades.

In WA, amid record levels of job creation and economic participation, unemployment is static at 11.1 per cent, more than twice that for a person without a disability (4.6 per cent).

Closing the disability employment gap benefits all. For the individual, entering the workforce can mean financial independence, a sense of purpose and pride, and attaining valued economic citizenship.

For WA, people with disability are an untapped talent market amid a critical skills and labour shortage.

Indeed, doubling down on local jobseekers should be the priority during the current housing crisis, offsetting the need to bring in migrant workers to fill vacancies.

Continued inertia also comes with a significant opportunity cost.

A recent report from the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre has revealed that increasing the employment of people with disability by 10 per cent could add $16 billion to Australia’s economic output each year.

Clear advantages aside, the human right to work is inalienable.

The state government must prioritise accepting and implementing the commissioner’s recommendations for a more inclusive labour market.

That’s especially the case for those recommendations that can be enacted with no additional cost or legislative changes, such as using social procurement to promote the employment of people with disability.

Briefly, social procurement is when organisations use their buying power to generate social value beyond the value of the goods, services or construction being procured.

The Disability Royal Commission has singled out Victoria’s framework as the gold standard to adopt.

The policy incentivises change within the private sector.

Victorian government suppliers can commit to a social outcome, such as inclusive employment practices and outcomes, as part of the tendering and procurement process.

In other words, securing public contracts could require a business to hire, engage or train a certain number of people with disability during delivery.

Since Victoria’s Social Procurement Framework was introduced, almost 1,000 jobs have been created for marginalised jobseekers, mainly for construction work.

During the first two years, road and rail builds alone generated 8,000 hours of employment for Victorians with disability, as well as 20 training placements in the transport industry.

WA’s record $43.9 billion infrastructure pipeline presents the same opportunity.

Spent wisely, that investment could unlock jobs and career pathways for people with disability, with no added pressure on the public purse.

If social procurement seems like a pipe dream, think again.

The Australian government is currently consulting on a disability procurement initiative, tied to the objectives of the National Infrastructure Investment Program.

When developing Commonwealth-funded transport projects, WA’s delivery partners and contractors may soon be expected to champion cultural change and strengthen employment opportunities for people with disability.

Meanwhile, a NSW parliamentary committee is exploring how procurement can deliver value for money while embedding greater diversity, inclusion, and innovation within the economy.

Governments may have delayed a final verdict on the Disability Royal Commission, but public sector suppliers should act now.

When it comes to social procurement, it is not a matter of if, but when.

Staying idle on disability employment means scrambling later, when WA begins exerting pressure through its supply chain for these outcomes to be achieved.

Suppliers, ask whether you know the number of people with a disability employed at your organisation, from entry level to the executive.

Ask whether you know the local disability employers you can partner with to meet any potential performance standards and targets in major contracts.

Ask whether you have a reasonable adjustments policy and an accessible recruitment and retention strategy.

Ask whether you know what constitutes indirect discrimination under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992.

Because if you do not know the answer to these questions, you are already falling behind.

Many thanks to Amy Clark, Member Council, Disability Assembly of Western Australia for her significant contribution to this article.

• Amber Crosthwaite is a commercial lawyer specialising in seniors living, aged care and disability