New hub to provide resources to enhance employment services, support for PWSs and employers
The Australian government has announced the establishment of a new Disability Employment Centre of Excellence aimed at improving employment outcomes for people with disability.
The $22.1-million initiative, awarded to Swinburne University of Technology and its consortium partners, will provide resources and training to enhance employment services and support for both people with disability and employers.
Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth emphasised the importance of the Centre in transforming disability employment in Australia.
In order to deliver real change to disability employment in Australia, we need evidence of effective service approaches and what works to reduce the barriers preventing the participation of people with disability in the workforce, Rishworth said in a statement.
The Centre of Excellence, set to begin in March 2025 and run through to 2027-28, will centralise access to evidence-based resources for employment service providers.
These resources will focus on best practices and innovative strategies to improve the quality of services offered to job seekers with disability.
Improving employment outcomes for PWDs
Professor Karen Hapgood, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research at Swinburne University, added that the partnership will help shape a fairer and more inclusive culture for disability employment.
Our vision for the Centre of Excellence is to provide best-practice, evidence-based information that can bring people and technology together for a better world, Hapgood said in a statement.
By harnessing the collective expertise, knowledge and resources of those with lived experience, their families, researchers, service providers, employers and industry bodies, we can help providers improve employment outcomes for people with disability.
The centre's consortium includes Inclusion Australia, Family Advocacy, Disability Employment Australia, National Disability Services, and the University of Melbourne.
The Centre of Excellence will serve as a hub for disability employment resources, drawing on both national and international research to provide tools and training for service providers. It is expected that a dedicated online hub will launch by September 2025.
Disability employment in Australia
Labour force participation rates for people with disability have historically been lower than those for the general population, and recent data underscores the continuing challenges in achieving equitable employment outcomes.
According to the 2022 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC), the labour force participation rate for people with disability aged 15-64 was 60.5%, a significant increase from 53.4% in 2018. However, this rate still lags behind the 84.9% participation rate for people without disability.
Employment outcomes also remain disproportionately low for people with disability.
In 2022, 56.1% of people with disability were employed, compared to 82.3% of those without disability, according to the SDAC.
Full-time employment was also less common for people with disability, with just 33.4% employed full-time, compared to 57.9% of people without disability.
Unemployment rates for people with disability were more than double those for people without disability, according to the data.
In 2022, the unemployment rate for people with disability was 7.5%, a decrease from 10.3% in 2018, but still significantly higher than the 3.1% rate for people without disability.
https://www.hcamag.com/au/specialisation/diversity-inclusion/australia-to-launch-centre-of-excellence-to-boost-disability-employment/522352
