Download Fragment

Tuesday, 16 August 2011
Page: 4560

Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs: Staffing

(Question No. 621)

Senator Siewert asked the Minister representing the Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, upon notice, on 27 April 2011:

With reference to the department and the agencies within the Minister's portfolio:

(1) What is the total number of staff currently employed.

(2) What is the total number of staff with a disability currently employed.

(3) What policies or programs are in place to encourage the recruitment of people with a disability.

(4) What retention strategies are in place for people with a disability.

(5) What career pathways or plans are on offer for people with a disability; if none, why.

(6) Are there any specific targets for recruitment and retention; if not, why not.

(7) What policies, programs or services are there to support staff with a disability.

(8) Can details be provided of any policies, programs, services or plans currently under development within the department and its agencies, concerning the employment of people with a disability.

Senator Arbib: The Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs has provided the following answer to the honourable senator's question:

(1) As at 27 April 2011, the total number of staff employed in the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) and the portfolio agencies was 4,462.

(2) As at 27 April 2011, the number of staff in FaHCSIA who have disclosed their disability was 173. The total number of staff employed in the Department and the portfolio agencies, who have disclosed their disability was 192. Disclosure of their disability is optional for staff.

(3) FaHCSIA has in place a policy for the Recruitment and Retention of People with Disability, a Reasonable Adjustment Policy and the principles of reasonable adjustment are included in recruitment guidelines. FaHCSIA advertises job vacancies with Disability Works Australia, posts information about graduate opportunities on the Career Hub Central internet site, sends graduate opportunities to the Disability Access Coordinators across Australian Universities, and gives presentations to students with disability at universities in Canberra.

In addition to this, FaHCSIA has an 18 month Pilot Traineeship for People with Intellectual Disability, participates in the 'Stepping Into' internship program which provides work experience placements in FaHCSIA for university students with disability that are in their final year of an undergraduate degree and participates in the Paralympic Diversity Workplace Program.

FaHCSIA is also providing disability awareness training sessions to selection panels.

The programs and services available to staff with disability in the portfolio agencies vary depending on the size of the agency. Most of the smaller agencies adopt an individualised approach to supporting staff with disability, while other agencies stated that disability programs and services are captured in broader human resource (HR) management strategies. However, all portfolio agencies promote diversity in their recruitment processes and access professional services and support for staff with disability, such as workplace modification through the provision of reasonable adjustment services, or adopting a buddy system to support staff with disability. The following comments specifically relate to FaHCSIA, unless otherwise stated.

(4) In addition to the strategies mentioned previously in the answer to question (3), FaHCSIA has the strategies outlined below to assist with retention.

In 2009, a Mentoring Program was implemented to assist FaHCSIA employees with disability to achieve their professional aspirations and goals. As at 27 April 2011, FaHCSIA has approximately 50 employees trained with specific skills to mentor people with disability.

FaHCSIA conducts disability awareness training in partnership with the Australian Network on Disability, the ACT Deafness Resource Centre, beyondblue and Epilepsy ACT. Disability awareness training is also offered to employees, managers and individual work areas on request.

FaHCSIA has a range of other products and services in place to provide ongoing support to staff with disability. These include the provision of a Disability Access Coordinator, which is a designated position that provides an advocacy role for staff with disability in FaHCSIA and the use of centralised funds to cover reasonable adjustment costs.

FaHCSIA has established a senior disability champion role. This role is filled by a Deputy Secretary. The champion promotes disability awareness throughout the organisation and holds lunchbox sessions with employees with disability on a quarterly basis. The lunchbox sessions provide employees with disability an opportunity to consult with the champion on a range of issues and solutions.

The FaHCSIA Leadership disAbility Group (FLAG) is an employee stakeholder group with an interest in disability, with participation open to all staff in FaHCSIA. The vision of the group is to 'advance the status of employees with disability across the whole Department and build FaHCSIA's leadership in this area'.

A network for staff with a hearing impairment was established in 2008, where employees guide FaHCSIA on better practice around hearing services and procedures.

(5) All FaHCSIA employees, including staff with disability, can access career development planning within the context of FaHCSIA's Performance Management System. Career or development needs are identified for an individual employee's specific requirements. FaHCSIA's traineeship program for people with intellectual disability provided an opportunity for trainees to have on and off the job training and on successful completion they were permanently appointed to FaHCSIA.

(6) As at 27 April 2011, the total number of staff employed in the Department was 3454 and the percentage of staff in FaHCSIA who have identified as having a disability was 5.01 per cent (173), by comparison to the Australian Public Service (APS) average of 3.1 per cent from the State of the Service Report 2009-2010.

FaHCSIA and the portfolio agencies do not have specific targets for recruitment and retention, but have a range of strategies in place to promote and support the recruitment and retention of people with disability. These are described at (3) and (4) above.

(7) FaHCSIA has a range of policies, products and services in place to support the recruitment of people with disability. A number of these policies, programs and services have previously been outlined in the answers to questions (3), (4) and (6).

FaHCSIA has two policies that guide the recruitment and retention of people with disabilities. The Recruitment and Retention of People with Disability Policy outlines FaHCSIA's processes for the recruitment and retention of people with disability to promote the inclusion of people with disability, and the Reasonable Adjustment Policy addresses the implementation of reasonable adjustment through attraction, recruitment, retention and professional development.

In addition to the policies and programs previously outlined in the answers to questions (3), (4) and (6), FaHCSIA offers a range of services to ensure accessibility for people with disability including a National Car Parking Policy which supports employees to access their workplace. A case management service is offered to employees with disabilities. This service assists the employee to obtain reasonable adjustment and effective job design.

FaHCSIA remains an active member of the Australian Public Service Commission Disability Steering Group. This group is attended by HR practitioners from across multiple agencies that identify and progress APS-wide initiatives on disability and provides opportunities for FaHCSIA to share information about the traineeship and other FaHCSIA employment and support initiatives.

FaHCSIA follows the mandatory requirements of the Australian Government Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. The FaHCSIA website is generally rated at double A (highest possible level of accessibility is triple A). Some documents are published in more than one format. Web pages are made available in HTML format for the greatest level of accessibility where feasible.

(8) FaHCSIA's policies, programs and services concerning the employment of staff with disability have been previously outlined in the answers to Questions (3) to (7). FaHCSIA regularly reviews these policies to ensure they remain up to date and aligned to other HR policies and programs.