People are only disabled by our response to them

In a world where businesses increasingly compete through innovation, we cannot afford to have a proportion of the population excluded from participating and contributing their ideas.

The Government provides assistance to job seekers with a disability through specialised disability employment assistance providers and through the Job Network. But there is a cap on how much money the Government is willing to pay for specialised assistance.

Less than 4 per cent of people working in the Australian Public Service (APS) have identified themselves as having a disability. The Government has an opportunity to lead by example and make jobs in the APS more accessible to people with a disability.

The most important way to improve employment opportunities and pay for people with a disability is to increase their access to education. Disability is still not a priority in federal education spending, despite the fact that people with a disability are significantly under-represented in post-school education.

Students with a disability represent just 3 per cent of Australian university students, whilst Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show that 20 per cent of Australians report a disability.

The proportion of people identifying themselves as having a disability is increasing because of the ageing of the population.

The Government has the opportunity to put renewed effort into helping people with a disability to participate more fully in community life. Not by government programmes dictating how that should happen, but by sitting down with people who have a disability and working out a flexible system to address the barriers that persist.