employment issues paper - easy read version · web view2020-05-11 · easy read version . 12 may...
TRANSCRIPT
Issues Paper
Employment
Easy Read version
12 May 2020
How to use this issues paper
The Disability Royal Commission (the Royal Commission) wrote this
issues paper.
When you see the word ‘we’, it means the Royal Commission.
We have written this issues paper in an easy to read way.
We have written some words in bold.
We explain what these words mean.
There is a list of these words on page 17.
This Easy Read issues paper is a summary of another issues paper.
You can find the other issues paper on our website.
You can ask for help to read this issues paper.
A friend, family member or support person may be able to help you.
An issue is a subject or problem that people are thinking and
talking about.
We have written this issues paper to find out what you and the
community think about some issues.
There are some questions in this issues paper.
You don’t need to answer all our questions.
Our questions are just a guide.
Page 1
What’s in this issues paper?
What is the Royal Commission about? 3
What is this issues paper about? 4
What we want to know more about 5
The rights of people with disability 7
Finding and keeping a job in Australia 9
Employment programs and policies 12
Laws, policies and ways of working 13
How to tell us your answers 15
How will we use your answers? 16
Word list 17
Page 2
What is the Royal Commission about?
This Royal Commission is called the Royal Commission into Violence,
Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability.
We call it the Royal Commission.
We need the Royal Commission because we know that people with
disability experience:
violence – if someone is hurting you physically
abuse – if someone is treating you badly
neglect – if someone is not helping you the way they are
supposed to help you
exploitation – if someone is taking advantage of you.
Page 3
What is this issues paper about?
This issues paper is about employment.
Employment means you:
have a job
go to work
get paid.
Being employed can be very good for people with disability.
People with disability who work:
feel good about themselves
have something to do each day
connect with other people
earn their own money
can pay for things they need.
People with disability who work and earn their own money:
can do more on their own and for themselves
are more included in the community
can be kept safer from:
o violence
o abuse
o neglect
o exploitation.
But there are many barriers that stop people with disability from
finding employment.
Page 4
What we want to know more about
We want to know more about the experience of people with disability:
when they look for a job
when they get their first job
while they work
when they change their job
when they leave a job.
We also want to know about:
chances people with disability have been given to learn more and
develop new skills
how they have grown during their career.
Your career is the path you take in your work throughout your life.
We also want to find out what employers are doing to help people with
disability find and keep jobs.
We want to hear from:
people with disability
family members
support workers
organisations
employers.
Page 5
We want to hear from people with disability who work.
We want you to tell us about different times in your life, such as
when you:
got your first job
changed jobs
were ready to retire.
When you retire you stop working because of:
your age
how many years you have worked.
Questions to think about Workplaces are any place you work, such as:
an office
a factory
a shop.
In workplaces, do people with disability experience:
violence?
abuse?
neglect?
exploitation?
What helps keep people with disability safe in their workplaces?
How can people with disability have a good career in
Australian workplaces?
Page 6
The rights of people with disability
Rights are rules about how everybody should be treated fairly.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
(UN Convention) is an international agreement.
It applies in many different countries around the world.
The UN Convention sets out the rights of people with disability.
It explains how people with disability should be treated fairly.
The UN Convention says people with disability:
have the right to work
have the right to earn their own money.
The UN Convention says workplaces should be:
open inclusive accessible.
If a workplace is open, people with disability and people without disability
can all work there.
If something is inclusive, everyone can take part.
When something is accessible, everyone can use it.
Things that can be made accessible include:
places and buildings
transport
services
information
websites.
People with disability can have different experiences based on:Page 7
their age
their sex – whether their body is male or female
their gender identity who they love or are attracted to.
Your gender identity is what you feel and understand about who you
are as a person.
It isn’t about whether your body is male or female.
We often say LGBTIQ when we talk about people with different:
gender identities
sexual orientations.
The letters stand for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer
and questioning.
Question to think about
What are the employment experiences of:
women with disability?
LGBTIQ people with disability?
Page 8
Finding and keeping a job in Australia
In Australia, it is harder for people with disability to find and keep a job
than people without disability.
People with disability who work often make less money than people
without disability.
More people without disability work full-time than people with disability.
Questions to think about What stops people with disability from finding and keeping a job?
What is it like for employers to:
give jobs to people with disability?
keep people with disability in those jobs?
What is good about employing people with disability?
What is hard about employing people with disability?
How have workplaces changed to help employ people with disability?
How do workplaces still need to change?
What ideas do you have for employing more people with disability?
What else affects the experience of people with disability?
People with disability can also have different experiences if they:
come from different cultures and backgrounds
speak languages other than English
are First Nations people.
First Nations people are also known as Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people.
Page 9
First Nations people with disability
First Nations people with disability face other barriers, such
as discrimination.
Discrimination is when someone is treated badly because of something
about them they can’t change.
Some First Nations people with disability find it hard to get and keep a
job.
Some First Nations people with disability live far away from a town or
city.
This can make it hard for them to get transport to and from work.
Questions to think about What is the employment experience of First Nations people with
disability?
How are their employment experiences different at different times in
their life?
People with disability from other cultures and backgrounds
People with disability from other cultures and backgrounds face other
barriers too, such as:
workplaces aren’t inclusive of people who speak languages other
than English
different ideas about what type of work people should do
the education or training they had before they came to Australia
discrimination.
Question to think about What are the employment experiences of people with disability from
different cultures and backgrounds?
Page 10
Employment programs and policies
In Australia, we have programs and policies that help people with
disability find employment.
Policies are government plans for how to do things.
They include:
the Australian Government’s Disability Employment Services
(DES) – support for people with disability to find employment
the Employment Assistance Fund (EAF) – support for employers
to get their workplace ready so people with disability can
work there
Australian Disability Enterprises (ADEs) –workplaces just for
people with disability
the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) – support to find
work and funding for extra support at work
tools that work out how much people with disability are paid.
Questions to think about How well do the employment programs and policies we have for people
with disability work?
Are these programs and policies fair?
How can we make these programs and policies better?
Page 11
Laws, policies and ways of working
We want to understand how to get better employment results for people
with disability by changing:
laws
policies
ways of working.
Discrimination is against the law.
Employers must not discriminate against a person because they have
a disability.
In 1 year, 317 people told the Australian Human Rights Commission they
had experienced discrimination at work.
In workplaces, people with disability can face:
violence
abuse
neglect
exploitation.
We want to know what:
people with disability do when these things happen where
they work
experiences people with disability had when they said or did
something about it.
Page 12
We want to hear about when people with disability:
experienced discrimination at work
lost a job
were demoted.
If you are demoted, your job changes.
This might mean:
your employer gives you easier work
you work less
your pay goes down.
Questions to think about Is there anything else we need to know about:
the experience of people with disability finding and keeping jobs?
keeping people with disability in workplaces safe from violence,
abuse, neglect and exploitation?
Page 13
How to tell us your answers
You can send us your answers to our questions:
by email
in the mail
GPO Box 1422
Brisbane
QLD 4001.
Or you can speak to us on the phone:
1800 517 199
(07) 3734 1900
We are available to talk from Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm.
We can make a time with you to take your response over the phone.
You can tell us:
in writing
in a video
as an audio recording.
You can use:
English
another language you speak
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages
Auslan.
We would like to have everyone’s answers by 14 August 2020.
But we will still accept answers after this date if you need more time.
Page 14
How will we use your answers?
All the answers people give us will help the Royal Commission with
our work.
We might share your answers:
on our website
in reports we write.
If you let us share your answers, you can ask us not to include:
your name
any information about you.
You must tell us if you don’t want us to share your answers.
Page 15
Word list
Accessible
When something is accessible, everyone can use it.
Things that can be made accessible include:
places and buildings
transport
services
information
websites.
Career
Your career is the path you take in your work throughout your life.
Demoted
If you are demoted your:
job changes
employer gives you easier work
pay goes down.
Discrimination
Discrimination is when someone is treated badly because of something
about them they can’t change.
Employment
Employment means you:
have a job
go to work
get paid.
Page 16
Gender identity
Your gender identity is what you understand about who you are as a
person.
It isn’t about whether your body is male or female.
Inclusive
If something is inclusive, everyone can take part.
Issue
An issue is a subject or problem that people are thinking and talking
about.
Open workplace
If a workplace is open, people with disability and people without disability
can all work there.
Policies
Policies are:
government plans for how to do things
where rules come from.
Retire
When you retire you stop working because of:
your age
how many years you have worked.
Rights
Rights are rules about how everybody should be treated fairly.
Workplaces
Workplaces are any place you work, such as:
an office
a factory
a shop.
Page 17