New disability strategy to increase Australian Public Service employment opportunities

Launched on International Day of People with Disability on 3rd December, the Australian Public Service Disability Employment Strategy 2020-25 focuses on the attraction, recruitment and retention of more people with disability at all levels within the APS.

Minister for Families and Social Services Anne Ruston says employment opportunities were the key  to unlocking improved economic security, independence and wellbeing for all Australians with  disability.  

“The strategy sets a goal to increase the employment of people with disability across the APS to seven percent by 2025, up from 3.7 percent in 2019,” Minister Ruston says.

“It demonstrates our ongoing commitment to ensuring people with a disability have equal  opportunities in the APS and recognises the significant contribution they make to the workforce.

“Meaningful employment is an absolute game-changer in anybody’s life and that shouldn’t be any  different for somebody with a disability.”

Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Stuart Robert says almost a quarter of NDIS participants are employed and hopes to raise that number to 30 percent by 30th June 2023. 

Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister and Cabinet Ben Morton says all workplaces have a role to  play when it comes to achieving positive, long-term employment outcomes for people with disability including the APS. 

“The strategy is all about opportunity,” Assistant Minister Morton says.

“It provides an opportunity for the APS to demonstrate strong leadership and champion best  practice in relation to disability employment. With an enormous range of roles and opportunities, the APS has the potential to be an employer of choice for people with disability.”

“It also provides people with a disability a wider choice of employment opportunities. In turn this  leads to rewarding and meaningful careers with development opportunities and greater economic  independence.”  

The Australian Public Service Disability Employment Strategy 2020-25 was developed by a cross agency team led by the Australian Public Service Commission and is the product of extensive  consultation with people with disability, from within and outside the APS.  

It forms part of a suite of new measures designed to increase the richness and diversity of the  Australian Public Service. 

For more information, visit the Australian Public Service Commission website.