Equity and Diversity

• Respecting Equity and Diversity in the Workplace
• Indigenous Employees
• Women
• Mature Workers
• Young Territorians
• People from Culturally Diverse Backgrounds
• Disability in the Workplace

What is Disability?

Assistance for People with Disability

Willing and Able Strategy

Project Employment Scheme

disAbility Action Network

• Chief Minister's Awards for Excellence in the Public Sector
• Employment Trends
• Publications, Strategies and Legislation
• Related Links

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The overall outcomes of the Willing and Able Strategy are to increase the attraction and retention rates and to improve career opportunities for people with disability in the public sector, enabling the workforce to reflect the diversity of the community it serves.

The strategy makes sure all agencies are aware of issues around employing people with disability and helps them develop resources and gather information to help people with disability succeed in their work.

Cross-agency Implementation Plan 2009-2012

Key Achievements

Since the introduction of the inaugural Willing and Able Strategy in 2003 there have been many achievements across the public sector. These include but are not limited to:

• formation of the disAbility Action Network, a support network for people with disability and/or special needs in the public sector
• visits by a disAbility Action Network representative to major regional centres to provide information sessions and promote equity and diversity in the workplace
• inclusion of an additional award category in the Commission’s Equity and Diversity Awards to recognise initiatives designed to improve the public sector employment and career opportunities for people with disability
  
• continued funding of direct wage costs and work placements and training for people with intellectual and/or learning disability (Project Employment Scheme)
• 40 work placement opportunities being supported through the Project Employment Scheme (of these, 23 recipients continue to work in the public sector)
• completion of an evaluation of the Project Employment Scheme for people with intellectual and/or learning disability to ensure equity of funding across the public sector
• provision of recruitment and selection panel training, mentoring workshops and career mapping designed for people from equal employment opportunity groups
• nomination of the Willing and Able Strategy for the 2006 Prime Minister’s Employer of the Year Awards as Employer of People with Disabilities
• continued conduction by agencies of annual ‘Census Days’ encouraging people to self identify their equal employment opportunity group and improve the reporting integrity of this data
• increased employment, from 1.3 per cent in 2003 to 1.8 per cent in 2009, of people with disability in the public sector  
• engagement of Disability WORKS Australia as the specialised recruitment agency to assist in increasing employment of people with disability in the public sector
• during Disability Awareness Week, awareness-raising of disability in employment in the public sector, in conjunction with the disAbility Action Network 
• conduction of a 12-month pilot of compulsory interviews for people with disability who met essential criteria of job vacancies in the public sector
• development and incorporation of an equal employment opportunity statement on all job vacancies, promoting the public sector as an inclusive and diverse workforce encouraging applications from all equal employment opportunity groups
• introduction of the collection of equal employment opportunity data of applicants for job vacancies to assist in improving equal employment opportunity programs
• education of selection panels to reasonably accommodate applicants who have voluntarily identified as having a disability
• inclusion of  the Australian Government Supported Wage System in the public sector Workplace Agreement
• ensuring that training provided by registered training organisations meets Australian National Training Authority equity and diversity standards for registered training organisations
• granting building access awards for the most accessible government-occupied building (2005 and 2006), in conjunction with the Anti-Discrimination Commission and disAbility Action Network.