Disability Action Plan

ACCC/AER commitment

The ACCC/AER is committed to creating and maintaining a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture, where our people feel supported and valued. We are committed to creating a workplace that is safe and accessible, fosters inclusiveness and ensures all employees can contribute to their full potential.

We are committed to increasing representation of people with disability to 7% at all levels by 2025.

We understand that it is only by working with people with disability and individuals that have caring responsibilities, that we can collectively build a truly inclusive organisation.

Where this information references people with disability it includes those with temporary or permanent medical or mental health conditions, illness or injury, and individuals that have caring responsibilities for people who may have temporary or permanent conditions, illness, injury or disability.

We will:

attract and retain a diverse workforce that is representative of the nation we serve
provide equitable access to development opportunities for people with disability
pursue the enhancement of our culture of inclusiveness and respect and eliminate all forms of disability discrimination. As part of this we will:
- continually seek feedback on how to better meet the needs of our diverse workforce
- reach out to current employees with disability needs and encourage connections and pursue an agenda of active representation and visibility in the workplace
- present learnings and information for all employees on the issues that people with disability face as a part of the workforce
provide timely and effective access to our premises and systems, ensuring reasonable workplace adjustments are made quickly.

Background on the APS Disability Employment Strategy

The APS Disability Employment Strategy presents opportunities to attract, retain and advance employees identified with disability and/or carers and aims to further develop an accessible and inclusive workplace culture. The Strategy aims to increase the representation and retention of employees with disability to 7% by 2025 and commits APS employers to further actions to improve accessibility and inclusive culture in APS workplaces.

The ACCC/AER Disability Action Plan reinforces our commitment towards the APS Disability Employment Strategy. Further, the ACCC/AER extends our commitment to include individuals that care for people with disability.

Our Disability and Carers Network

Our Disability and Carers Employee Network provides a safe forum for employees with disability, injury, illness or medical condition, employees who are carers and those with an interest in workplace accessibility and disability inclusion to:

speak up with confidence regarding issues and challenges relating to workplace accessibility, disability inclusion and reasonable adjustment
exchange information and provide support to one another
act as a consultation body on these matters.

Measuring our performance

Our 2025 measures of success include:

7% of employees at each level identify as having disability in either the APS census results or within internal reporting systems
discrimination is not tolerated in any way. Observe a reduction of discriminatory behaviour, evidenced by a reduction from 2020 census scores
high employee attendance at Disability and Carers Employee Network meetings and our annual event for International Day of People with Disability
80% of managers to complete reasonable adjustments training
all SES attend a 5+5 workshop based on the APSC “ten-plus-ten” model by the end of 2021–22.

More specific performance measures are contained in the internal ACCC/AER Disability Action Plan 2022–2024.

Actions

The internal ACCC/AER Disability Action Plan 2022–24 contains detailed actions, allocated to specific teams and with times for completion.

A high-level summary of the areas targeted by our detailed internal action plan is provided below:

recruitment, retention and promotion of employees with disability
mentoring and coaching for employees with disability
unconscious bias training and other disability confidence training
celebrating International Day of People with Disability
improving internal resources for members of the ACCC/AER Disability and Carers Employee Network
running “5 + 5” SES awareness raising workshops based on the APSC “ten-plus-ten” model
having diversity and inclusion activities recorded in employees’ performance and development plans
improving participation in the ACCC/AER Disability and Carers Employee Network
reporting on pay-gap and census results as they relate to those with disability
actively promoting and offering timely workplace adjustments
ensuring the ACCC/AER’s external facing roles, including under the Competition and Consumer Act, have appropriate regard to issues faced by those with disability, including through our Consumer Consultative Committees and other forums
improving systems for assistive technology
improving accessibility in the physical work-spaces, particularly when new office designs are developed.