Employ Able Training Work Book

Why participate in this training program?

Australia's workforce has changed:

• women now comprise 42% of the workforce
• nearly 25% of the workforce was born overseas
• 19% of Australians of working age have a disability

To be successful, employers need to understand, develop, and effectively manage the diversity of their workforce and target markets.

Increasingly, it is an agency's employees and culture that sets it apart from its competitors. People with a disability are an untapped resource, both as workers and as customers.

Ironically, it is often employer's attitudes that present the biggest handicap for people with a disability, not their disability.

Many employers are now recognising that diversity in their workforce makes good business sense because it reflects their customer base.

Employers who hire people with a disability generally find that these workers are extremely loyal, have better than average productivity, and produce above average attendance records.

Companies such as Telstra, the National Australia Bank, IBM, Franklin's and Safeway have taken the employment of people with a disability so seriously that they have hired specialist employment placement officers specifically to encourage the employment of people with a disability in their companies.

Managing diversity, including the employment of people with a disability, is a key issue in developing and maintaining a workforce that can create a sustainable competitive advantage.

go to Premier's Foreword