A new survey has found most Australians vastly overestimate the cost of workplace adjustments to help people with disability do their jobs.
The JobAccess survey, 'Understanding workplace attitudes towards disability’, also found that just 50% of Australians with disability are in the labour force, compared to 84% of those without a disability.
There was also a low level of knowledge about the availability of financial assistance to help implement workplace modifications. Concerningly, 20% said that fear of saying or doing ‘the wrong thing’ would prevent them from employing a person with a disability.
Working adults estimated the average cost of workplace adjustments to assist people with disability to be just over $8,000. Most adjustments are at a far lower cost, and some (such as flexible hours) involve no cost while benefitting the entire business.
Employers can access a range of free services to support people with disability at work, including potential financial assistance.
More information about the survey, along with advice about recruitment, workplace adjustments and retention of people with disability, can be found here.
