6.1
Building on the evidence canvased in the committee’s NDIS Workforce Interim Report (interim report), this chapter considers employment opportunities for people with disability – particularly National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) participants – in the NDIS workforce.
6.2
The chapter outlines:
Evidence regarding employment opportunities for people with disability in the NDIS workforce, as discussed in the committee’s interim report.
The government responses to relevant recommendations made in the interim report.
New evidence from witnesses and submitters regarding the peer workforce, which examines the adequacy of relevant government initiatives addressing such issues.
Employment opportunities for people with disability
Discussion in interim report
6.3
In its interim report, the committee expressed concern about the barriers people with disability face in employment, and while seeking employment. The committee also noted concerns around employment opportunities for people with disability within the NDIS workforce, and the need to support enhanced education outcomes for scheme participants.
6.4
Key issues regarding employment opportunities for people with disability that were identified in evidence included:
opportunities for people with disability to be employed in the NDIS workforce, including as peer workers and in training and capacity-building roles;
barriers to employment that people with disability may face;
educational outcomes for people with disability – with a particular focus on the training needed for particular roles and support transitions through education to employment; and
employment of people with disability by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA; the Agency).
6.5
The committee suggested that such issues should be addressed in the national plan for the NDIS workforce.
Developing the lived experience workforce
6.6
As detailed the interim report, the committee considered it vital that people with disability are part of the NDIS workforce, reflecting that peer workers are able to relate to and connect with participants; establish crucial relationships of trust; and identify the supports best suited to meet participants needs.
6.7
The committee supported calls for the NDIA to develop a strategy to increase the representation of people with disability in the NDIS workforce, co-designed by people with disability and peak bodies such as the Australian Federation of Disability Organisations and People with Disability Australia. The committee emphasised that measures to improve employment outcomes for people with disability and grow a lived experience workforce must ensure that opportunities are matched to the capabilities of prospective employees and must encourage people with disability to aspire to roles at all levels—including technical, managerial and leadership roles—on an equal basis to colleagues without disability.
6.8
The committee also considered that the strategy should be adapted to address the needs of particular cohorts of participants – for example, participants with psychosocial disability who often have unique or complex support needs. It should also create new roles and line items suitable for and attractive to people with lived experience; and outline how organisations could support the peer workforce to carry out their roles.
6.9
In addition, noting that many people with disability may benefit from having a planner or Local Area Coordinator (LAC) with lived experience, the committee considered that a peer workforce strategy should include measures to increase the number of planners and LACs with lived experience.
6.10
Whilst acknowledging existing initiatives to increase the employment of people with disability in the NDIA, and initiatives at the individual provider level to support a lived experience workforce, the committee noted that there did not appear to be a specific strategy of this nature.
6.11
The committee suggested that a peer workforce strategy could sit alongside or be incorporated into existing strategies to increase participants employment. It considered that initiatives to grow the peer workforce should also be captured in a national plan, noting that such initiatives may require coordination across jurisdictions and sectors and partnerships with training providers.
Improving education outcomes for NDIS participants
6.12
As outlined the interim report, the committee was strongly of the view that quality education and training is crucial to securing meaningful employment. Consequently, the committee was concerned that the education needs of participants – particularly tertiary education – seem to have been neglected in workforce planning.
6.13
The committee therefore considered that the NDIS should develop, publish and implement a national education strategy for participants, co-designed by people with disability, peak bodies and training providers.
6.14
The committee suggested that a focus of the strategy should be supporting participants to clarify the training needed for particular roles; identifying opportunities for further education; and supporting academic success. In addition the committee added that the strategy should consider initiatives to support the transition from education to employment, including facilitating welcoming student placements; enhancing graduate recruitment; and enabling pre-employment opportunities.
Employment with the NDIA
6.15
In the interim report, the committee recognised the steps the NDIA has taken to improve the representation of people with disability within the Agency, but considered that the NDIA could do more to increase its employment of people with disability, with the agency’s 2019–20 annual report indicating 11.1 per cent of its employees identified as having a disability, which was below its target of 15 per cent.
6.16
To increase employment of people with disability, the committee heard that the NDIA could expand the reach of its graduate program and address gaps in its application and recruitment processes. Further, the committee encouraged the NDIA to develop and implement measures to increase the number of planners and LACs with lived experience of disability employed by the NDIA and its partners in the community.
6.17
The committee agreed with the view expressed by some submitters that it is important for the NDIA to be a leader in employing and supporting the career development of people with disability, to encourage good practice across the NDIS.
6.18
Considering the matters highlighted above, the committee made the following recommendations in its interim report:
Recommendation 7: that the NDIA develop, publish and implement a peer workforce strategy, co-designed by people with disability and peak bodies.
Recommendation 8: that the NDIA develop, publish and implement an education strategy for participants, co‑designed with people with disability, peak bodies and training providers.
Recommendation 9: that the NDIA consider expanding its existing graduate program to include graduates of Vocational Education and Training (VET) programs.
Recommendation 10: that the NDIA review its recruitment and application processes, with a view to identifying and removing barriers to applications from people with disability.
Workforce Plan
6.19
Priority 1, initiative 5 of the Australian Government’s NDIS National Workforce Plan: 2021—2025 (Workforce Plan; the Plan) is directed at supporting job seekers, including people with disability, to find employment opportunities in the NDIS workforce, by better connecting NDIS and care and support providers to workers and other employment and training organisations through the Boosting the Local Care Workforce program. The Plan notes an expectation that jobs growth forecast with the growth of the NDIS and aged care workforce will 'support the Participant Employment Strategy 2019-2022, targeting a 30 per cent employment rate for working-age NDIS participants by June 2023'.
6.20
The Workforce Plan does not include any other specific measures to grow the peer workforce; to develop an education strategy for participants, or to expand the NDIA graduate program to include graduates of VET courses.
Government response
6.21
In its response to the committee’s interim report, the Commonwealth:
supported Recommendation 7 in principle;
noted Recommendations 8 and 9; and
supported Recommendation 10.
6.22
In relation to Recommendation 7 (supported in principle), the government emphasised the NDIS Participant Employment Strategy 2019–23, which sets out the NDIA’s vision, commitment and action plan for supporting NDIS participants to find and maintain meaningful employment and includes a goal to enable 30 per cent of NDIS participants of working age to be in paid work by 30 June 2023. The government also noted activities under the new National Disability Employment Strategy, which was in development at the time its response was tabled, could 'improve employment opportunities of people with disability in the NDIS workforce'.
6.23
In relation to Recommendation 8 (noted) the government stated that the education system is a joint responsibility between Commonwealth, state and territory governments. The government indicated that it ‘supports a strategic approach to the education of people with disability, recognising that education supports people with disability to transition into long-term, stable employment’ and emphasised that a priority in the development of Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021-2031 is ‘learning and skills and a commitment from all governments to improve education and training outcomes for people with disability throughout their lives’. The government noted that it already funds supports which enable participants to attend school education, including specialist transport and equipment. Further, it added that for post-school study, the NDIS can fund supports for transport and personal care, including any additional study aids that are not the responsibility of tertiary institutions. The government also indicated that had it reviewed the Disability Standards for Education 2005 (the Standards) in 2020, stating it would work closely with state and territory governments to implement the 13 recommendations made in the final report.
6.24
The government noted Recommendation 9, stating that the NDIA does not currently offer a graduate program that is specific to VET graduates.
6.25
With regard to Recommendation 10 (supported) the government highlighted its commitment to a workforce comprised of people from diverse backgrounds and experiences, demonstrated by the NDIA having the highest percentage of employees with disability in the Australian Public Service (APS). Updating the committee with its latest figures, the government response indicated that 18.2 per cent of the NDIA’s workforce have a disability, exceeding its goal of 15 per cent.
Submitter and witness view about the Workforce Plan
Developing the lived experience workforce
6.26
Several witnesses and submitters expressed concerns about the lack of measures in the Workforce Plan focused on growing the lived experience workforce. For example, the Australian Tertiary Education Network on Disability (ATEND) submitted that growing the peer workforce would both improve employment outcomes for people with disability and enhance the quality of the NDIS workforce by harnessing the untapped potential of lived experience:
[T]he NDIS National Workforce Plan should be focussed on increasing the representation of people with disability in the NDIS workforce, not just in NDIA but in all agencies that work with and represent people with disability. It is time to shift expectations and change the rhetoric from people with disability being only consumers of service to people with disability being actively involved in the provision of service from a perspective enhanced by their lived experience. Consumers as providers.
6.27
ATEND observed that while some initiatives exist to support the employment of people with disability, there does not appear to be a strategy with a specific focus on the lived experience workforce within the NDIS or affiliated agencies.
6.28
The Northern Territory Office of the Public Guardian (NT OPG) expressed a similar view, submitting that the Workforce Plan ‘includes minimal initiatives to promote and develop employment opportunities for people with disability in the NDIS workforce’, adding that ‘employment opportunities for people with disability in the NDIS workforce should be a targeted priority for the NDIS Workforce Plan’.
6.29
Services for Australian Rural and Remote Allied Health (SARRAH) submitted that ‘as the fastest growing employment sector, with opportunities and/or demand in every Australian community, the disability support and services sector presents employment opportunities for many people with disability’. SARRAH also importantly recognised that ‘many people [with disability] will have other workforce ambitions and no interest in working in the sector, however others will and have the capability as well as valuable lived experience, adding to the attributes they bring to the job’.
6.30
The committee also heard evidence regarding the importance of staff with lived experience within the psychosocial workforce. Mental Health Victoria recommended that in collaboration with the mental health sector, the NDIA should ‘develop and implement specific strategies to attract, develop and grow the NDIS psychosocial workforce, including strategies that respond to the specific needs of the lived experience workforce’.
6.31
Mental Health Australia, Community Mental Health Australia and Mental Illness Fellowship of Australia expressed similar views in a joint submission, contending that ‘a core focus of the psychosocial disability workforce development should be further development of the peer workforce… [t]he NDIS National Workforce Plan does not address the development of the psychosocial disability peer workforce specifically’.
6.32
At a public hearing, Dr Leanne Beagley, Chief Executive Officer of Mental Health Australia added that ‘the growth of lived experience, or a peer workforce, is an exciting and essential aspect of psychosocial workforce development’. Dr Beagley welcomed the government’s initial investment in the lived experience workforce development in the 2021‑22 Budget, but encouraged the government to further implement the recommendation of the Productivity Commission to establish a professional association for peer workers to support the ongoing professional development of this unique workforce.
Improving education outcomes for people with disability
6.33
The committee also heard some evidence regarding improving education outcomes for people with disability. ATEND submitted that the NDIS lacks ‘an articulated education strategy that embeds the idea of lifelong learning at the core of the scheme and encourages or provides credible pathways for people with disability to learn and grow in a professional context’.
6.34
Further, the NT OPG observed that that the government’s Workforce Plan did not reflect that four of the fourteen recommendations in the committee’s NDIS Workforce Interim Report relate to strategies to address education outcomes and employment for people with disability.
Employment with the NDIA
6.35
The committee heard from the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) that its members have reported ‘unsustainable workloads, driven by unrealistic Key Performance Indicators’ at the NDIA. The CPSU argued, and provided some evidence to suggest, that such conditions have a disproportionate impact on staff with a disability. CPSU noted that this is particularly concerning given the NDIA’s aim to be an employer of choice for people with disability.
6.36
Ms Lee Papworth, Vice-President of ATEND suggested that the NDIA should provide ‘a direct, identified intake’ for people with disability entering its workforce. Ms Papworth added that there ‘need[s] to be a clear encouragement of people with disability, graduates and students to make those applications and to be sure that there's also clarity on any adjustments within their recruitment process and that the agency is an inclusive employer’.
Committee view
6.37
The committee reiterates the importance of increasing and improving employment opportunities for people with disability within the NDIS workforce, in recognition of the added insights and contributions that those with lived experience of disability bring to the sector.
6.38
Whilst the committee considers it vital that people with disability are part of the NDIS workforce, it also recognises that the scheme’s fundamental principles of participant choice and control remain paramount. The committee recognises that many people with disability will have other workforce ambitions and no interest in working in the sector – and stresses that this choice must always remain at the prerogative of each individual participant. However, where people with disability are interested in joining the NDIS workforce, the committee maintains that this should be encouraged and supported.
6.39
The committee welcomes the Australian Government’s in principle support for the NDIA to develop, publish and implement a peer workforce strategy that is co-designed by people with disability and peak bodies. The committee notes the existing NDIS Participant Employment Strategy 2019-23, and welcomes the recent launch of Employ My Ability, Australia’s Disability Employment Strategy. The committee recognises the importance of such initiatives in increasing and improving meaningful employment opportunities for people with disability in Australia.
6.40
However, the committee is concerned that neither of these initiatives seem to address the need to grow the lived experience workforce, within the NDIS workforce specifically. The committee therefore encourages the government to consider implementing further initiatives which target increasing participation of people with disability in the NDIS workforce, either alongside or within its existing initiatives.
6.41
The committee recommends the Australian Government implement a targeted strategy to improve employment opportunities for people with disability within the NDIS workforce specifically, that is co-designed by people with disability and peak bodies.
6.42
The committee is pleased to hear the NDIA’s commitment to review its recruitment and application processes, with a view to identify and remove barriers to applications from people with disability. The committee also welcomes the news that 18.2 per cent of the NDIA’s workforce identify as having a disability, now exceeding the Agency’s target of 15 per cent. The committee encourages the NDIA to continue efforts to grow its peer workforce beyond these targets.
6.43
The committee also acknowledges the work the NDIA already has underway to support and include people with disability in its workforce, such as the introduction of Disability Support Officers in 2020, and the ongoing development of the NDIA Disability Inclusion Plan 2021. However, in consideration of evidence which suggests that workload issues within the NDIA are felt disproportionately by staff with a disability, the committee reminds the government to consider not only the proportion of people with disability in its workforce, but the experiences of these staff as well.