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 Disability: the career of choice
Following a short refreshment break, the third session for Day 1 was a panel discussion about how the disability sector has to make working in the industry of career of choice.
The facilitator for the morning was previous speaker Dr Keith Suter, who lead discussion, taking questions from the assembly of disability professionals in the plenary room at Melbourne’s Telstra Dome.
The panel consisted of Ken Baker, Chief Executive of National Disability Services since 2000, late entry Tara Cantwell, Volunteer Coordinator for Interchange Outer East, Megan Jacobs, from Melba Support Services and recipient of the 2007 DSW award, and Linda Smith, the Convenor of Attendant Support Action Group.
With a panel of most interesting and experience people, professionals in the audience spoke of the challenges they are facing in their own situations.
Ken, who addressed the crowd directly, said there is a need for important long term goals for the sector. He said there is a myriad of ways people will tackle the workforce issues.
He challenged the professionals attending the conference to think about why disability work has a low status, and address those issues.
For instance he said, “Low wages, low investment in training and a chronic shortage of funding,” have an effect on the perceptions of the disability sector.
He suggested the sector needs more comprehensive information about the workforce, and a public communication campaign to raise the profile of disability work aimed at a more broad range of potential employees.
An echo of financial issues filled the room, reflecting the concerns of the Leader’s Round Table dinner the night before.
Tara suggested a possible solution, in that there are other ways to show appreciation than financial reward.
“I have worked with volunteers a lot, and it’s the satisfaction that is rewarding. From our perspective it’s bout all the other things you can do to show appreciation,” she said.
Keith backed Tara’s suggestion, saying young people do want to contribute to the community, but a standard communication campaign is not going to work.
In regards to reaching into an untapped resource of young people, Megan said there is a need to shift perspective and be creative.
Keith address the issue of funding, saying the money exists in budget surpluses, and instead of giving people more money back in their pockets, the issues of the disability sector could really be addressed, but other are continuously trying to get their hands on it.
And with that, a roving microphone was sent around the room to collect ideas for a communication campaign.
“Often the best ideas come from within the organisations themselves,” Keith said.
John McKenna, a speaker at DPV Conference 2008 and founder of Independent Living Equipment, said the disability sector needs to look at the aged care industry and how they have such a high profile.
He said the concept of being a hero for caring for “mum and dad” is not as apparent in disability work.
“The disability arena doesn’t have the same satisfaction,” he said.
Terri Carroll shared some ideas her company has used, including digital advertisements at Village Cinemas, which caused four people to volunteer for her business.
She also organised a similar advertisement in a doctors surgery, and with thousands of people coming through the surgery each week, it is very cheap advertising, reaching people of all walks of life.
Dr Peter Gibilisco followed this up by asking the panel about discrimination amongst people with a disability looking for work.
He pointed out that although unemployment is deemed extremely low by the media, attitudes towards disabled people in the workplace were still not good enough, and that there is still a real difficulty for handicapped people to find work.
His question evoked much emotion, with Linda finding herself unable to answer.
Megan said the disability sector needs to seek these people out, and that the usual problem is employers worrying about accidents.
Ken made the point that many people with a disability who want to work don’t have access to the facilities to prove they are able for the job.
Keith suggested a public education campaign, to make employers feel more comfortable about employing somebody with a disability.
While there were no clear cut answers produced from the gathering, the disability services were showing a united front, collaborating to bring out the best the industry has to offer.
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