PEOPLE
WITH DISABILITY — EMPLOYMENT
573. Mr C.J. TALLENTIRE to the Minister for Disability
Services:
I refer to WA's nation-leading job figures and the
McGowan Labor government's commitment to creating more employment
opportunities for Western Australians. Can the minister outline to the house
how the government is helping people with a disability connect with employers
and employment opportunities?
Mr D.T. PUNCH
replied:
I thank the member for the question. Before I answer, I would
like to acknowledge Mrs Gwen Bott, who celebrated her 100th birthday
in the parliamentary dining room today as a guest of the member for Hillarys.
The SPEAKER: Congratulations!
Mr D.T. PUNCH: Congratulations to Mrs Bott, who also received a card
from the Queen, which I suspect is one of the last cards that the Queen
signed.
As Minister for Disability Services, I am so pleased with the
outline of Western Australia's economy that the Deputy Premier provided earlier, because it provides opportunities for
people with disability who want a chance to work. For too long, too many
people with disability have not been able to access the employment market.
Unfortunately, it is a truism that people with disability are
twice as likely to be unemployed as people without disability. As the Minister
for Small Business, I have met with many small businesses who talk about the
skills and worker shortage and who want to employ people with disability but
are not certain about the pathways forward. To
help address this, the McGowan government is supporting the Disability Jobs
Connect initiative. Disability Jobs Connect
is a new online platform that was launched on 10 August 2022 and is funded by
Lotterywest. It links people with disability to employment pathways of
their choosing. The platform facilitates a process whereby employers from
across Western Australia can source talent and benefit from the expertise and
skills that many people with disability have, but may not have been able to
connect up with employers appropriately in the past. It brings the opportunity
for people with disability to join the workforce and have the opportunity to
not only obtain a living wage to lift
themselves out of poverty, but also engage in connection and have meaningful
employment relationships, which is such an important part of the
disability journey. Simplifying that process through this online platform will
increase employment opportunities for this very under-utilised pool of talent,
and these opportunities will benefit
employers and employees alike. Disability Jobs Connect was developed by
National Disability Services WA, a great organisation, in partnership
with WA technology company Studium. It is based in Western Australia. That is
the kind of problem-solving that the McGowan government looks to pursue. We are
facilitating solutions such as these, as well as supporting local Western Australian
businesses like Studium. A critical part of the development was co-design sessions with people with
disability, and I met many of the people who participated in that co-design
process. That in itself was an incredibly engaging process for both Studium and
the people with lived experience.
Expanding employment opportunities for people with disability
is one of the 13 actions in Western Australia's state disability
strategy for 2020–30. Whether it be through open employment or
supported employment through Australian
Disability Enterprises, this government is committed to facilitating employment
opportunities for people with disability in our state. I encourage all
members to have a look at Disability Jobs Connect and to use their own networks, particularly the small businesses in
their electorates, and encourage constituents, both people with disability
seeking employment and businesses looking for employees, to sign up to the
platform. I congratulate everyone involved in this incredibly innovative
solution.
The SPEAKER: The Deputy Leader of the Opposition with
the last question.