The Australian Government has released the latest Australian Public Service (APS) Disability Employment Strategy. The five-year strategy seeks to attract, recruit and retain more people with disability at all levels within the APS and create more accessible workplace cultures and environments. The Strategy's key goal is to increase the employment of people with disability across the APS from its current level of 3.7 per cent to 7 per cent by 2025. The Government highlighted the leading role of the National Disability Insurance Agency in employing people with disability, citing its current rate of 11 per cent as setting an example for the rest of the APS. NDS applauds the commitment of the Government and the APS to ensuring that more people with disability are able to access the many and varied employment opportunities across the public sector. However, NDS also notes the implementation of the Strategy allows a timely opportunity for the Government to provide much needed support to DES providers operating in an extremely challenging labour market and policy environment. The Strategy must ensure that Commonwealth Agencies work closely with DES providers to train, place and support new public service employees with disability. The Government can also provide further employment opportunities for people with disability through the NDIS Participant Employment Strategy by increasing its commitment to procure goods and services from supported employment services. The NDS National Committee on Supported Employment recently endorsed NDS's Industry Vision for the Supported Employment Sector, including a companion document that identifies the role of Government in ensuring the success of the Vision. NDS and its members are committed to working closely with the Australian Government and its agencies to ensure that employment opportunities for people with disability are not constrained as the economy recovers from COVID-19.

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