If you or anyone you know needs help
- Lifeline: 13 11 14
- MensLine: 1300 789 978
- Kids Helpline: 1800 551 800
- 1800RESPECT: 1800 737 732
- National Disability Abuse and Neglect Hotline: 1800 880 052
- Aboriginal Family Domestic Violence Hotline: 1800 019 123
Zero Tolerance (an NDS initiative) assists disability service providers to understand, implement and improve practices which safeguard the rights of people
they support.
Find out more about the Royal Commission
RC probes employers on workplace adjustments and culture
25/11/2021
Over the past two days, the RC turned to recruitment, retention, workplace adjustments, and workplace culture.Witnesses from McDonald's, Accenture, National Australia Bank (NAB), and Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) described a range of policies and practices on workplace adjustment.
RMIT took a 'proactive' approach via universal adjustments, attempting to use design to avoid the need for adjustments in the first place. By contrast, McDonaldâs didnât have specific policies on adjustments for people with disability, emphasising the majority of their restaurants were run by franchisees which are their own legal entities. Counsel suggested this approach left it up to luck; the witness disagreed but accepted they donât centrally record if adjustment requests had been fulfilled. NAB saw merit in a disability employment target, but wanted to be able to track this through their systems first.Representatives from the NDIA, Department of Social Services and Australian Taxation Office were questioned on their participation rates of people with disability. Rates at the NDIA and DSS were significantly higher than both the private sector and the Australian Public Service (APS) average, partly due to disability being a focus of their work, the witnesses said. The three panellists admitted take-up of âworkplace passportsâ, which allow an adjustment to âfollow an employeeâ through their employment, remained low.The focus then turned to work health and safety in the APS. Safe Work Australia, WorkSafe Victoria, and ComCare were asked what they had done to address employersâ misperception that there was higher risk in employing people with disability than people without. Some responded culture needed to change, including outside their organisation.