DPEP repeal bill: A carer's story

16 April 2007

Not everyone involved in caring for a disabled person is convinced the repeal of the Disabled Person's Employment Promotion Act will be in the best interests of every person with a disability.  Diane Morton cares for an adult daughter, Maria, who has cerebral palsy. Since the government developed its 2001 “Pathways to Inclusion” disability strategy, Maria has moved away from reliance on sheltered workshops towards paid employment, much as the Disability Strategy would intend. Maria now works four hours a week at James Hardie, and volunteers at Laura Fergusson typing and helping other clients with their computer skills on other days. James Hardie pays Maria the regular wage for an office junior, but the main thing for Maria is not the money but the status of having a job to go do, says Morton.

“They think she’s an angel,” says Morton. “But still – it’s only four hours a week.”

Morton wonders how far Maria would have progressed without the financial help her family was in a position to afford. They paid $300 a week to have Maria go to the Laura Fergusson Trust, where she undertook training to improve her typing and computer skills. After a year her fees were reduced and finally waived as she was working around the Trust’s offices became increasingly valuable.

“If we hadn’t paid for her to be at Laura Fergusson she wouldn’t be where she is today. The attitude of employers needs to change before disabled people can get work with them.”

Morton doubts employers will take on the more severely disabled people at minimum wage. “If they have to pay $10 an hour when they’ve been paying 50c, it’s pie in the sky to expect them to: it’s the breakdown between reality and real life.”

Until society changes, disabled people will just be regarded as a drain, “more input than output”. Morton says it’s possible – “Look at the change in attitudes towards drink driving and smoking,” – but society has to learn to see the disabled person as a person, not as disabled first and foremost, she says.

“More than likely, if you had more disabled people in the workforce, things might change. Each disabled person in the workforce will touch people around them. When employers haven’t been exposed to a worker with a disability, how would they know what they’re capable of?”

More information about services and support available for employers of persons with disabilities is available on the IHC employment page. The CCS library has just recently gone online with its very comprehensive catalogue of publications on disability, including resources and information regarding employment. For people in the disability sector, the CCS library is a “national treasure”, says Human Rights Commissioner Robyn Hunt. Search Catalogue