Hugh
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Hugh has a university degree and experience in IT. He estimates during the past five years he has applied for approximately 14,300 jobs. Hugh is sure he’s not an isolated example of someone with a disability unable to secure work.
Hugh has an acquired brain injury and autism spectrum disorder and as a result requires a flexible working environment.
‘I am upfront about the nature of my disability and the type of reasonable adjustments that I require,’ he said in his submission.
These adjustments include working in a space where he’s not surrounded and distracted by other workers and having control ‘over the intensity of the workload’. In other words, ‘part-time, flexible hours’ working from home would be ideal. Hugh says, ‘there is no reason I cannot perform IT work remotely’.
Even though he has adapted his CV and cover letters following advice from various employment service providers, Hugh rarely gets to the next stage. When he has been interviewed he has felt intimidated by a management structure that refuses to acknowledge his flexibility requirements.
Being unable to find employment means he has been forced to rely on the Disability Support Pension for many years. This, Hugh says, is ‘despite my willingness to engage in employment’. Needless to say, ‘the impact of applying for so many jobs over such a lengthy timeframe has been demoralising’.
Hugh has had five Disability Employment Services (DES) providers over the past five years, and he questions their role. He has found them ‘inadequate and ineffective’ and says, ‘they have not helped me at all’. He told us he believes DES are failing people with disability, particularly people with acquired brain injuries and autism. He would like to see them work more proactively to influence employers to understand the needs of people with specific disabilities.
Hugh has complained to the Australian Human Rights Commission, DES providers, a government department and a minister. He is unsatisfied with the response – or lack of response in the case of the minister.
Not being able to work means Hugh is ‘confined’ to social welfare. He says he’s ‘simply unable to live the sort of quality of life … that my studies should have afforded me’.
Hugh said businesses should be strongly incentivised to offer employment to people with disability in an environment where they feel comfortable – such as their own home – on a flexible basis.
Disclaimer: This is the story of a person who shared their personal experience with the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability through a submission or private session. The names in this story are pseudonyms. The person who shared this experience was not a witness and their account is not evidence. They did not take an oath or affirmation before providing the story. Nothing in this story constitutes a finding of the Royal Commission. Any views expressed are those of the person who shared their experience, not of the Royal Commission.