Move is good business sense 'not a charitable act'
People living with disabilities are among the Australian government’s priority areas as it plans to create more job opportunities for the sector by connecting them with work in the visitor economy.
Through a joint media release from the ministers for social services and trade and tourism, the government announced a $3.3mil budget to create a Visitor Economy Disability Pilot to link people living with disability with secured jobs in the tourism industry.
“Employing someone living with disability should not be seen as a charitable act,” Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth said. “It makes good business sense.”
Visitor economy disability pilot
According to the government, the Pilot will help address challenges recently discovered by small and medium tourism industries, such as hiring, retaining, and developing staff with disabilities.
“This includes a lack of time or capability to recruit people living with disability, confusion on how or where to seek support, and employment service providers focusing on supporting jobseekers-only rather than also on employers,” the ministers said.
“A new, targeted approach to supporting businesses experiencing skills and worker shortages will be tested through the Pilot with the funding of place-based Local Navigators,” they added.
The Navigators, operating over 12 months across regional areas, aims to help businesses look for and put people living with disability into currently available jobs.
Given the people living with disability’s doubled unemployment rate with the national average, Rishworth lauded the Jobs and Skills Summit for accelerating positive changes in the sector.
“Finalising this Pilot came directly from discussions at the Jobs and Skills Summit,” Rishworth said. “We are committed to closing the gap in disability employment and this is one step towards this.”
Why the tourism sector?
Minister for Trade and Tourism Don Farrell noted that the tourism sector is one of the five growth industries known to have significant labour shortages and has the ability to grow over the next five years.
“There is capacity for people with disability to meet this demand, with research suggesting that more than 113,000 people with disability are currently unemployed or underemployed, and ready to work,” Farrell noted.
“The tourism sector is crying out for workers, and if we can create pathways to open up jobs and careers for people living with disability in this sector, it is a good thing for everyone,” he added.
Currently, the tourism economy oversees industries that offer goods and services to visitors who travel to specific destinations, including hospitality, accommodation, and tourism, the government said.
