Unemployment a Problem for People With Disabilities

I applied for a job. A small job worth seven hours a week, that’s all. I did not get an interview and I am not sure why.

Could it be that I am now 59 years old? Could it be that I have too many degrees and graduate diplomas? Or the elephant in the room: could it be that I have a disability?

I was upfront in my application that I have a congenital disability (from birth) but I was also upfront with my work experience which has been extensive.

When I asked a friend said she never discloses her disability when applying for job. Was this my mistake? Should I have hidden my disability like it was something to be ashamed of?

For seven hours work a week they received 50 applicants! Is this an indication of the jobs market now? Has our boom of low unemployment disappeared?

The thing is high unemployment for people with disability has not disappeared and has not changed in 30 years.

“People aged 15–64 with disability are more likely to be unemployed than those without disability. They are also more likely to be unemployed for longer.” – Australian Institute for Health and wellbeing 2024

It also takes a university graduate with a disability three years more than their contemporaries to gain employment. The percentage of people with disabilities who have superannuation is minuscule.

So, what does this all-mean for people with disabilities who are the poorest, of all the minority groups in Australia today and suffer the most discrimination?

It means a lack of financial stability which has a flow on effect to all the social indicators: poverty, means housing stress, means food stress, means mental health stress. The sense of worth of a person with disabilities is undermined every time they apply for a job and are rejected. When the rejection letter pile reaches the ceiling -a glass abled ceiling – that’s when they stop trying.

Even though a person with disability might be highly-educated or -skilled, these social indicators do not move if the person is unemployed. PWD die on average 10 -15 years earlier than those without disability because we simply can not rise above the unconscious or dare I say conscious bias that people with disabilities are somehow lesser beings and thus unworthy.

The benefits of having meaningful employment for PWD has been explored and pursued by successive governments for more than 30 years and yet, as mentioned before, unemployment rates for PWD have not changed.

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Platforms like interview cake can play a vital role in bridging this gap by providing structured, accessible programming interview preparation. With tailored tools and step-by-step solutions, they help individuals, including those facing unique challenges, build confidence and succeed in technical interviews.

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“Our Government has committed an additional $227.6 million, bringing the total funding to $5.4 billion over the next five years to help more people with disability prepare for and find suitable employment including through a new specialised disability employment program commencing on 1 July 2025.” – Department of Social Services 2024

This is fantastic news: the government sees the problem and is throwing billions of dollars at it trying to get PWD into jobs. The problem being of course that the government themselves underemploy PWD.

Did I mention the job I applied for was a state government position?

I am not saying that government should not spend billions of dollars on a huge social issue that is broader than just job agencies and training courses. What I am saying is that government should step up and put some dedicated programs in place for PWD to gain employment in the public sector. If you are going to talk the talk on disability employment, then walk the walk.

When speaking of government as a whole we need to understand that the government is made up of a conglomerate of agencies at the federal and state level and the culture of these individual agencies needs to be tested for unconscious or sad it is to say conscious bias toward PWD.

I am not suggesting anything new here. PWD have long advocated for more government jobs dedicated for PWD. If the position is a disability-related position, why not have a person with the most lived experience in that job? A person with a disability.

It is not just government that has an issue with employing people with disability either. Our own disability organisations have horrendous track records of employing PWD within their own organisations. Of all the peak bodies organisation for disability almost none have a CEO who is disabled themselves. The policy officers who write policy for these organisations and indeed to present to Government also do not have disability.

But getting back to my disappointment at not being deemed worthy of an interview for a seven hours a week job, it becomes a drop in the ocean of disappointment that PWD feel everyday when they are rejected and not seen as worthy.

On speaking of this with one of my disabled friends, he said: “I’ve just given up, I can’t stand the hurt from rejection anymore and will just live my life as best I can on the pension.”

The Australian Federation of Disabilities reports that, 53.4% Australians with disability have employment whereas 83.2% Australians without disability are employed. Keeping in mind that employment can mean as little as 1 hour a week and that people on Disability Support Payments are not counted, of which 88% receive the payment (AFDO, 2024). It’s not rocket science to see that 88% of PWD do not have jobs. From this we can see that the scale of this issue of unemployment for PWD is huge.

When asked (PWD) most want to work and be a contributing member of our community and get paid for it. Volunteering or being a volunteer board member is one thing but to actually get paid for the work you do brings a whole level of life satisfaction and self value.

How will we ever reach equality if we are never given opportunities? I grieve that I was not good enough for seven hours a week and my grief is amplified by the millions for PWD who are discarded in the not-employable pile everyday.

Tammy Milne is a deaf interpreter, a community activist in various fields and a person living with Arthrogrophosis Multipex Congenita.