Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Apply to Canberra

"PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES URGED TO APPLY
FOR ACT PUBLIC SERVICE JOBS
:

Half of next year's ACT Public Service graduate intake could be people with disabilities under a groundbreaking ACT Government scheme, Chief Minister Jon Stanhope said.

'People with disabilities are valuable community members whose worth too often goes unrecognised,' Mr Stanhope said. 'Canberrans with disabilities make up a potential labour pool of more than 53,000 people - that's almost one in five members of the city's potential workforce. Getting more of these people in to work will be good news for everyone - the community, public service and people with disabilities.'"

Comment

Half of next years intake could be. Why don't we check up on this next year and see what the real percentage is.

My advice - all you disabled people out there - apply for jobs in cold old Canberra, and see how you do. Let's hold the Government accountable for this.

I've written to Mr Stanhope:

Dear Mr Stanhope,

Thank you for your encouraging Press Release. You're right, half the intake COULD be people with disabilities. The question is, what WILL it be? Would you please keep me informed regarding the actual outcome of this. As you would be aware, the Government's rate of employment of People with a Disability had declined 30% in the last 10 years.

Were you aware that last year I approached the Office of Disability to discuss possible positions I could apply for? Being disabled, I believe that being proactive is vital to gaining employment. After being given the "royal runaround" I was told, "I'm sorry, we can't discuss that with you. You'll just have to look in the papers." This was useless. I wanted to know what sort of people they employed, so I could train and prepare myself to be an excellent candidate.

I was very discouraged. If the Government's peak body on disability is not interested in talking to a highly skilled person with a disability about work options, then I don't see a lot of reason for optimism.

Sincerely

Ken Davis

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