City of Stirling councillor Samantha Jenkinson with the City’s community development director Trevor Holland.
Camera IconCity of Stirling councillor Samantha Jenkinson with the City’s community development director Trevor Holland. Credit: Supplied/Photographer: Cam

Rethink Employment: City of Stirling launches campaign to encourage business to employ people with disabilities

Kate LeaverStirling Times

CITY of Stirling has launched a campaign to encourage businesses to employ people with a disability.

The City has a disability employment rate of about 0.7 per cent but hopes to reach a target of 3.9 per cent, reflective of the percentage of residents with a disability.

A 10-minute ‘Rethink Employment’ video has been produced with the Lighthouse Project, a partnership project between the Disability Services Commission and Local Government Managers Australia WA.

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It covers aspects such as the benefits of employing people with disability and the funding support available if workplace adjustments are needed.

Among the people on screen sharing first-hand experiences are City of Stirling staff members and Hamersley Ward Councillor Samantha Jenkinson.

The video offers some insight into the challenges people with disability can face in finding and retaining employment and solutions to some of these challenges.

Mayor Giovanni Italiano said with an aging workforce and predicted skills shortage the video would help to encourage employers to make the workplace more inclusive.

“I think the fact that we are hearing from people with disability talking about their own personal experiences lends a lot of credibility to the video and will hopefully prompt a shift in thinking,” he said.

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