Enhancing Disability Responsiveness of Professionals

Six key principles to enhance the training for all occupations were identified. These principles are associated with more positive interactions with people with disability:

1. ‘Nothing about us without us’: Education and training about disability must be developed and delivered with, or by, people with disability

    

2. Capability areas: Training must develop skills, knowledge and attitudes

    

3. Experiential learning: Training must include “on the job” learning

    

4. Addressing bias: Training should enhance a learner’s ability to critically reflect on their attitudes and behaviours towards people with disability

    

5. Fit for purpose: Training must enhance a learner’s ability to critically reflect on their personal attitudes towards and perceptions of people with disability

    

6. Quantum: Disability responsiveness will not be achieved through a single training event or course. Ultimately, outcomes will require an ongoing commitment.
    

The Action Plan identifies actions for all stakeholders to adopt and implement the Guide and move the training system forward for a more equitable Australia. The plan includes broad and sector-specific opportunities for governments, training providers, professional and industry bodies.

There are five key areas for action to drive improvements in the training occupations receive to improve outcomes for people with disability.

1. Active participation: People with disability play a clear, visible and valued role in the leadership of the training

    

2. Sector planning and actions: The training of occupations is tailored, timely and focused on the needs of workers and the community they serve, especially people with disability

    

3. Training packages: People with disability have confidence in the skills and capabilities of all professionals to support them

    

4. Knowledge collection: Australia has the knowledge to better include people with disability, monitor developments and progress to address disability responsiveness

    

5. Government leadership: Australian governments share a collaborative approach to progressing an inclusive society.

People with disability represent a significant percentage of Australia’s population. While they have the right to be active and equal members of society and local communities, many people with disability describe a range of negative experiences when engaging with people in service roles and society at large. These negative experiences are amplified by layers such as gender, cultural identity, language, sexuality, location and income which can compound marginalisation and disadvantage.
 

These experiences have resulted in poor access to services, or in some instances exclusion, which can lead to poorer health and wellbeing. Notably, people with disability report the education, healthcare, justice and social service sectors to be most impactful and problematic in their responsiveness towards people with disability. This has enduring social, cultural and economic costs for people with disability, and for Australia more broadly.

Training and professional development of occupations, along with improvements to legislation, regulation, workplace structures, policies and culture, will play a crucial role in developing occupational and workplace responsiveness towards people with disability. The quality and quantity of training in occupations related to disability responsiveness have been sporadic. Domestic and international research shows that the quality of training is influenced by course design, content and delivery. The final section of this report (Part D – Good Practice Guide and Action Plan) provides a guide on course content to improve disability responsiveness and suggests actions for system-level changes. Disability responsiveness, in the context of an occupation, is broadly defined as the state of a worker’s attitudes and behaviours towards people with disability.

A range of sectors and occupations are committed to making improvements. There are also sound courses and resources developed by disability organisations. However, there are challenges to improving occupation-specific training, including resourcing, content development and prioritisation. There are clear areas for growth and greater focus.

The academic evidence and reports of experiences highlight that improvements in the training that occupations receive needs to be multi-faceted and target all levels of the system, from course content through to monitoring and evaluation. While every occupation and course has different requirements, there are six key principles for guiding good practice for education and training.

There are actions training providers, professional bodies, employers and governments should consider for improving disability responsiveness across occupations, as follows:

Change is always difficult, but there is a pathway. Through this project, we have identified what is needed to help sectors and occupations better respond to people with disability.