The NDIA is disappointed by recent media reports critical of how the Agency supports staff with disability.

While always embracing the opportunity to improve, the Agency is a community leader in the recruitment and support for employees with disability.

Our latest figures report 19.1 per cent of the NDIA's APS employees (and 12 per cent of Senior Executive Staff) identify as a person with disability.

This is by far the highest proportion of employees of people with disability in the Australian Public Service (APS) and private sector.

The NDIA was also recognised as the top performer in the recent Australian Network on Disability Access and Inclusion Index.

Our index result shows our strategic frameworks for access and inclusion of people with disability are of the highest industry standards in Australia.

The NDIA categorically rejects any suggestion of a “widespread problem” of discrimination against employees with disability, as well as any suggestion it is discriminatory in its hiring processes. 

The NDIA’s hiring processes for APS roles includes a RecruitAbility program which encourages the employment of people with disability within the APS and aims to provide disability awareness within the recruitment selection process.

The Agency takes a person-centred and individualised approach to working with employees with disability, to make reasonable adjustments to workplace processes and arrangements as required.

The Agency has also worked hard to improve its technology systems with the vast majority of our systems compatible with accessibility programs such as JAWS (with any new functionality subject to accessibility testing).

Where issues are identified, we work with Services Australia who manage our CRM, to resolve them.

Our new CRM system in development aims to be fully WCAG2.1 AA compliant. 

The Agency also has a dedicated ICT Accessibility Support Team which is peer-led, with two-thirds of the team identifying as people with disability.

The team provide onsite and remote support to employees who have assistive technology or accessibility requirements. 

The Agency is a leader in accessible technology, working directly with both Microsoft and Salesforce in the USA on product improvements.

The recent integration of third-party live captioning directly within the global Microsoft Teams product resulted from NDIA efforts with Microsoft.

The Agency is currently developing the next Disability Inclusion Plan 2022-2025.

Employees with disability and members of the Agency’s Employees with a Disability Network (EDN) are actively involved in the development of this plan.

The plan highlights specific actions that will be implemented over the coming years to ensure that the Agency is delivering best practice initiatives to support employees with disability.

This includes a focus on accessibility improvements, career progression and workplace culture.

We regret that some staff have had negative experiences, and the NDIA will always strive to improve the experience of all employees.

We are committed to listening to our staff, increasing representation of staff with disability, and holding ourselves to a high standard.