Randstad Australia, in partnership with disability inclusion advocacy platform Get Skilled Access, has launched a nationwide pilot programme to improve employment rates for people with disabilities. The programme, dubbed RecruitAble, is supported by funding from the federal government's Department of Social Services and is scheduled to run for two years. A number of major employers have already signed up, including Coles, Tennis Australia, Bendigo Bank, Hydro Tasmania, RACQ, and Randstad itself.

RecruitAble's objective is to help employers make their recruitment processes more inclusive and accessible for those with disabilities. Participating organisations will get assistance from Randstad and GSA to understand the obstacles that people with disability or access requirements might encounter in their current processes, and recommendations and training to address the problems.

In addition, participating organisations will be required to train their staff in creating a supportive environment for  candidates and new hires. They will further have to meet an initial quota for hiring people with disability. Coles, for example, announced today that it is setting aside up to eight roles this year for new hires with disability.

Some businesses have also committed to releasing job opportunities to RecruitAble first, before going through their regular recruitment providers.

RecruitAble is the first initiative to be launched under the federal government’s Disability Employment Strategy – Employ My Ability, and is intended to get the ball rolling on turning words into action as far as workplace disability inclusion goes.

Minister for Families and Social Services Anne Ruston said that although the majority of employers indicate an openness to hiring people with disability, only around a third of businesses show behavioural commitment to doing so.

“People with disability are hardworking and dedicated employees but too often businesses fail to recognise or even consider their skills and capability,” the minister said. “The RecruitAble pilot will highlight the benefits of a highly talented but regularly overlooked workforce.”