To tell or not to tell : disability disclosure in the Australian Public Service

Abstract

Many organisations in Australia now aim to improve the representation of people with a disability in their workforce as studies have shown that having a diverse workforce can increase marketing opportunities, creativity, business image, recruitment, employee retention and productivity (Green, Lopez, Wysocki & Kepner, 2002; Evans, Edwards, McGregor & Upton, 2016). Employees with a disability constitute part of a diverse workforce; therefore, having people with a disability in the workforce would provide positive results for any employer. The disclosure of a disability is an intensely personal issue. Government organisations monitor how many of their staff have a disability. In the 2019 Australian federal election, the government introduced a target of 7% for the employment of people with a disability in federal government agencies. However, this target relies on people informing their agencies that they have a disability. What are the reasons why those with a disability choose to tell, or not to tell, their employer about their disability?

Date of Award	2020
Original language	English
Supervisor	Anthony Hogan (Supervisor), Laurie Brown (Supervisor) & Robert TANTON (Supervisor)