People who have a mental illness are an essential part of the diverse Australian workforce. But unfortunately, they face the highest degree of stigmatisation in the workplace and the greatest barriers to employment opportunities.
As an employer, you want the right person for the job. The right person could be someone with a mental illness. You may be one of the many employers who have not knowingly recruited a person with disability or mental illness. Information on these first steps is for you.
The Australian Government provides a range of incentives that can assist you to recruit people who have a mental illness and provide them with the best workplace support.
In addition, the Australian Government employment service providers provide a national network of community and private organisations dedicated to placing people with mental illness into employment. Employment services are able to work with you by providing assistance with recruitment of people with a mental illness, and in some instances, supporting employees at work. These services include:
Job Services Australia
Job Services Australia operates as a free recruitment service with a national network of over 1000 independent recruitment offices.
Disability Employment Services
Disability Employment Services are a national network of community and private organisations dedicated to helping people with disability find work and keep a job in the open labour market.
Under Disability Employment Services, all eligible job seekers with disability, injury or health condition will be able to receive assistance from an employment service provider to prepare for, find and keep a job. There are no waiting lists so those eligible will receive the right assistance as early as possible. There will be more focus on education, training and skills development to increase your chances of getting and staying in a job.
Disability Employment Services include two programs, the Disability Management Service and the Employment Support Service.
For more information see:
Other assistance
If you are a large organisation or a multi-site organisation, the National Disability Recruitment Coordinator offers a single point of contact for the recruitment of employees with disability.