Disability and awareness training for staff

Disability awareness training is a useful way to prepare for your staff for working with employees with disability in a supportive and inclusive way. If you're employing a person with disability for the first time, disability awareness training can establish a common level of understanding, and help to create a more supportive workplace. Many private, not for profit, and government organisations offer disability awareness training for businesses and organisations. Disability awareness training may be delivered online, or face to face. Ideally, disability awareness training should be included as a core component of your induction and training for new staff as part of your organisation's ongoing commitment to diversity and inclusion. With one in four people in Australia living with some form of disability, disability awareness can benefit both employees and customers with disability. Disability awareness helps to break stereotypes, overcome preconceptions, and will provide your staff with the skills, knowledge, and tools to confidently work alongside colleagues with disability. There are many ways to access disability awareness training. If your organisation works with a disability employment services provider, they will arrange to speak to your staff about working with people with disability. There are general disability awareness training courses for all staff and specific training for managers and supervisors, or tailored for a specific disability, such as deaf awareness, Auslan, blind awareness, or mental health awareness training. JobAccess offers free disability awareness training for partners and alumni, as well as advice about financial assistance for disability awareness through the Employment Assistance Fund.