NDRC partnership improves recruitment policies and practices at Legal Aid NSW

Legal Aid NSW has received support from JobAccess to implement workplace adjustments for their employees with disability. The goal is to improve their hiring process and policies related to disability employment. Legal Aid NSW partnered with the National Disability Recruitment Coordinator (NDRC) - a service by JobAccess that helps employers.

The partnership raised awareness about challenges people with disability face when finding a job and provided expert guidance on how to address the gaps. It also improved the HR team’s ability to connect with more people with disability.

Legal Aid NSW takes disability employment strategy to the next level

Legal Aid NSW is an independent government agency that runs across the state. It offers free legal advice to disadvantaged people.

Legal Aid NSW has been working with JobAccess for some time, getting support with implementing workplace adjustments and funding through the Employment Assistance Fund. This support has helped Legal Aid NSW create a more inclusive and accessible workplace for their employees.

Legal Aid NSW later learned about the NDRC employer engagement program, which helps organisations improve their understanding, knowledge and confidence in hiring people with disability, all at no cost. The goal is to create a workplace is confident in including people with disability.

These partnerships are designed to help remove any barriers in processes and policies by advising on good practice.

Rania Saab, Senior Project Officer, Strategy and Inclusion, Human Resources at Legal Aid NSW highlights their commitment to improve disability representation in the workplace.

“We wanted to improve our recruitment processes, policies and practices around disability employment, inclusion and access. We were also hoping to strengthen our HR team’s disability employment capability.”

Increasing confidence to connect with people with disability

An NDRC Adviser worked with Rania and the team at the Legal Aid.

Rania recalled “As a first step, the NDRC Adviser did an extensive review of our employment process.”

The review helped the NDRC team understand Legal Aid NSW’s current employment practices to identify any barriers and offer good practice suggestions.

The NDRC provided us extensive guidance and advice to make sure that a disability lens was applied to the work that we do.

Rania Saab 
Senior Project Officer, Strategy and Inclusion 
Legal Aid NSW

“The NDRC Adviser provided a tailored and comprehensive report to improve our end-to-end recruitment process.” said Rania.

After receiving the report, Legal Aid NSW began to implement the recommendations to create a more inclusive recruitment and induction process.

“The NDRC Adviser provided us extensive guidance and advice to make sure that a disability lens was applied to the work that we do. The advice helped us improve our forms, like our New Employee Commencement Form, to ensure it is inclusive and accessible for people with disability,” shared Rania.

The NDRC Adviser also delivered disability awareness training to the Legal Aid NSW team. The training helped break down common myths about disability and equip team leaders and hiring managers with practical information to better support people with disability in the workplace.

The NDRC Adviser also connected Legal Aid NSW with Disability Employment Services (DES) providers. DES is the Australian Government’s employment service that helps people with disability find work and keep a job.

“This was fantastic as it helped us connect with more people with disability and welcome them into our workforce,” Rania said.

“We want our workforce to reflect our community. We are excited to work closely with the DES providers to recruit more people with disability.”

Support from experts with lived experience

JobAccess is run by people with disability, for people with disability. The team listens, advises and supports by keeping the individual and employer in focus.

The tailored guidance provided by Claudia helped Legal Aid NSW include additional, strategic goals to its Disability Inclusion Action Plan.

It was so beneficial to work with an NDRC Adviser with lived experience of disability, and to have that resource that we could tap into with any questions that we had.

Rania Saab 
Senior Project Officer, Strategy and Inclusion 
Legal Aid NSW

“Moving forward, our team will use the JobAccess vacancy distribution more to tap into a diverse talent pool and employ more people with disability in the workplace,”

“It was so beneficial to work with an NDRC Adviser with lived experience of disability, and to have that resource that we could tap into with any questions we had,” concludes Rania.

Are you looking to build a disability-confident workplace? Talk to the experts.

The National Disability Recruitment Coordinator (NDRC) partners with employers. The team works with employers to develop inclusive workplace policies that support disability employment.

The NDRC also provides a vacancy distribution service to employers.

Call JobAccess at 1800 464 800 to connect with the NDRC. You can also submit an online enquiry form through the JobAccess website.