Ability at work 
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What is my role as a manager and leader?
In the 2006 report Employment of People with Disability in the APS3 the members of MAC4 each made a commitment to take a leading role in promoting a culture in the APS that values diversity and actively promotes the employment of people with disability. The report notes that:
Agency heads have successfully encouraged and established the APS performance culture. They have an equally valuable role in communicating to their organisation, particularly managers, how that culture embraces diversity.5
Publicly stated, high level commitments to the employment of people with disability are very important, but it is up to managers at all levels to foster workplaces where, within the framework of the APS Values, the diverse skills, abilities and cultural perspectives of individuals are respected, and disability is seen as nothing more than another point of difference.
An agency in which the workplace culture embraces and encourages diversity is more likely to attract and retain people with disability. Working in an agency that exhibits such a culture, people with disability are more likely to feel comfortable disclosing the fact. This will allow the agency to provide any necessary adjustments and support so that each employee, in turn, can make their best contribution to the agency’s work. It will also allow the agency to monitor their success in attracting and retaining people with disability over time.
Leaders play the key role in setting workplace culture. Employees take their cues from their managers and their immediate environment. They interpret the behaviour of their managers as defining acceptable conduct in practice.
Senior leaders and line managers are responsible for ensuring that people in their workplaces understand the value of diversity. They are also responsible for ensuring that their workplace is accessible and provides support where needed to people with disability. This includes fostering an inclusive workplace culture in which people with disability are included in work and social networks.
What can I do?
The questions senior leaders and line managers wishing to promote cultural change should be asking themselves include:
- Is there more I need to do to ensure that my staff are aware of the APS Values and Code of Conduct, particularly their obligations to:
- ensure that their workplace is free from discrimination and recognises and uses the diversity of the Australian community
- behave with honesty, integrity, respect and courtesy towards their colleagues and people in the community?
- Do the managerial decisions that I make openly demonstrate to my staff that they are based on the Values?
- Have I stressed to the managers who work for me the importance I personally place on supporting diversity in the workplace?
- Have I demonstrated by example to the people I manage that I take my obligations under the APS Values and Code of Conduct seriously and set myself the same high standards of behaviour that I expect of them?
- Does the mix of employees in my area reflect the diversity of the Australian community and the clients with which my agency works?
- If not, have I put steps in place to address that over time?
- Should I consider marketing future employment opportunities in a way that will attract interest from a more varied cross-section of people?
- Do I need to take steps to improve the accessibility of my workplace to people with disability?
- Have I created an environment in which people with disability can talk to their colleagues about their condition, should they wish to do so, without being stigmatised?
- Have I created an environment that supports all staff regardless of whether they disclose a disability?
- Have I met with my employees with disability to make sure that I understand their concerns?
- Am I confident that people in my area who have disclosed a disability have the tools and the support they need to do their job effectively?
A checklist for senior leaders and managers is included at Appendix A.
3 http://www.apsc.gov.au/mac/disability.htm
4 MAC is a forum of Secretaries and heads of major agencies chaired by the Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. It advises the Government on matters relating to the management of the APS.
5 Management Advisory Committee (2006), Employment of People with Disability in the APS
