Policy Priority: Employer attitudes to employing people with disability
Having career opportunities and finding and keeping a job are significant issues for people with disability (see also the Employment and financial security outcome area). Many of the perceived obstacles to employing people with disability stem from negative attitudes and misconceptions.
The purpose of the “Employer attitudes to employing people with disability” policy priority is to support and encourage employers to value the contribution and benefits of employees with disability. There is one measure under this policy priority.
The updated measure is discussed below.
Measure: Employer attitudes
Full name – Employers value the contribution and benefits of employing people with disability
Attitudes of co-workers, managers, clients and the community in general can negatively affect the employment of people with disability. These attitudes, often based on lack of information or misconception, can lead to barriers in accessing and maintaining employment, or to discrimination in hiring and promotion processes (AIHW 2025).
Employers are defined as employed people aged 18 and over who had been involved in hiring employees in the past 12 months. Hiring employees included completing tasks such as writing job descriptions, reviewing applications, interviewing people, and having a say in who was hired.
The measure looks at the percentage of responses from employers that were positive about valuing the contribution and benefits of employing people with disability.
Employer attitudes
Latest update: 74% (2024)
Baseline: 77% (2022)
Progress status: Regress
In 2024:
- a higher proportion of responses from female employers were positive about the value and benefits of employing people with disability compared with male employers (77% and 71%, respectively)
- the proportion of positive responses was highest for employers aged 65 and over (80%), and lowest for employers aged 18–24 (62%)
- employers who had personally known someone with disability (such as a close family member, friend, co-worker, or classmate) were more positive (75%) than those who had no personal connection to someone with disability (69%)
- employers who reported being gay, lesbian, bisexual or some other sexual orientation (80%) were more positive than those who reported being straight (heterosexual) (73%).
Figure 8.1: Proportion of employers (aged 18 and over) that valued the contribution and benefits of employing people with disability, 2022 to 2024
The data in the graph and the table below show the proportion of responses from employers (aged 18 and over) that were positive on valuing the contribution and benefits of employing people with disability. Data from 2022 to 2024 are used. In 2024, 74% of employer responses were positive, compared with 77% in 2022.
| Year | % of employer responses that are positive | 95% Confidence Interval |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 77% | (76.1%–78.6%) |
| 2024 | 74% | (72.4%–75.1%) |
Notes:
- Restricted to people aged 18 and over who were employed at the time of interview and have been involved in hiring employees in the last 12 months.
- Employer attitudes to people with disability are based on 6 questions about the benefits and value of employing people with disability. The measure is presented as a proportion of responses that are positive. Respondents who had non-valid responses to more than 2 questions are excluded from the calculation.
Sources:
- DHDA (Department of Health, Disability and Ageing) 2025. Australia's Disability Strategy Survey – Share with us 2024, DHDA, AIHW analysis of unit record data, accessed 17 March 2025.
- DSS (Department of Social Services) 2023. Australia's Disability Strategy Survey – Share with us 2022, DSS, DSS and AIHW analysis of detailed unit record data, accessed 24 July 2023.
Source:
Australia's Disability Strategy Survey – Share with us
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Data source overview
For figure notes, see Appendix B: Figure notes and sources.
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