Advance 2 Not a pretty picture Psychosocial disability in Australia

This paper describes the impact of psychosocial disabilities in Australia on vocational achievements. The report is based on the official statistics on Disability Ageing and Carers by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The major findings in relation to persons with a psychosocial disability are: (a) only 32% are in the labour force; (b) the proportion who are unemployed is 1.7 times that for those with no disability; (c) employment is reduced more than twice for those with some other disability; (d) larger proportions are working part-time than full-time; (e) there is some underlying impact on the types of occupations; (f) the median income is much less ($400 gross per week) than for other disabilities ($575.00 gross per week) or even no disability ($950.00 gross per week) ; and (g) the workplace is by far the highest source of unfair treatment with 46,500 instances in the previous 12 months. It was concluded that most persons with a psychosocial disability do not participate in the labour market. When they do, they suffer higher levels of unemployment. When they get a job, it is more likely to be part-time. When they are employed substantial numbers face discrimination and restrictions.