Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme, Stuart Robert, today announced the first ever NDIS Participant Employment Strategy – a nation-wide effort to empower NDIS participants with more choice and control through supporting them to succeed in employment opportunities.

Minister Robert said the strategy sets a plan for supporting NDIS participants to find and maintain employment, setting a goal of 30 per cent of participants of a working age in employment by 30 June 2023.

‘This strategy is all about giving more people with disability, who have the desire and capacity to work, better access to the right supports to achieve their employment goals while breaking down barriers that they face trying to get a job, Mr Robert said.

‘Today’s announcement continues the positive momentum right across the NDIS as thousands of Australians enter the scheme every week. The NDIS Employment Strategy is part of the considered and calibrated work we are undertaking to improve the NDIS so it can reach its full potential.’

Guided by the strategy over the next three years, the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) will work to remove barriers to employment for Australians with disabilities and assist NDIS participants to set and accomplish their own employment goals. This will include ensuring a discussion about employment opportunities is at the forefront of NDIS participant planning conversations.

The strategy is informed by significant consultation with participants, the sector and government and has five key areas of focus: Increase participant aspiration and employment goals in NDIS plans; Increase participant choice and control over pathways to employment; Increase marketing innovations that improve the path to paid work; Improve confidence of employers to employ NDIS participants, and; Lead by example as an employer.

The strategy will seek to take advantage of the Australian Government’s election commitment of 7 per cent employment for people with disability across the Australian Public Service (APS) while the NDIA has 11.85 per cent of its employees living with disability, cementing its status as an APS leader.

In 2018, the Australian Government established the Participant Employment Taskforce to improve employment outcomes for people with a disability by connecting them to supports that will help them pursue employment goals. A key deliverable of the Taskforce is the Participant Employment Strategy.
Further information about our comprehensive action plan is outlined in the Strategy: WEB-LINK

In 2018, the Australian Bureau of Statistics found just over one-quarter (28.3%) of all Australians with disability of working age were employed full-time. As at June 30, 2019 – 24% of all NDIS participants 15 years or older, were in paid employment.