Career Pathways Pilot

Career development gap

There is an over-representation of people with disability in entry-level roles and a significant lack of career advancement opportunities into leadership positions as well as a lack of representation of people with disability on company boards.

Employees with disability face a range of barriers when trying to progress their careers, including unconscious manager bias, soft bigotry of low expectations, inaccessible training providers, and lack of support and adjustments.

The Final Report issued by the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability identified career progression as one of the key areas for employers to consider to make Australian workplaces more inclusive for people with disability.

Read about our response to the Final Report

Recognising the need for systemic change, Australian Disability Network partnered with the Business Council of Australia and the Australian Government Department of Social Services to develop a practical solution. The Career Pathways Pilot was designed to address these barriers head-on by working directly with major employers to build sustainable systems and capabilities that support career progression for employees with disability.

Rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, the pilot focused on co-designing solutions with both employers and employees to ensure meaningful, lasting change.

Pilot overview

the Career Pathways Pilot 2023–2025 was an 18-month initiative funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services. The program supported employers to build their capacity to develop the leadership potential of employees with disability.

Australian Disability Network delivered the pilot in partnership with the Business Council of Australia (BCA), with four major retail employers participating: Coles Group, Compass Group Australia, Kmart & Target Australia and Woolworths Group.
Australian Disability Network supported these organisations to progress the careers of employees with disability out of entry level roles and into leadership positions.

A key goal was to have sustainable systems and processes in place to ensure that people with disability have the same opportunities for job fulfilment and career progression as people without disability.

The program was co-designed to be mutually beneficial for the employers and people with disability and is scalable for other Australian employers to replicate.

Employer partners

Four members of the Business Council of Australia participated in the pilot:

• Coles Group
• Compass Group Australia
• Kmart & Target Australia
• Woolworths Group

Pilot Objectives

The pilot set out to:

• Ensure employees with disability feel valued and safe to identify as a person with disability.
• Provide people with disability with opportunities for job fulfilment and career progression.
• Ensure managers can identify, support and motivate people with disability who aspire to career progression.
• Increase the visibility of people with disability as role models in leadership positions.
• Remove structural barriers to career progression for people with disability.

The Career Pathways approach

The pilot was co-designed with employers and their respective employees with disability. It comprised six key components:

• Needs analysis to understand the experiences of people with disability and barriers experienced with career development.
• Building employer capability.
• Building employee capability.
• Building mid-level manager capability.
• Building senior management/board capability.
• Leadership development materials that were audited and/or created for employers.

Key insights

Results and learnings

• Pilot activities included Personal Development Plans, mentoring programs, disability confidence training, and the establishment of Disability Employee Networks.
• At Kmart & Target, 22 of 34 participants achieved career growth, including promotions, permanent roles, and leadership training.
• Coles and Woolworths were recognised in the Access and Inclusion Index for their progress.
• Managers reported increased confidence and capability to support employees with disability.
• Organisations strengthened their systems and processes to enable career progression.
• Executive sponsorship, tailored implementation, and embedding inclusion into business-as-usual practices were critical success factors.
• The pilot demonstrated that when organisations invest in capability and culture, career progression for people with disability becomes not only possible, but possible but expected.

Impact stories

Hear from the participating pilot organisations about what they trialed, what they learned, and what they’re taking forward:

• Watch the Career Pathways Pilot compilation video
• Watch Compass Group’s video
• Watch Coles Group’s video
• Watch Woolworths Group’s video
• Watch  Kmart and Target’s video

Resources

A range of practical resources were developed through the Career Pathways Pilot to support organisations in creating meaningful career progression pathways for employees with disability.

These resources draw on the insights and learnings from the pilot’s co-design process with employees and employers, with a selection available for Australian Disability Network members and the broader community.

Free Public Resources

Whether you’re looking to build manager capability, support employee development, or strengthen your organisation’s approach to inclusive career progression, these resources offer practical guidance you can apply in your workplace.

Ten Tips for Inclusion: guides for your organisation

The guides below provide ten tips to make your different areas of your workplace more inclusive. They cover recruitment and boarding, communication, attitudes, neuroinclusive workplaces, attitudes, dignified access and allyship.