Thu 4 February 2021
This week we’re celebrating a momentous achievement, as Australia Post joins the rank of our members who have achieved Disability Confident Recruiter Status (DCR).
Marking the largest organisation within our network to achieve this status, with an extended workforce of 75,000, Australia Post now joins leading organisations across the country committed to inclusive recruitment practices.
Throughout their journey of DCR, Australia Post created new initiatives to drive disability inclusion across their organisation, examined what changes could be made to assist in this goal and as a result, have now widened their talent pool for future employees with these inclusive practices.
Hear straight from Australia Post about their journey towards this incredible achievement:
“I am extremely proud that Australia Post has successfully completed the Disability Confident Recruiter program. This is an important initiative in our Accessibility and Inclusion Plan 2020 to 2022 (AIP) which outlines our whole of business approach to improving access and inclusion for people with disability. Australia Post wants to attract, support and retain skilled candidates with disability so I hope that our DCR status provides job seekers with the confidence to apply for roles with us, comfortable in the knowledge that we value diversity and are committed to providing a barrier-free recruitment experience and inclusive workplace where they can thrive.” – Sue Davies, Executive General Manager, People and Culture, Australia Post.
Inclusion is one of our core values at Australia Post. That’s why we’re committed to creating inclusive experiences for all our candidates. So naturally, removing barriers to employment for people living with disability has been an ongoing focus for our Talent Acquisition team. Given the scale and pace we operate at, it made sense for us to enrol in the Disability Confident Recruiter program, so we could get an external, specialist lens on our approach. The program is comprehensive and involves activities that reach well beyond the scope of Talent Acquisition.
Australia Post has a team of over 35,000 direct employees, an extended workforce of over 75,000, and a presence in almost every community in Australia. The size of our business, combined with the wide scope of the program, created an additional layer of complexity. We were able to overcome this and achieve some great results through collaboration across multiple teams, including Learning & Development and Property. We’re lucky to have some great accessibility allies in teams across our business who were instrumental in helping us get this project across the finish line. The wide scope of the Disability Confident Recruiter program presented a challenge, but it’s also what makes it worthwhile – helping us to ensure we’re accessible at every step of the candidate journey.
One of the important lessons for us continues to be how simple and inexpensive adjustments to the recruitment process and to roles can be. Too often when people think about hiring candidates with disability, they assume that adjustments will be time intensive, or require a huge financial outlay. But we have lots of examples of adjustments we’ve made during our hiring process that just required a bit of lateral thinking and some empathetic communication. We’re delighted to share Murat’s take on this and his experience joining our business.
“When I applied for my job at Australia Post, I let them know that I can lip read but prefer an Auslan interpreter for interviews and important meetings. Once they knew this, I was really surprised by the support I had from the start, during my training and even now. Early on, I asked if I could have the universal symbol for deaf on my uniform because I wanted customers to know that I am deaf and need to read their lips to communicate. This is a personal choice that helps me, I know that some people who are deaf would not like this, but it works for me.
An opportunity came up to move into the parcels side of the business in a brand-new facility and I jumped at the chance to try something new. Everyone supported me and I love it here, we even have an employee group called Accessibility Matters who make sure that we can talk about accessibility with business leaders. I know that if I have any concerns I can talk to my manager and we will work on it together.” – Murat Husan, Parcel Delivery Officer, Sunshine West Parcel Delivery Centre, Victoria
Man standing in a factory with his arms crossed and smiling. He is wearing his work uniform with the universal symbol for deaf on his uniform to let customers know that he is deaf and needs to read their lips to communicate.
Image: Murat Husan
Among a number of initiatives we completed as part of the program, we created a single point of contact for applicants with disability to reach our internal diversity specialists for support. This has been important in reducing unintentional barriers to entry for people with disability and helping to ensure we don’t miss out on great talent. We’ve also customised our recruitment processes to help us quickly identify people who require adjustments and tailor their experience to their requirements.
While we’re proud of everything we’ve achieved through the program, we know a ‘set and forget’ approach doesn’t cut it when it comes to accessibility. We look forward to building on these results and continuing to elevate our practises into the future.
Find out more about AND’s Disability Confident Recruiter program.