❓ Hon Stephen Dawson questions the WA government on the employment of people with disability in the public sector, including statistics, redundancy packages, policy reviews, and traineeship/internship programs. The government provides data and updates on relevant strategies.
AnsweredQoN 3146Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to the employment of people with disability within the Western Australian public sector, and I ask: (a) what is the current percentage of the Western Australian public sector workforce who are people with disability and how does this number compare with other States and Territories; (b) how has the figure in (a) changed over the past five years; (c) how many public sector workers were offered redundancy packages in the past three years and how many of these were people with disability; (d) when did the State Government last review their policy regarding employing people with disability in the Western Australian public sector; and (e) how many people with disability have been accepted into the State Government traineeship and internship programs for each of the past five years?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
11 August 2015
Responded by
Leader of the House representing the Premier
Response time
91 days
The Public Sector Commission advises:
a)
As of 31 March 2015, the percentage of the Western Australian public sector workforce who reported they were people with disability was 2.2%.
This compares with other Australian States and Territories as shown below.
State/Territory
Percentage of workforce who reported they were people with disability at June 2014
Northern Territory
1.1%
South Australia
1.2%
Australian Capital Territory
1.9%
New South Wales
3.1%
Queensland
3.7%
Victoria
4.0%
b)
The percentage of the Western Australian public sector workforce who reported they were people with disability over the five years (30 June 2010 to 30 June 2014) is shown below.
Year
Percentage of workforce
2014
2.3%
2013
2.6%
2012
4.8% *
2011
4.2% *
2010
3.5% *
* In 2013, the Department of Health identified a significant over-reporting error for employees with disability. This means the public sector percentages for 2010 to 2012 reflect an over-representation of employees with disability.
c)
Across the last three financial years 2,811 public sector workers accepted an offer of voluntary severance.
This includes compensation payments made and accepted by senior executive service (SES) officers under s. 59 of the PSM Act.
Financial Year
Number
2014/15
1559
2013/14
1158
2012/13
94
Data on employee disability is not collected as part of a severance application.
d)
The
Disability employment strategy 2013-2015
is currently under review by the Public Sector Commission and the Disability Services Commission.
e)
For each of the past five calendar years (2010 to 2014), the number of people who reported they were people with disability and who accepted full-time traineeships and school-based traineeships facilitated by the Public Sector Commission is shown below.
Year
Number
2014
2
2013
5
2012
2
2011
3
2010
0
The Public Sector Commission does not collect data about the number of people with disability employed in internship programs; or about other traineeship programs across State Government that are not facilitated by the Public Sector Commission.
a)
As of 31 March 2015, the percentage of the Western Australian public sector workforce who reported they were people with disability was 2.2%.
This compares with other Australian States and Territories as shown below.
State/Territory
Percentage of workforce who reported they were people with disability at June 2014
Northern Territory
1.1%
South Australia
1.2%
Australian Capital Territory
1.9%
New South Wales
3.1%
Queensland
3.7%
Victoria
4.0%
b)
The percentage of the Western Australian public sector workforce who reported they were people with disability over the five years (30 June 2010 to 30 June 2014) is shown below.
Year
Percentage of workforce
2014
2.3%
2013
2.6%
2012
4.8% *
2011
4.2% *
2010
3.5% *
* In 2013, the Department of Health identified a significant over-reporting error for employees with disability. This means the public sector percentages for 2010 to 2012 reflect an over-representation of employees with disability.
c)
Across the last three financial years 2,811 public sector workers accepted an offer of voluntary severance.
This includes compensation payments made and accepted by senior executive service (SES) officers under s. 59 of the PSM Act.
Financial Year
Number
2014/15
1559
2013/14
1158
2012/13
94
Data on employee disability is not collected as part of a severance application.
d)
The
Disability employment strategy 2013-2015
is currently under review by the Public Sector Commission and the Disability Services Commission.
e)
For each of the past five calendar years (2010 to 2014), the number of people who reported they were people with disability and who accepted full-time traineeships and school-based traineeships facilitated by the Public Sector Commission is shown below.
Year
Number
2014
2
2013
5
2012
2
2011
3
2010
0
The Public Sector Commission does not collect data about the number of people with disability employed in internship programs; or about other traineeship programs across State Government that are not facilitated by the Public Sector Commission.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.