A manager is looking at a job candidate’s file. The candidate has disclosed a disability. The manager wants to do right by them, so she starts guessing: quieter workspace, maybe. Flexible hours. A standing desk, if it comes up. She never asks. She doesn’t mean any harm by it — she thinks she’s already helping. … Read more
Most organisations will tell you they support disability inclusion. Fewer will tell you what happens the moment that support is actually tested — at the hiring decision, at the accommodation request, and at the promotion decision. That gap, between the stated attitude and the actual decision, has a name in the psychology literature: the attitude-behaviour … Read more
Your organisation’s attitude toward employing people with disabilities could be quietly getting worse right now, and you would have no way of knowing. Last week’s newsletter looked at making this new financial year actually work — measuring, escalating, and changing, rather than repeating what didn’t move the needle last year. Around the same time, I … Read more
Tomorrow marks the end of FY 25-26. Across organisations everywhere, this week will be spent sitting with two questions: what did we spend, and what did we deliver? Finance teams will reconcile the books. Executives will look at outcomes against KPIs. Boards will receive end-of-year reports. The cycle of accounting for the year that’s been … Read more
Take a minute and think back to the last budget cycle in your organisation. When the spreadsheet got tight, what got cut? The disability inclusion budget? The accessibility audit? The line item for paid lived experience contribution? The training program? The community partnership? Is it the accessible event format that costs slightly more than the … Read more
I spent last week sick. Not dramatically, not hospitalised — just genuinely unwell and unable to work. And yet, if I’m honest, I didn’t fully stop. I checked emails. I drafted things in my head. I tracked what I was missing and quietly calculated how long it would take to catch up. Nobody asked me … Read more
Anthropology built much of its early authority by observing people like me (folks who deviated from “the norm”). It’s now the lens through which I observe the rooms I’m hired to change. What I want to write about today isn’t ableism itself. It’s the work of being a disabled person in rooms where ableism is … Read more
This weekend, Aboriginal Elders were booed while delivering Welcome to Country at Anzac Day dawn services in Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth. Uncle Ray Minniecon — an ADF veteran whose grandfather served in the Light Horse Brigade — continued his Acknowledgement of Country while people booed for nearly a minute. He was applauded when he finished. … Read more
In my last edition of Making Inclusion Work, I shared 10 practical steps organisations can take to advance disability inclusion — even when DEI conversations feel noisy or polarised. Those steps are essential. But action alone isn’t enough. 👉 The real test is whether those actions lead to change—change that people feel, see, and trust. … Read more
Disability inclusion is about more than policies and programs—it’s about ensuring that the voices of disabled people are the ones driving the conversation. For too long, discussions around disability have been led by non-disabled individuals, but actual change only happens when those with lived experiences are at the centre of these conversations. 1. Lived Experience … Read more
Inclusive cultures are paramount for organisational success in today’s ever-evolving workplace landscape. However, when it comes to addressing ableism – discrimination or prejudice against individuals with disabilities – there is often a deafening silence. Let’s explore what happens to workplace culture when ableism is not openly discussed, contrasted with the transformative power of open dialogue … Read more
This week’s “10 things to know about…” is dedicated to microaggressions, but before I launch into my list, I want to set the scene for what a microaggression is. ‘Microaggression’ is a term used for “….daily verbal, behavioural or environmental slights, intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative attitudes toward stigmatised or culturally … Read more
