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 would say their disability inclusion work is rights-based. Ask why they do it, and you’ll get language about equity, dignity, and legal obligation. That’s the frame on the label. It’s rarely the only frame actually running underneath — and the gap between the label and what’s actually driving decisions is where most of … Read more
This closes out the four-part series on FY 26-27 inclusion planning. If you’ve been following along, you don’t need a recap. If this is the first piece you’ve landed on, here’s what you need to know: the last month has made one argument, in three parts. This is where it comes together. Part one measured. … Read more
A short apology first: this piece was meant to land the week after the Three Numbers piece. It didn’t. Some weeks, the work in front of you wins over the writing about the work — this was one of them. The Three Numbers piece established that a working DIAP should be able to produce a … Read more
There’s a moment in most inclusion conversations where someone — usually a senior leader, sometimes a frustrated practitioner — says some version of this: “We’ve done the training. We’ve got the plan. We’ve consulted. Why aren’t things actually changing?” It’s a fair question. And it’s almost always the wrong one. The right question is harder: … Read more
Most organisations approach neurodivergence the same way they approach disability inclusion broadly — they wait for someone to disclose, and then try to accommodate the individual. The problem with that approach is that most people never disclose. Not because they don’t need support. But because the culture hasn’t made it safe enough to say so. … Read more
If your organisation is serious about reducing the risk of ableism, awareness alone isn’t enough. Ableism rarely appears as deliberate exclusion. More often, it shows up in systems—in policies, processes, and decisions built around assumptions about a “default” worker. Over time, those assumptions become normalised. When we design for a “standard” that doesn’t exist, we … Read more
There’s a pattern I see often. An organisation is doing “well” with disability inclusion. There’s momentum. There are conversations happening. There are initiatives underway. And almost always, there’s a person behind it. A committed leader. A passionate HR manager. A staff member with lived experience who keeps raising the issues. The work moves because they … 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
