Wrapping up IDPwD 2021

On Friday 3 December APM staff across the country celebrated International Day of People with Disability.

Through a mix of in-person and online events, we celebrated the value and leadership of people living with injury, illness and disability in our community.

Paralympic Gold Medallist Ben Popham joined APM on Friday, speaking to hundreds of APM staff from our West Perth office via video link.

As well as sharing anecdotes from within the Tokyo village, Ben shared his lived experiences with Cerebral Palsy and how he maintained his confidence and winning mindset.

APM also launched our 2022 Disability, Diversity and Inclusivity Index (DDI).

The DDI explores the real issues facing job seekers with disability, and measures the state of Australian businesses in terms of their inclusion of people with disability.

The latest statistics highlight the disparity in not just finding a job, but in ongoing job security.

When it comes to disability, employer attitudes are shifting post-COVID.

In fact, nearly seven in 10 Australian employers (67%) say diversity and inclusion (D&I) is on their organisation’s radar.

Even outside the workplace, General Manager of APM Communities Jason Diederich gives us pause to consider our responses to people with disability.

He reflected on his decades of lived experience as an amputee and his bright blue prosthetic leg.

For people living with injury, illness or disability - people who are members of diversity groups - visibility is an essential component of inclusion.

Changing 'you cannot be what you cannot see' into 'you can be'.