Advance 2 Not a pretty picture Psychosocial disability in Australia
<a>This paper describes the impact of psychosocial disabilities in Australia on vocational achievements. The report is based on the official statistics on <i>Disability Ageing and Carers</i> by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The major findings in relation to persons with a psychosocial disability are: (a) only 32% are in the labour force; (b) the proportion who are unemployed is 1.7 times that for those with no disability; (c) employment is reduced more than twice for those with some other disability; (d) larger proportions are working part-time than full-time; (e) there is some underlying impact on the types of occupations; (f) the median income is much less ($400 gross per week) than for other disabilities ($575.00 gross per week) or even no disability ($950.00 gross per week)</a><a></a> ; and (g) the workplace is by far the highest source of unfair treatment with 46,500 instances in the previous 12 months. It was concluded that most persons with a psychosocial disability do not participate in the labour market. When they do, they suffer higher levels of unemployment. When they get a job, it is more likely to be part-time. When they are employed substantial numbers face discrimination and restrictions.