Transcript – Suzanne Colbert on Focal Point, Vision Australia Radio
Wednesday 31 May
PETER GRECO
Well Suzanne Colbert is in fact the CEO for the Australian Network on Disability and recently they had a conference and launched a very interesting Index or Report about an Index – Access and Inclusion Index Benchmarking Report. Suzanne, thanks for speaking to us.
SUZANNE COLBERT
Hi how are you Peter?
PETER
Very well. Tell us about, you had a conference not long ago and you launched this Report?
SUZANNE
That’s right. And the purpose of the Report was to help organisations get a better sense of how they’re performing in terms of their progress of including people with disability as customers, employees and indeed community stakeholders. So we’re encouraging businesses to take a systematic approach and to recognise that for many people with disability it’s not just a case of changing to a positive attitude, it’s a case of building websites that are accessible, providing marketing material that’s accessible, and really thinking about all the steps that they take in the development of their products and services and marketing to ensure that they’re available to everybody.
PETER
Now Suzanne this is obviously, well not obviously, but I’m assuming this has come about because perhaps this hadn’t been done as well as it could’ve been done in the past?
SUZANNE
Well this is the first of its kind in Australia, this Access and Inclusion Index. There are similar entities overseas, but this particular process has been designed for Australian organisations, and it covers a range of areas such as their commitment; what are some of the things that they say they’re going to do? Their premises, their workplace adjustments policy and how they manage workplace adjustments, communications and marketing, products and services, Information Communication Technology, recruitment and selection, career development, suppliers and partners, and innovation.
PETER
Now I think depending on who you listen to, something like 20 per cent of the population has a disability. I guess no organisation, be they for profit or not-for-profit can really be ignoring potentially 20 per cent of their market.
SUZANNE
That’s absolutely correct. And it’s not only that 20 per cent, it’s also the friends and family of people with disability. You know certainly in our family there’s a diversity of needs and so when we go somewhere or make our choices, we’re looking for the kind of access features that make it enjoyable for us.
PETER
So is it more a matter of fact that people haven’t been aware until it’s pointed out that I guess unless, as you say, you’ve either got someone in your family or you yourself have a disability, as an employer or as a business maybe you don’t think about it because it’s not necessarily front of mind, because you don’t know rather than you’re bloody minded or wanting to necessarily exclude people with disabilities?
SUZANNE
I think it is that they don’t know, without a doubt. We each year do a survey of small to medium enterprises, surveying 500 businesses. And what those businesses say is that they’re positive about welcoming people with disability as customers and employees, but they’re a little unsure about what they should be doing, and they tend to do nothing because they don’t know what to do. Whereas the Australian Network on Disability is trying to help organisations know what to do and to do that effectively, and to do that in a systematic way that will make a long-term difference to the way that business can engage with customers with disability. And also make progress to ensure that over time, the business becomes even more accessible and inclusive.
PETER
And as you said it’s probably good if it is a whole of organisation approach. You know, the whole organisation is working towards it rather than, you know, bits and pieces. So that’s probably a better way to get an outcome. What about from here then? What do you see as far as the Index goes for the future? Is it trying to get the message out to more and more companies as well?
SUZANNE
Well we had 22 organisations participate. This is our first benchmark. And when I went to school, a pass mark was 50 out of 100. The average score for 2016 was 47.
PETER
OK
SUZANNE
So what we’d like to see is that for the next Report, which will be launched next year, we would like to see at least 30 companies participating, and it would be great if we could get an average that was over 50. So year-on-year we’d like to see businesses make more steps and make more progress to systematically provide both employment and customer service to people who have disability. And, you know, in our Index, certainly where we’re seeing the best scores in the first year is that organisations are making a commitment, and they’re also working to make those adjustments. But they’re not performing well in recruitment and selection. They’re not doing well on career development. And they’re not really thinking about including people with disability in products and services, comms and marketing, and ICT. So this is a maturity model and we hope that over time, more businesses will be taking steps to become more mature and more systematic in their approach.
PETER
Well there’s a lot of information out there, for example to make a website more accessible, so if people know where to look and get information about that. There’s also a lot of certainly anecdotal evidence about the employing of a person with disability. You know, they have less sick days, they’re more reliable, more punctual, you know, they sort of value their job more if we can put it that way. So, you know, there’s a lot of benefits, there’s a lot of upside to taking on people with disabilities, both as customers and/or employees.
SUZANNE
Yes, absolutely. And it’s important that we recognise organisations that are performing well. And indeed we need to hear the voices of those employees who are working for those organisations, who are performing well. So we’ll be congratulating the highest performing organisations. This year, IBM, Department of Human Services and Westpac Group were the top three performers, and we congratulate them.
PETER
OK, well it’s probably going to be something that’s going to help their bottom line, and I’m sure many businesses will be motivated by that. People can find out more from the website, and.org.au?
SUZANNE
Yes, absolutely. And there is also our Access and Inclusion Index website,
PETER
Terrific. Suzanne, thanks for speaking to us. I know you just got off a plane so we really appreciate you making your time available for us tonight.
SUZANNE
It’s an absolute pleasure, thank you for having me on your program.
PETER
That’s Suzanne Colbert. Suzanne is that CEO for the Australian network on Disability, and.org.au. And Suzanne was telling us about the launch of the Access and Inclusion Index Benchmark Report, which was launched at a conference just a few days ago.