“One of the great employment experiences I’ve had was when a manager job-carved for me when I returned to work after major spinal surgery. Before undergoing the surgery, I was working full-time in a demanding senior policy advisory position in the Attorney-General’s Department Disability Royal Commission Response Unit. The rehabilitation period following surgery was quite challenging, and I took more than a year off work to recover.

When I transitioned back to work, much to my surprise, my capacity was heavily reduced. I went from working full-time to only being able to manage 15 hours a week due to pain and fatigue. I re-entered my job with the support of an amazing manager who understood my strengths and skills and carved out a specific role for me, which intentionally reduced my administrative workload and allowed me to focus on what I actually do best – providing policy advice! I was asked to identify the early emerging themes from the Disability Royal Commission and the potential implications for the South Australian Government, and to share my findings with my team.

By reducing the amount of physically demanding low value tasks that were previously part of my role, such as transcribing Royal Commission hearings and note taking, I was able to spend my time at work each week focussing on the high impact task of analysing and synthesising policy findings. Despite working heavily reduced hours, job carving allowed me to remain a highly valued and contributing member of my team.”

Trish speaks about inclusive employment practices in our Inclusive Employment video series.