Would you accept a minimum wage of less than $3 per hour?

Supported disability employment enterprises are legally entitled to pay people living with disability as low as $2.90 per hour, and unfortunately, the newly-released Commonwealth, State and Territory Supported Employment Plan does not include a commitment to increase this wage. 

According to JFA Purple Orange Chairperson Tricia Spargo, the Plan, which sets out principles and actions for the future of supported employment in Australia, includes some positive elements, but there is still work to be done. 

“Whilst the Plan contains important overarching principles including genuine choice and control; real options for employment (coupled with support); and the right to equal remuneration and associated conditions for work, what is missing are concrete commitments to ensure that people living with disability who remain in supported employment are remunerated at the same rate as the rest of the workforce,” she said.  

At present, the ‘special national minimum wage’ can be as low as $2.90 an hour. Superannuation rates are 9.5%, compared to 11% for the rest of the workforce.  

“The cost of living is at an all-time high, and more people than ever are struggling to make ends meet,” Ms Spargo said. 

“The Supported Employment Plan emphasises that people with disability should be treated with dignity and respect and must be able to exercise their human rights. How can someone live a healthy, meaningful, and dignified life on $2.90 an hour? Just because the person also might receive disability support pension does not make this right.” 

In 2022, the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities emphasised that signatories to the Convention, including Australia, must ensure that people living with disability are paid no less than the minimum wage. This is $23.23 per hour.  

The final report of the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability (‘DRC’), released in 2023, has also called for an end to sub-minimum wages. 

Some initiatives in the Plan, such as the Structural Adjustment Fund, will encourage supported employment services to increase wages. But it seems they will not be required to do so. 

“All working Australians should receive at least the minimum working wage. Having a different, ‘special’ standard for people with disability in supported employment sends a dangerous message to the wider community, including potential future employers.  

“It is precisely this type of differentiated treatment that fuels social stigma, stereotyping and discrimination,” Ms Spargo said.  

The Plan makes the right to equal remuneration and associated conditions dependent on people living with disability performing ‘work of equal value.’ 

“We need to stop questioning whether one person’s work is of equal value to another’s, in order to justify whether they deserve the minimum wage,” said Ms Spargo.  

“Do such worthiness assessments take place for the rest of the population? They don’t. There’s a reason it’s called the minimum wage and there should be no circumstances in which a worker is paid below it. 

“Importantly, the value a person living with disability brings to a workplace goes beyond the outputs they deliver. People living with disability bring valuable skills, perspectives and experience that can change workplace culture and introduce new ways of thinking and working.” 

JFA Purple Orange has long advocated for an end to segregation of people living with disability, including in supported employment enterprises. The DRC report also called for a phasing out of segregated employment, and the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disability has made similar calls.  

“In implementing the Supported Employment Plan, it is important that governments at all levels keep the ultimate goal in mind: ending segregation for people living with disability in all spheres of life, including education and employment,” Ms Spargo emphasised.  

“People living with disability must have genuine, meaningful opportunities to work in mainstream employment. A truly inclusive and diverse workforce is beneficial for all.”

 

Media enquiries or to organise an interview 

Marissa Brown, Leader Marketing and Communications, Julia Farr Group 

Phone: (08) 8373 8367 

Email: media@juliafarr.org.au