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Living with blindness or low vision can be a tough journey that encourages growth and confidence.
Choosing when and how to disclose a disability can be challenging however, particularly when it comes to the workplace.
What is disclosure?
Disclosure means sharing your disability with others.
For the blind and low vision community, this can be tricky because their conditions are often not immediately obvious to others and due to perceptions many people still incorrectly hold.
What’s the situation?
There’s no doubt people who are blind or have low vision are under-represented in the workforce.
Research shows that just 24% of people who are blind or have low vision in Australia are in full-time employment, below comparable countries such as Canada (28%) and New Zealand (32%).
The issue goes beyond the blind and low vision community. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2022, just 56.1% of people aged 15-64 years living with a disability are employed.
Freya, 42, who lives with retinitis pigmentosa, is just one of the many people from the blind and low vision community who have struggled to be accepted in the workplace.
“It’s a tough situation to be in, especially when the position you apply for is not disability specific,” Freya said.
“Some employers have little or no experience working with people with low vision, so dropping a bombshell like that can cause anxiety for everyone.”
Freya has felt pressured in previous years to keep quiet about her lived experience with low vision.
“There was an unspoken rule. If you don’t bring it up, it doesn’t exist. It’s not a big deal. But in hindsight, this wasn’t good for anyone. This impacted my confidence to speak up, and ultimately, I was walking on eggshells all the time, which affected my work.”
Figures back up Freya’s feelings, with research from Vision Australia showing many Australian workplaces feel unprepared to incorporate people who are blind or have low vision.
More than 50% of Australian employers have never considered hiring a person who is blind or has low vision, while significant numbers of employers wrongly consider people who are blind or have low vision to be a productivity or safety risk.
What are people’s protections?
The primary piece of legislation in Australia, the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, aims to ensure equal rights for people with disabilities, particularly in the workplace.
Additionally, there are several state laws that work alongside the federal law; including;
- The Anti-Discrimination Act 1997 NSW
- Equal Opportunity Act 2010 VIC
- Discrimination Act 1991 QLD
- Equal Opportunity Act 1984 WA
- Equal Opportunity Act 1984 SA
- Disability Services Act 1993 NT
- Anti-Discrimination Act 1998 TAS
- Disability Inclusion Act 2024 ACT
What are your options?
You are not obligated to disclose your disability to your employer or potential employer, including during the application process.
Disability is a personal matter, and the decision to disclose it is entirely up to the individual.
If your disability requires adjustments to your work environment or tasks to enable you to perform your job safely and effectively, disclosure can help you access support for those adjustments.
Confidentiality
If you decide to share your disability, you can choose to have this information kept in confidence and not shared with others without your consent.
What support is available?
Employment support
For those seeking more assistance, Vision Australia Employment Services provides support for people who are blind or have low vision.
Support is available for people who are looking for a job, or those looking to retain employment after their circumstances have changed.
Support is also available through schemes like the Job Access Employment Assistance Fund, which can fund workplace modifications, equipment and services necessary for a person with disability to perform their employment duties.
Community and social groups
Vision Australia’s Quality Living Groups offer peer-led support groups on various topics and for different age groups, including discussions on disclosure.
Self-advocacy
Learning how to self-advocate can be a big help in navigating challenges around disclosure. Vision Australia’s self-advocacy guides are full of helpful information on employment and more.