Presentations

Panel Discussion: The Future of Employment and the NDIS

The NDIS now has over 700,000 participants with Support Plans with many of these Participants looking for employment. Some of these Participants have never worked before and require support to prepare for work. The NDIS Review has been recently completed and the new Disability employment program, Disability Inclusive Australia is about to commence. In this session, our expert panellists will discuss the Future of Employment and its relationship with the NDIS. Topics will include Increasing the number of participants with Employment Supports in their plan, creating pathways from supported employment to open employment, the role of Work Experience, the relationship with the new Disability Inclusive Australia, education of Employers around employing NDIS participants and of course creating a more seamless service delivery for participants who access NDIS supports but also access to Disability Inclusive Australia to find and maintain Employment.

Presenters

Graeme Innes

Lawyer, author, and company Director

Graeme Innes AM is a lawyer, author, and company director.

He is the Chancellor of Central Queensland University, a member of the board of the National Disability Insurance Agency, and a member of the board of the State Insurance Regulatory Authority of NSW.

Graeme’s autobiography Finding a Way achieved popular acclaim in 2016.

He has been a human rights practitioner for more than forty years, and is a conference presenter and facilitator.

Graeme was a Commissioner at the Australian Human Rights Commission for almost nine years, responsible for issues relating to disability, race and human rights. On the international stage, he was a member of the Australian delegation that participated in negotiating the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities.

Graeme led the merger of four blindness agencies to form Vision Australia, and chaired the board of that agency. He is currently the chair of the Attitude Foundation, a start-up aimed at using media to change attitudes towards Australians with disabilities.

Graeme was awarded an AM for his work on the development of the Disability Discrimination Act, was a finalist for Australian of the Year, and, on the international stage, he was a member of the Australian delegation that participated in negotiating the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. He was awarded Honorary Doctorates by the University of Canberra in 2014, RMIT University in 2016, UNSW in 2017 and Edith Cowan University in 2018, in recognition of his work as a human rights activist.

Since 2014, Graeme has received four Honorary Doctorates in recognition of his human rights advocacy.

Graeme is married with two adult children, loves cricket as a spectator and sailing as a participant, and relaxes by enjoying fine Australian white wine.

Sam Bennett

Program Director, Grattan Institute

Catherine McAlpine

CEO, Inclusion Australia