This piece was originally published in The Mandarin on Thursday, 20 March 2025
OPINION
I started my working career as what is now known as a Disability Support Worker for the then Disability Services Commission in the Western Australian public sector, now the Department of Communities. Those eleven years were some of the most rewarding years of my career, where I not only learned about the quiet power and passion of Western Australia’s public sector workforce but also gained first-hand experience in supporting those living with a disability and how we can better support people living with a disability in the workplace.
This Neurodivserity Celebration Week I’m proud of the efforts of our members, union members of the Community and Public Sector Union/Civil Service Association (CPSU/CSA), who last year fought for the inclusion of an important new clause in the Public Sector CSA Agreement 2024, ten days of disability leave per year. For those living with a disability, this is a life-changing leave inclusion they now have access to in their workplace. Before now, they have been forced to use personal leave or annual leave in order to attend important appointments, receive treatment or therapy, attend tests or obtain a wheelchair.
Those living with a disability, such as neurodiversity like Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or Autism, are no less likely than you or I to want to take that two-week holiday to Bremer Bay, need a week off with a terrible flu or need to take carers leave when our children fall ill. Yet they have to take personal or annual leave in order to meet their basic support needs, sometimes leaving them with very little access to the time for real rest and recuperation many of us enjoy.
We know for a fact that those who are neurodiverse are already struggling to find Psychiatrists with open books so that they can get diagnosed, continue to access support or obtain medication should they need it. Those who’ve spoken to me about their efforts to obtain an appointment often lock it in first with the hope that they are able to take the leave or otherwise face waiting an additional three months, or often much longer.
Now, no matter what kind of support pathway people who are neurodiverse may seek following their diagnosis, we do know it costs time; time often during business hours with a need to travel to and from the appointment location. A half day once a month adds up over time, and if you compound that with parents who need time off with their children, ad hoc medical appointments, and extended family who live outside Perth, the state or even the country, that full week of leave required can put a real hindrance on anyone living with a disability in being to able live a good life.
Under this new entitlement for those on the Public Sector CSA Agreement 2025, about one-fifth of Western Australia’s state public sector workforce “... disability is defined as a permanent or ongoing physical or psychological disability, attributable to one or more intellectual, cognitive, neurological, sensory or physical impairments or to one or more impairments attributable to a psychiatric condition.” The hard work of disability advocates across the decades gave the CPSU/CSA a wealth of publicly available research to put our case to Government about the need for a broad definition, which we achieved through bargaining to ensure as broad an application as possible for public sector workers.
With this new inclusion, neurodiverse people have one less barrier to accessing the services and support they need to have their neurological needs met. And it’s not just workers with a disability who gain better outcomes thanks to support in the workplace. When people who are neurodiverse, or anyone who lives with a disability for that matter, are better supported in their workplace, data out of the United States has shown they bring greater economic returns to the organisation.
Research from Accenture in the US from the end of 2023 found that organisations with strong disability inclusion support saw 1.6 times more revenue, 2.6 times more net income and 2 times more economic profit.
The CPSU/CSA is proud to be at the forefront of fostering equal and equitable workplaces in Western Australia. On top of ten days of disability leave, we secured five days of reproductive health leave and expanded access to parental leave and cultural and ceremonial leave. The union continues to push for equitable and accessible workplaces for all workers, particularly Western Australia’s state public sector workers.
Melanie Bray is the Branch/General Secretary of the Community and Public Sector Union/Civil Service Association (CPSU/CSA)
