Northern Sydney Local Health District recently celebrated all people with disability whether a member of staff, a volunteer, a patient, or a carer for a person with disability as the organisation held its first International Day of People with Disability forum.

Guest speakers joined the forum including Graeme Innes AM, author and former disability discrimination commissioner and Amber Tratter, senior relationships manager, of Australian Network on Disability, along with NSLHD staff who gave powerful personal accounts of living and working with a disability.

NSLHD Executive Sponsor for Disability Inclusion James Stormon said the forum was a chance for the organisation to acknowledge people with a disability across the district, as well a look at what progress the district has made in workforce diversity and inclusion. 

In the past year the district has achieved a few important steps in its disability inclusion agenda such as, updating recruitment processes and the orientation program to enable support of reasonable adjustments for employees and candidates with disability. 

Other changes include a Supplier Code of Conduct for the procurement process that aligns the organisation with businesses that support diversity and inclusivity; and a workplace adjustment procedure to support access to adjustments in the workplace.

The forum follows the work already on the first Diversity Inclusion and Belonging Strategy last year.

Chief Executive Deb Willcox said this important work has led to the establishment of the Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Council and employee networks which are the engine rooms of the strategy. 

“We know that when our workforce better reflects the communities we serve and truly values difference, we will enhance our employee experience, our employee experience, and our organisational performance,” she said.

“Integral to this is our aim to develop a culture of support and respect for people with disability and their carers, a culture that reflects their contributions and supports reasonable adjustments to be made to maximise their input.”