This article is inspired by and references the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) “Guidelines for the targeted recruitment of people with disability. 2022”
I highly recommend a full read of this excellent guide if you’re keen to explore a targeted strategy further. Or give Affirmative Recruitment a call and we’d be happy to discuss a practical application of the guidelines for your business.
So what is a Targeted Recruitment Strategy and why is it good for inclusive recruitment?
The default approach to disability inclusive recruitment
As an employer, if you want to hire more people with disability, making your overall recruitment process more accessible and inclusive is the established go-to approach.
For the unfamiliar, key elements of this would include disability inclusive messaging, addressing accessibility of a process (formats, steps involved etc), embracing reasonable adjustments at multiple stages and focussing on essential requirements.
No question, there’s genuine long-term benefit in doing this. When done well it will absolutely improve overall inclusive best practice for an employer.
Many employers however advise that creating an even playing field in this way is not enough to achieve their intended increase of people with disability coming into the organisation.
There are a few reasons for this:
- Application numbers from people with disability can remain low to a generically inclusive attraction strategy
- Identifying people with disability from a long application list is not easy, even if employers ask applicants about reasonable adjustments. Many people with disability won’t actually need any adjustments, and some may choose not to disclose early in a process.
- Candidate attraction has not reached the right audience of people with disability
Adding a Targeted Recruitment Strategy
A targeted recruitment strategy, advocated by the AHRC, enables employers and recruitment agencies to legally aim recruitment activities squarely and exclusively at people with disability.
The commission notes that:
“As part of broader comprehensive employer strategies to achieve greater workforce diversity, targeted recruitment strategies are crucial to addressing the discrimination and attitudinal, systemic, and structural barriers faced by people with disability in securing work opportunities. They are also key to achieving inclusive workplaces and communities.” [1]
A simple example of a targeted recruitment strategy could be as follows: based on an assessment that people with disability are under-represented in the workforce, in an industry, or within a specific organisation, the decision is made to ring-fence a hire exclusively for a person with disability.
By targeting only people with disability, the strategy is intended to address the entrenched disadvantage or under-representation of this population.
Is this discriminatory?
A Targeted Recruitment Strategy, provided that it is documented appropriately to meet the necessary legislative requirements, is considered a “Special Measure” under the Disability Discrimination Act and applicable state / territory laws. As such it cannot be deemed as unlawful discrimination.[i]
On this basis, in most cases, it means you don’t need to apply for an exemption to relevant discrimination laws to undertake a targeted recruitment strategy!
The AHRC guidelines include an excellent template for documenting a targeted recruitment strategy as a special measure to ensure it’s consistent with relevant law.
An excellent way to put policy into practice
For employers with an Accessibility and Inclusion Plan, or DEIB policy which is not cutting through to new hiring outcomes, targeted recruitment is an excellent strategic approach which can complement these broader commitments.
And for employers at the beginning of their disability confidence journey, it can also be a powerful way to focus efforts in a contained way, and maximise the potential for a disability-positive hiring outcome sooner.
I encourage employers to explore this excellent approach and add it to their inclusion strategy.
As mentioned above, I highly recommend referring to the full guide for further insights and evidence. It can be found here: https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/disability-rights/publications/guidelines-targeted-recruitment-people-disability
I hope you’ve found this article useful. If you’d like recruitment assistance to achieve your inclusion goals, please drop us a line. We’d love to hear from you.
Reference:
[1] Australian Human Rights Commission. Guidelines for the targeted recruitment of people with disability. 2022
Footnote:
[i] Please note that there is variation to the relevant laws at state / territory level. Refer to the AHRC guide for further information