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Matt passed away on Sunday 1st March 2009. A perpetual university scholarship has been created in his memory. For full details, please see http://www.mattlaffan.com.au/scholarship)
As a solicitor with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in NSW, I don’t make a big deal about disability when it comes to employment, and don’t see why anyone else should either. I appear regularly in court using my electric wheelchair, which I need as a result of failed spinal surgery I had after being born with a rare genetic disorder, Diastrophic Dysphasia.
In my dealings with police, lawyers from the defence, witnesses and victims of crime I have never been worried about how they might react to what they might perceive to be my disabilities. The fact that I am in a wheelchair and have a few physical challenges does not detrimentally influence the way in which I deal with them in court. The only reaction I could be said to have is when I have built up a relationship over the phone and then meet them for the first time, having not at first pre-warned them that I am ‘the bloke in the wheelchair’ because often they are expecting someone taller and more robust looking.
I got my first job through networking, while seeking a summer clerkship during my final year of university. An initial interview led to the opportunity to work as a clerk, and after two years I went on to full-time employment as a lawyer. It began with a friend initiating an opportunity that I was able to make the most of and turn into a career move. When it came to negotiating workplace adjustments, I found no resistance to these changes and it was simply a matter of creating awareness. I required ramps to be built into two courts and my desk to be altered in such a way that it was high enough for me to use effectively. It took some negotiating in that the powers that be just needed to be made aware of how essential they were, to not only ensure my ability to realise my full potential in the workplace but also to ensure that there was true equality before the law.
At the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (NSW) I have never felt that I did not belong. At the beginning I was nervous, and in part that can be put down to the feeling that I did not want to make a mistake and jeopardise the opportunity I had been given. Whenever any of us are put into a new situation with people and expectations there can be sense of nervousness, which if channelled positively goes a long way to fuelling our efforts to make a strong contribution. Of course I was concerned about simple things, such as ease of access to a toilet and the way in which I would deal with unexpected little obstacles, such as requiring colleagues to fax or photocopy something for me without wanting to be a burden. However, with planning and a positive attitude, these things were overcome and the nervousness I felt gave way to a feeling of relief and delight.
When I ran for Mayor of Sydney I saw a wonderful example of attitudes changing towards disability when I missed out on a position on Council by little more than perhaps 500 votes. The voters looked to my abilities, as opposed to the disabilities, which says more about the people who cast the vote and about this city than it does about me. It is easy for me to believe in myself, that is my way. But for others to believe in me takes something else, it takes a conscious decision to believe I am up to the task and that is a mighty thing to put into practice.
I was also featured on the ABC television program Australian Story.
When applying for jobs in the past I disclosed my disability in the application but I’m increasingly of the opinion it might be better to leave that until one has secured an interview opportunity. I do not think there are any hard and fast rules as to which approach is best, and perhaps it is a matter for the individual and dependent upon what sort of job is being sought.
The major challenge for we graduates with disability is finding the opportunity to get into work after university qualifications have been reached. This can be put down to a number of things, but the most critical are infrastructure and perceptions. Depending upon one’s needs, a lack of infrastructure in the workplace, or between home and the workplace, to meet those needs can create obstacles that pose some effort to overcome. Perceptions by prospective employers that these needs in some way mean our abilities are not equal to or superior to fellow employees can be just as challenging. Some of these things we can solve ourselves and others require the collective effort of government, the community and industry.
The trick is to keep up the determination to meet those challenges even when it seems all is lost. We need to knock loudly on employers’ doors so that if someone comes along with a disability, they don’t see the disability, they see the ability of the person.