UTS is required under the The Commonwealth Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (PDF 260kb) to reasonably accommodate a staff member’s disability to avoid direct or indirect discrimination.
UTS is committed to fostering and supporting a diverse workforce and to integrating equal opportunity for people with disability into University policies, procedures, decisions and operations. Workplace adjustments will assist staff with a disability to continue to work productively.
Reasonable adjustments
Reasonable adjustments are:
- applicable to all current and prospective employees and to all stages of employment including the recruitment process.
- permanent or temporary as defined by the nature of the disability and can include:
- the provision of specialised equipment
- job redesign
- modification of work areas.
- based on accommodating the disability of the staff member so they are able to meet the inherent requirements of their job, without causing unjustifiable hardship to UTS.
Inherent requirements
An inherent requirement is something that is ‘essential’ to the position. Inherent requirements are more than the primary task of a role; they include all of the core duties that fulfil a position.
Unjustifiable hardships
Unjustifiable hardship may occur when adjustments requested by a person with a disability would cause excessive hardship to the employer. Unjustifiable hardship is determined on a case by case basis but incorporates:
- consideration of the impact of the adjustment (both positive and negative) to other people
- the nature of the employer
- the costs involved in the adjustments.
Further information
The Workplace Adjustments Procedures (PDF, 194k)
Staff
Supervisors
