MERCURY SERIES - Making A Difference
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Access Law Group is among a growing number of Illawarra businesses reaping the rewards of employing people with a visible disability.
The Wollongong law firm's decision to take on a trainee with a disability late last year brought so many positive results it is now encouraging other businesses to follow its lead.
Australian Business Apprenticeships Centre (ABAC) general manager Andrew Williams said Access was showing how someone with a visible disability could bring many advantages.
Mr Williams said there was also plenty of government assistance to help.
Access co-directors Graham Lancaster and Tom Ellicott described their appointment of Hayleigh Gray, 20, as a trainee as a very positive experience. Mr Lancaster said it was such a success it made him think about how many working-age people probably had things that challenged them that were not so easy to see or identify.
So he said why should someone with a more visible challenge be disadvantaged because of that?
Ms Gray has scoliosis, no thumbs and a shortened forearm and her index fingers have been moved to where her thumbs should have been.
But her typing speed is amazing and none of her physical challenges have stopped her becoming a valuable employee since joining the Access team five months ago.
Ms Gray is Mr Lancaster's executive assistant and he described her as among the best he's seen.
"Hayleigh gets things right," he said.
"She doesn't bring problems, she brings answers and solutions."
Mr Lancaster said he loved her work ethic, which was not uncommon from what he had heard from other employers who had taken on people with a disability.
Ms Gray said it was great to work for a company that made her feel so welcome and encouraged her growth and development.
"My disability has been accommodated by the rearrangement of objects and stationery items on my desk, and I receive assistance from fellow employees when I need to reach certain items," she said.
The former Kiama High School student is training for a Certificate IV in Legal Services and is thinking about eventually studying law.
She said thanks to Access, ABAC and CRS Australia she could now dare to dream.
ABAC training consultant Leanne Smith said assistance was available for employers to take on people who could not find work for many reasons.
Mr Lancaster encouraged more businesses to find out about employing an apprentice or trainee with a disability by contacting the ABAC at apprenticeshipscentrecom.au.