Employment Opportunities

Ms SANDERSON (Adelaide) (15:10): My question is to the Minister for Disabilities. Can the minister inform the house how the government is tracking with target 50 of the South Australian Strategic Plan to increase the number of people with a disability employed in South Australia by 10 per cent by 2020?

The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light—Minister for Disabilities, Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (15:10): I thank the honourable member for her question. I do not have the exact figures before me but what I can say is that both the state and commonwealth governments are working to change community attitudes towards employing people with a disability. There is a major barrier. I actually held a round table with the disability sector involving people involved in the employment of people with a disability and people with disabilities, and one of the major issues to arise from that was the perception by some employers. I have met with Business SA; they are quite happy to work with the government and the sector to encourage employers, including the government, and the government itself has had a project to improve employment opportunities for people with disabilities. In terms of the actual figure, I cannot report but I am happy to get that figure for you.