Customised employment means creating opportunities for people with disability who may experience barriers to securing or maintaining jobs without approaches tailored for their individual circumstances.
This approach supports high performance and productivity as it focuses on an individual’s strengths while meeting the needs of the employer.
This guide helps employers understand the benefits of customised employment, the services and supports available and the steps involved in tailoring a job.
What is customised employment?
Show moreCustomised employment is the process of tailoring a job to suit the talents and skills of an individual while meeting the needs of the employer.
Jobs may be customised pre or post employment, creating pathways for people who may experience barriers to employment or advancement.
Staff returning to work after injury or illness may also benefit from having some elements of their job customised.
Elements of a job that may be customised include:
- work hours
- location
- duties and responsibilities
- work expectations
- key performance indicators.
Customised employment may involve either:
- job re-design – where duties and tasks are reallocated or added to an existing job description
- job design – where duties and tasks are created from scratch.
There is no legal obligation to create a job from scratch for a person with disability but under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) and Equal Opportunity Act 1984 (WA) employers must make reasonable adjustments to accommodate a person’s disability unless that adjustment would result in unjustifiable hardship.
How does customised employment create pathways?
Show moreTailoring a job has been found to be particularly effective in creating employment pathways for people with disability who may experience employment barriers relating to work duties, hours and location.
Customised employment can also help to retain staff and support career progression, and can be used across all work areas and levels from entry level to executive positions.
Case study: AliReallocating tasks A large agency recently advertised for a senior lawyer. Ali is a senior lawyer with many years’ experience. He has recently been named as a ‘rising star’ by a prominent legal publication. Ali is blind and uses screen reading software to access documents. Senior lawyers at the agency are provided with corporate credit cards. Each lawyer is responsible for reconciling all expenses in the agency’s financial management system. The financial management system is not compatible with screen reading software. The agency employs Ali and the task of reconciling expenses in the financial management system is reallocated to a legal assistant. Ali was able to contribute his skills and experience in a way that was customised to his particular circumstances. |
Case study: SashaMatching skills and interests An agency is having difficulty with its printing service. Publications are not being produced quickly enough and the work area is constantly disorganised. The manager has identified this as an area that needs improvement and understands that current staff have limited capacity to attend to printing jobs and keep the work area organised. A local disability employment service has introduced the manager to Sasha, a 24 year old who wants to work in the public sector. While Sasha does not yet have the skills in printing publications, she is able to stock shelves and keep the work area organised. The manager welcomes the opportunity to customise the job to match Sasha’s skills and interests and has agreed to Sasha’s request to work part time. Sasha is attracted to the job as it involves working in a team with opportunities for career progression. The agency employs Sasha and soon after reports an increase in productivity. |
Case studies adapted from IncludeAbility: Customising a job for a person with disability
What are the steps involved in customising a job?
Show moreWhen duties and tasks are being created from scratch, an agency can engage a job designer from a disability service to support the customised employment process. The job designer uses a process that starts with the person rather than the job. This stage is called the ‘discovery stage’.
In some cases it may be appropriate for the employer to engage internal staff – such as an occupational therapist or work, health and safety officer – to coordinate the customised employment process such as when reallocating tasks for an existing employee.
IncludeAbility, an initiative of the Australian Human Rights Commission, has developed a guide to support internal teams involved in customising a job for a person with disability.
The guide emphasises the importance of getting to know the person involved to understand their interests, goals, past experiences, existing and potential skills, and any other valuable qualities they may have.
This process includes 5 steps:
- Job analysis
- Organisation work assessment
- Employee work assessment
- Customising the job or role
- Communication, feedback and evaluation
These steps support employers to establish a clear understanding of the essential job requirements, expectations and necessary skill levels for a specific job, as well as awareness of other opportunities in the workplace.
What services and supports are available?
Show moreDisability service organisations
Employers can contact Disability Employment Services to connect with job seekers with disability and discuss the customised employment programs that may be available. Local providers can be found using the Disability Employment Services provider search page.
From 1 July 2025, the Australian Government will introduce a new specialist disability employment program. Information is in following factsheets.
- A new specialist disability employment program – Employer factsheet
- A new specialist disability employment program – What is changing?
National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)
NDIS participants of working age can access support for customised employment through their NDIS plan. This may include funding supports in employment for eligible NDIS participants who need extra help to pursue their employment goals. Generally, these supports are greater than what may be reasonably provided by an employer or with the support of Disability Employment Services
| Note: Some people with disability who may be suitable for customised employment may not use a Disability Employment Services provider or be an eligible NDIS participant. |
Questions
Show moreDo you have a question about customised employment that we have not covered in this guide?
Let us know by emailing workforceanddiversity@psc.wa.gov.au.
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