- Your rights at work
- Fair Pay
- SensWide Employment
- Sign For Work
- Deaf Professional Network
- Deafness Foundation
- JobAccess (EAF)
- Career Counselling
- Professional Mentors
Your rights at work
There are resources available to learn more about your rights in the workplace. Click on any of the links below:
Australian Human Rights Commission – Know your rights: Disability discrimination
JobAccess – Your rights and responsibilities
Victorian Equal Opportunity & Human Rights Commission – Disclosing a disability – Workplace
Fair Pay
The Fair Work Ombudsman’s website has some resources specifically for young workers and students, including videos with captions:
Fair Work Ombudsman can also help you find out if you are paid fairly. You can look under Pay Calculator and Minimum Wages to find out about your wage. There are also captioned videos on the website.
Deaf Job Support Organisations
SensWide Employment is a job support agency supporting Deaf, hard of hearing and people with both disability and Gender and Sexually Diverse (includes lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, queer, same-sex attracted and questioning people). SensWide Employment has six offices around Melbourne and is a service under Vicdeaf.
SensWide Employment can offer support to people finding a job such as:
- Assistance with joining the program
- Career counselling
- Skills gap identification
- Training options
- Referrals to audiology and hearing loss management services
- Job search technique training
- Preparing a professional resume
- Marketing your skills to employers
- Job interview practice and support
- Interpreter support
- Referrals to other support agencies
SensWide Employment can also offer support to people who are working such as:
- Providing access to the Employment Assistance fund
- Workplace modifications ( e.g. flashing alarms, TTYs etc)
- Disability Awareness Training
- Auslan interpreters
- Workplace assessments
- Ongoing support as required
Go to SensWide Employment website for more information: www.senswide.com.au
SensWide Employment is a job support agency supporting Deaf and hard of hearing people across Australia. In Victoria, Sign For Work has two offices. Sign For Work is under the service of Deaf Children Australia.
Sign For Work can offer:
- Assistance with job coaching in preparing a résumé, application letter and interview skills
- Find you work and provide you advice on the best ways to look for work
- Access to an Auslan innterpreter if you need one
- We provide access to job searching facilities on site and help with using our facilities, including phone, fax, TTY, computer, internet and newspapers
- Employer Relation Consultants who will reverse market you to potential employers
Sign For Work can also support people who have anxiety and depression as well as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.
Go to Sign For Work website for more information: www.signforwork.org.au
Deaf Professional Network
The Deaf Professionals Network (DPN) is open to Deaf and hard of hearing people with an interest in career, leadership, life development and further studies in Victoria. Vicdeaf runs DPN. You may want to think about getting involved in the Deaf Professionals Network when you are studying to learn from your peers or to find a mentor.
Click here for more information about DPN.
Click here for past DPN events.
Deafness Foundation
If you or your organisation is running a project to support deaf and hard of hearing community through research, prevention, education, early detection or technology, Deafness Foundation invites you to apply for a Financial Grant.
Click here to for more information and to apply.
JobAccess
One example of assistance is the Employment Assistance Fund (EAF). EAF is $6000 every year to cover any additional costs to provide you equal access to your workplace. EAF provides funds to cover:
- Provide Auslan interpreters for your job interviews
- Modifications in the workplace
– Auslan interpreters and/or live captioning for team meetings, conferences, video calls, training or professional development
– Cover the cost of CapTel (Captioned Telephone for $55 per year)
– Hearing loops/FM system/Microphone
– Deaf Smoke Alarm
– iPad in some situations
Click here to see a video of how EAF can help you in the workplace. Auslan and captions are available on this video. To see more Auslan and captioned videos about EAF, click here.
Career Counselling
Most schools, training providers and universities can offer some career advice and information. Here are some links to Career Counselling outside of your school or educational institution:
Australian Employers’ Network on Disability – Student Internship Programmes
CEAV – Career Counselling Australia
Professional Mentoring
Professional mentoring can also help you to decide what jobs to apply for or how to improve your skills. You can have different mentors throughout your working life. Click here to connect with one of our deaf mentors at deafConnectEd.
deafConnectEd interviewed with Rebecca Adam to talk about the value of a professional mentor to help her improve her work skills. The video is in Auslan and has captions.
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