Australian Employers Network on Disability

In May 2009 Suzanne Colbert, Chief Executive of the Employers Network, joined Kurt Fearnley, celebrated Paralympian, and the National Disability Coordination Officer program (NDCO) for Western NSW to help down break down barriers that exist between the business community and people with disability in the Central West.

About 65 local employers attended a breakfast in Bathurst to listen to the inspirational Kurt Fearnley talk about his rise to international sporting success. Beginning from the time his primary school teacher fought for him to remain in mainstream schooling to his participation in his third Paralympics in Beijing – taking home one gold, two silver and a bronze - Kurt’s journey has been a remarkable one.

Born without the lower portion of his spine, Kurt Fearnley ignored his disability and joined in every sport possible. He took up wheelchair racing at the age of 14 and has since become an elite international athlete.

However, despite this international sporting success at the Paralympic level, he is still saddened by the discrimination he faces due to his disability.

Some taxi’s still refuse to transport him as they are too impatient to wait the extra two minutes it takes for Kurt to put his own wheelchair in the cab.

He has also been asked to leave pubs because his wheels may ‘run over girls toes’!

Kurt Fearnley called on all local employers in attendance to play their part to take personal responsibility for contributing to positive change within their own work environments. He said he would love to see the Central West region of NSW become renowned for supporting those with disability in the workplace. 

Suzanne Colbert then addressed the breakfast encouraging local Bathurst business to realise tangible business benefits by becoming ‘disability confident’. She also spent time in the Central West region hosting workshops titled ‘Engaging and Supporting Employer Partnerships’ for local Disability Employment Network (DEN) and Transition to Work (TTW) providers. 

The breakfast was organised by the NDCO program for Western NSW, which is hosted in the region by the Central West Community College. The NDCO program is funded by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.

Download the transcript of Suzanne's inspirational speech in Word format here.