Calls grow for mandatory disability employment

People with disabilities continue to face barriers to employment, prompting calls for a mandatory five per cent employment quota.

The National Senior Citizens Committee is urging the government and private sector to employ more people with disabilities.

Presenting its submission to the Special Parliamentary Committee on the Constitution Amendment Bill, a committee representative said people with disabilities continue to face barriers to employment and risk being left without adequate support.

“What happens? It’s not mandatory. They end up on streets. So what happens after that? Nobody wants to employ them, whether it’s the government or private sector.”

The committee warned that without a mandatory requirement, employers could continue to exclude people with disabilities from the workforce.

It says they risk ending up on the streets when they cannot find work, as neither government nor private sector employers are willing to employ them.

The committee also highlighted the needs of senior citizens, stressing that both groups must be considered in national decision-making.

It referred to the 2017 Census, which recorded about 81,000 people aged 60 and above, accounting for 9.1 percent of Fiji’s population at the time.

The committee is calling on lawmakers to ensure people with disabilities and senior citizens are not overlooked in the proposed constitutional changes.