Skip to main content

Setting up conditions for success

Develop an understanding of the strengths of the person and the barriers to work, and take action to create the right conditions for the person and the employer to succeed. 

Last updated: 5 Nov 2025

A worker outside with polarised glasses cutting some leaves off a branch. The worker is in a bright yellow top.

“I think the big thing for us [as employers] is to help understand the challenges that they [employees with disability] have and how we can best support them. So, for them to be successful and for us to be successful, it’s really about a frank and open conversation about how we can help support them. … So, we’re an organisation that is definitely supportive. Everyone has challenges. There’s no doubt about that. But I think, for us as an organisation, the next evolution is to become more aware of how we can help support that.” 3

Ha
Employer

“It’s true of almost everything in life – clothes, relationships, jobs, etc., one size does not fit all. And I wonder if, to make sure that every member of our community has the chance to find a job in our community, we need to accept that ‘one size does not fit all’ in the way people find jobs.” 1

Graeme Innes AM
Former Disability Discrimination Commissioner

“For me, it was about recognising my strengths, recognising areas where I needed some adjustments so that I could work better and communicate that confidently and not to feel like I am not good enough.” 2

Dr George Taleporos, GAICD, PhD
Slide 1

Overview

Once barriers have been identified, action should be taken to remove or minimise them.  

Focusing on ‘conditions for success’ shifts attention away from barriers to employment, or what a person cannot do, to ways of overcoming these barriers. It focuses on what strategies and actions are needed to enable a person to succeed at work.  

Addressing barriers often requires an integrated approach - tackling more than one barrier at a time - because many are interconnected. An integrated or multi-pronged strategy that address multiple barriers and combines different supports is more likely to deliver positive and lasting employment outcomes.4

Key strategies for success

Creating conditions for success for an employee with disability means developing a deep understanding of the barriers they face and taking targeted action to address them, both inside and outside the workplace. Strategies should be highly personalised to the individual, their needs and their context, and may include: 

Asking the person

Linking to supports

Supporting disclosure of disability

Making workplace adjustments

Creating an inclusive workplace

Guide
Making workplace adjustments easy, effective and equitable
Workplace adjustments are administrative, environmental or procedural changes that enable people with disability to have equitable employment opportunities,…
Guide
Customising a job for a person with disability
This guide provides information on job customisation – the process of tailoring a job role to suit an employee's skills while meeting the needs of the employer…
Guide
Making workplace adjustments easy, effective and equitable
Workplace adjustments are administrative, environmental or procedural changes that enable people with disability to have equitable employment opportunities,…

We acknowledge the traditional owners of the country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to them and their cultures and to the elders past and present.

© Commonwealth of Australia 2025
Creative Commons License CC BY-NC-ND 4.0(Opens in a new tab/window)

Return focus to the top of the page