Personal Comment What is it about businesses in Australia, and other countries too I guess, that, in the main, their leaders don’t have the insight to see that people with a disability are also consumers? In this country it is well publicised, and if not it should be obvious to someone with an average IQ, that the 3.5 million Australians who have a disability also have money to spend. $26 billion per year of disposable income and rising as the population increases. Like everyone else, people with a disability use their money to feed themselves, to buy clothes, for their education, for motor vehicles, for entertainment and for holidays. Some business people however seem only to see people with a disability as a nuisance group, with a range of access or special needs that are just too much trouble to contemplate. Or they are simply plain scared of what they don’t know. But mainly they act like people with a disability are just too difficult to try and do business with. Many business people think that all people with a disability are down and out and couldn’t possibly have anything they want! Some others, do make a brave attempt at putting on a friendly and accessible face, but with the best intention they fail to make the grade either through lack of knowledge, common sense or worse still an over inflated sense of their own certainty. However smart business sees people with a disability as a potential customer group. They do the homework and market their products and services to this segment of society. Then like a number of really smart businesses such as Westpac Bank, nab, IBM and McDonalds, to name just a few, they make significantly more money for their shareholders. The incidence of disability on average is a little under 20%. But people are living longer than ever before and have more money than ever before, and at age 55 this proportion jumps to 33% and gets higher as the average age increases. If business wants to attract this increasingly wealthy market segment it will need to become smarter and more skilled around disability and all of its issues. Fortunately in Australia and the UK there are organisations that can help them achieve this. In Australia: The Australian Employers Network on Disability Find them at: www.employersnetworkondisability.com.au In the UK: Employers Forum on Disability Find them at: www.employers-forum.co.uk
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