Press Release
February 13, 2026 | Melbourne, Australia
Australia’s productivity problem has a missing dimension: disability
New analysis shows seven in ten ASX200 companies make no public reference to disability, despite its impact on workforce participation and productivity.
Australia’s productivity growth remains well below its long-term average. The Productivity Commission has warned that recent gains, while positive, are too small to deliver meaningful long-term benefits.
New analysis by Australian social enterprise Knowable Me, drawing on publicly available information across the ASX200, suggests one reason productivity gains remain elusive is straightforward: When organisations make no visible commitment to disability inclusion, they also fail to signal to people with disability that they are welcome. This is consistently linked to lower workforce participation and earlier exit from employment.
This analysis is the first structured review of publicly visible disability inclusion signals across the full ASX200.
Only 31% of ASX200 companies make any public reference to disability, despite disability affecting around one in five Australians and being commonly acquired during working life through illness, injury or ageing. Disability affects employees, customers, operational risk, system design, shareholder value and organisational resilience. These impacts exist whether or not organisations explicitly plan for them.
The analysis reviewed corporate websites, careers pages, and annual and sustainability reports, using public visibility as a proxy for what organisations are prepared to prioritise, govern and sustain.
At a time when productivity is a national priority, this absence matters.
“If productivity is about how effectively people can participate in work, then disability needs to be visible in how organisations design systems, roles and expectations.”
—Kelly Schulz, Chief Curiosity Officer, Knowable Me
What the analysis found
- Only 31% of ASX200 companies make public reference to disability
- 18% reference a disability employee network or working group
- 13% publish a public commitment to digital accessibility
- Fewer than 10% articulate disability-specific goals or actions
- Just 5.5% publish any workforce disability data
Why this matters for productivity
Disability is typically treated as a personal or medical issue, rather than a systems issue. As a result, the ways disability shapes how people interact with roles, processes, technology and expectations are often overlooked.
When systems are inaccessible, roles are rigid, or support is ad hoc, the impact is not labelled as disability exclusion. It appears instead as disengagement, reduced hours, avoidable attrition, skills shortages and declining productivity.
Schulz said this misclassification means productivity losses are often addressed as individual performance issues, rather than system design failures.
Who is leading
Only 10 ASX200 companies demonstrate consistent, multi-dimensional signals of disability inclusion across employees, customers, systems and leadership accountability.
These organisations are not presented as exemplars, but as evidence of what is already possible within complex, highly regulated Australian organisations.
Those organisations are:
- AGL Energy
- ANZ Group Holdings
- Bendigo and Adelaide Bank
- Commonwealth Bank of Australia
- Gold Corporation (Perth Mint)
- Medibank Private
- National Australia Bank
- Telstra Group
- Westpac Banking Corporation
- Xero
These organisations operate at scale and in highly regulated environments. Their visibility demonstrates that disability inclusion is not constrained by sector, size or feasibility, but it is enabled by deliberate prioritisation.
Attributable Quotes
“If productivity is about how effectively people can participate in work, then disability needs to be visible in how organisations design systems, roles and expectations.”
— Kelly Schulz, Chief Curiosity Officer, Knowable Me
“Bendigo Bank’s purpose is to feed into the prosperity of our customers and communities, and that begins with ensuring our own environments are inclusive, safe, and empowering for customers and team members.”
— Bendigo Bank
