Inviting applicants to interview

Short-listed applicants should ideally be given at least one week's notice of interview arrangements and provided with advance notice if they are required to give a presentation/seminar or to undertake some other activity as part of the selection process (eg a test).

All employers are obliged to make appropriate and reasonable adjustments that will enable applicants with disabilities to participate in the interview process and present themselves in the best possible light. In many cases you may not need to modify your current interviewing practices.

It is important to ask every candidate you contact for an interview if they require any adjustments to attend the interview and be clear that this is a standard question. This will emphasise that you as an employer do not single anyone out and that the university aims to provide an inclusive and barrier-free work environment.

Some adjustments may include but are not limited to:

• adjusting the interview time so a candidate with mobility impairment doesn't have to travel during peak hour
• holding the interview in an accessible location, ie in a room on the ground floor without steps, or in a room accessible by a lift
• organising an Auslan interpreter well in advance
• providing any reading materials electronically so a person with vision impairment can access the information
• allowing the candidate to come with a support worker or aide; or
• providing alternatives to a standard interview, eg conducting the interview by telephone.

It is recommended that the person contacting the candidates know whether or not the workplace is accessible to people with disabilities and to be prepared to answer questions about access to the work unit and the University environment. Information about access to the University including accessible thoroughfares as well as accessible entry and exit points for each building.

People with disability are not required to disclose that they have a disability. It should also not be assumed that a person who does not disclose that they have a disability is 'able-bodied' merely because they have not made a disclosure.

In the event that a person does disclose they have a disability and may require further assistance, it is essential that you are aware of how to go about asking them what it is they need in an open, non-discriminatory way.

At this point in time, you are only concerned about getting them to the interview and ensuring they are set up in the best way so that they can demonstrate their ability to perform the role.The questions you ask them should therefore reflect this need.