Fairfax Media scoops Attitude Award for employing disabled people
Thursday, 9 November 2017
Fairfax Media scooped an Attitude Award on Thursday night for its inclusiveness towards people with disabilities.
The annual Attitude Awards celebrate the achievements of people who live with disabilities and Fairfax won the Attitude ACC Employer Award, announced on Thursday night.
The company, which owns Stuff and newspapers across the country, runs a New Zealand sign language cafe and also employs several people with intellectual disabilities as part of a programme called Creative Spirit.
Fairfax Media's corporate social responsibility manager Annamarie Jamieson attended the awards ceremony at Auckland's Viaduct Events Centre with staff involved in the programme, and said her team were 'immensely proud'.
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'Fairfax exists to represent our communities, and we need to reflect that internally as well,' she said.
Winner of the Attitude ACC Employer Award is Fairfax Media for employing people with disabilities and a NZSL cafe#AttitudeAwardsNZ pic.twitter.com/Nn6e6LV4M3
— Attitude (@attitude_tv) November 9, 2017
Jamieson helped launch Creative Spirit in Fairfax's New Zealand offices in 2012, and the sign language cafe one year ago.
The initiative provides people with intellectual disabilities with jobs in companies across New Zealand and Australia and aims to inspire others to provide more workplace opportunities for willing employees.
Jamieson said she believed that 'inclusivity in the workplace should be like breathing'.
'It's something we should do without even thinking about it,' she said. 'The key message is for other employers to give it a go'.
There are currently eight people with intellectual disabilities employed across Fairfax Media's Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch offices.
Meanwhile, the Auckland office's sign language cafe employs three deaf baristas and Jamieson said ordering their coffees had been an effective way to teach the 350-odd staff at the office 'at least a bit of sign language'.
'These people have a right to be employed and to follow their passions,' she said.