The Queensland Police Service’s (QPS’s) Accessibility Advisory Network has held an event in recognition of the annual International Day of People with Disability.
The event, consisting of activities and displays, aimed to raise awareness, understanding and acceptance of people with disability within the workforce.
Set out on tables at Police Headquarters in Brisbane, the event demonstrated the challenges faced by people living with conditions such as hearing and vision impairments, Multiple Sclerosis and mobility issues.
Long term police employee, Katrina Garvey, a deaf person, was on hand with her Auslan (Australian Sign Language) interpreter to interact with staff members visiting the display.
Ms Garvey (pictured left with Senior Sergeant Tanya Hunter, who lives with Multiple Sclerosis) has worked for the QPS Forensic Services Group in the Fingerprint Bureau for 22 years, and said she interacted with many colleagues across the workplace, despite being deaf.
“I’m pre-lingually and profoundly deaf, which means that from birth, I have never heard any sounds — my mother’s voice, birds singing in the morning, waves crashing on the beach, people laughing out loud, even a police siren — nothing,” Ms Garvey said.
“I do have a language that empowers and enables me — Auslan. This is my entry into the world. My ears are what I see, and my voice is what I say on my hands.”
Ms Garvey said that being deaf impacted on her ability to do her work, with her manager providing positive support to overcome some of the unique challenges.
“In the Queensland Police Service my observation is that we always have communication as a first principle, and that’s a challenge for me,” Ms Garvey said.
“My immediate manager is so good. He always makes the effort to seek to understand and then makes sure that he is understood. He gives me task assignments and then feedback.”
With deaf people often at risk of missing out on opportunities for training and promotion, Ms Garvey said she believed the tide was slowly turning and that she would recommend the QPS as a supportive employer.
