Support for Gladstone businesses to build accessible, diverse and competitive workforce

By Emma Clarke

Joint media release: Business Chamber Queensland and Queenslanders with Disability Network

Local businesses in Gladstone have a unique opportunity to lead the way in creating more inclusive, accessible workplaces through the Workforce Evolve Accessibility and Inclusion Pilot.

Led by Business Chamber Queensland in partnership with Queenslanders with Disability Network (QDN), the Pilot offers tailored support to up to 15 Gladstone-based businesses, helping them build environments that welcome and empower people with disability.

“A more diverse, inclusive and accessible business environment is smart business,” Business Chamber Queensland Business Sustainability General Manager Cara Westerman said.

“It opens up new talent and workforce pools, strengthens workforce participation, and helps businesses better reflect and serve their communities.

“We know attracting and retaining employees is among the most significant business pressures and Workforce Evolve has already helped businesses reduce those pressures and attract and retain the right people at the right time.

“We’re proud to partner with QDN to support Gladstone businesses in leading this change.”

Participating businesses will receive:

• Tailored support from specialist Inclusion Consultants with lived experience of disability
• Self-paced online training
• Practical tools and templates
• Administrative and HR assistance to implement inclusive practices

QDN General Manager Stephen Coulter says people with disability bring valuable skills, perspectives and lived experience to the workforce.

“This Pilot is about giving businesses the practical tools and confidence to make inclusion part of their everyday operations. We’re excited to work with Gladstone businesses to create lasting change,” Mr Coulter said.  

Participation is free for Queensland businesses. The Pilot runs from October 2025 to March 2026, with an estimated time commitment of between two and five hours a month, depending on individual business needs.

Businesses interested in applying can complete the Expression of Interest (EOI) form. Applications will be assessed against selection criteria, and successful businesses will be notified shortly.

For more information, contact the Workforce Evolve team at [email protected].

About Business Chamber Queensland

Business Chamber Queensland is the state’s Chamber of Commerce. We are an independent, not-for-profit organisation dedicated to supporting Queensland businesses to thrive and ensuring our state is the best place to do business in Australia.

We are the largest and most representative business body in Queensland and represent businesses in every industry, of every size and in every region of our state. For 157 years, we have supported businesses to create a resilient, diversified, sustainable, and competitive economy.

Our extensive business insight and decades of real time intelligence is the state’s most trusted, comprehensive and authoritative snapshot of Queensland business sentiment, expectations and conditions.

Business Chamber Queensland’s Workforce Evolve programgives small business owners and managers the tools you need to grow your business.

We help you unlock new sources of talent and build a positive, productive and inclusive culture so you can capitalise on every business opportunity. The program provides free training, tools, templates and personalised coaching to help you build the workforce you need to thrive.

We provide practical support in areas like:

• Business planning
• Diversity and inclusive practices
• Workforce design
• Employer branding
• Frontline management tools and resources
• Change management, including adapting to new technology
• Employment essentials

Workforce Evolve is proudly funded by the Queensland Government.

About Queensland Disability Network

 QDN is a not-for-profit organisation of, by, and for people with diverse disability. Our work is focused on disability rights and advocacy. QDN’s work is centred around a strong network of people across Queensland and almost 30 peer support groups which inform, connect, lead, and influence change. We believe there should be ‘nothing about us without us’. We are a vibrant, active network of influencers, decision-makers, spokespeople, consultants, group members and peer leaders with a drive to make change happen. We also work on projects that align with our vision and mission around important issues in the lives of people with disability. We believe it’s important to work together with communities, services, business, industry and government to lead and influence change.