As an Asian-born Australian, Ade Djajamihardja is no stranger to discrimination. But when he had his first stroke, he was not ready for the disability that followed.
Mr Djajamihardja had a successful media career, including as an assistant director for ABC TV, and a happy family life with his wife Kate.
When he woke
from his stroke in a hospital bed, he had mobility and vision impairment.
Fear of
being a burden
"When I
was in rehab hospital, I was being taught how to use my wheelchair for the
first time, and quickly became overwhelmed by how that would make me a massive
burden to Kate's life," he said.
"And
that caused me to realise that I couldn't do that to her."
He felt
suicidal until a nurse helped him reframe his perspective.
Now Mr
Djajamihardja has his own production company, A2K Media, supporting people
with disabilities working in the media and entertainment industry across
Australia and Asia.
His company
recently collaborated with researchers at the University of Melbourne on a reportlooking at the treatment of people with disabilities in the media industry,
which uncovered a range of unique challenges, from poor physical access to
discrimination and unequal pay.
Stigma
behind pay gap
Melbourne
University creative writing lecturer and lead report author Radha O'Meara said
the pay gap for people with disabilities was the result of stigma.
"The
screen industry has a lot more people employed in precarious contracts than
other industries [and] a lot of people talked about how ... they don't even
know who to go to, to ask about their pay," she said.
"Most
screen companies don't have HR departments."
The report
reviewed more than 500 people with disabilities who have worked in the screen
industry and found they routinely experienced low payment and precarious job
roles — all within a culture of “systemic discrimination” and prejudice.
“These
experiences suggest structural problems across the screen industry and its
culture,” the report found.
“They
reflect a lack of understanding of disability and a reliance on negative
stereotypes of disabled workers."
Forced to
direct through a monitor
One
Melbourne-based film and television director who uses a wheelchair
said the biggest problem he had encountered in the industry was physically
accessing sets.
"I'm
required to kind of direct through a radio looking at a monitor because I can't
actually get to the second floor or the third floor… and that's something that
nobody seems to know how to fix," he said.
The
director, who wished to remain anonymous, said the lack of wheelchair accessible
buildings used by Melbourne production companies often prevented him from
winning contracts.
"It's
less that it's difficult to get a job as a director but it's more difficult to
get a job in production," he said.
"Almost
none of the post-production facilities are accessible, almost none of the
production facilities are accessible … for a TV show, you might need a two or
three story production office, and that'll be upstairs and then you're just
kind of stuck down downstairs."
'Hesitancy'
to hire people with disabilities
Sam Riesel
is a young production assistant with an intellectual disability and has worked
on both accessible and mainstream sets.
Mr Riesel
said his experience in mainstream productions had generally been good, but
there was a reluctance in the film industry to hire people with disabilities.
"I do
think there is a tiny bit of hesitancy to hire someone with a disability in the
industry, but I do also think that the industry has opened up a lot more to all
that within the past few years," he said.
Sometimes
there is a concern in the industry that a disabled employee will need extra
supervision on set.
"And
it's like, well, maybe at first a tiny bit, but eventually, once they've been
in the industry for long enough, they know how all that stuff works, or at
least they should," Mr Riesel said.
'Soft
bigotry of low expectation'
Mr
Djajamihardja said people with disabilities were often not consulted about what
they needed to enable them to work successfully.
He said the
industry had a problem with "soft bigotry of low expectation" for
people with disabilities, which affected how inclusive it was towards
employees.
"I
faced [that] while trying to re-emerge back into the industry I love, and the
only one I have known my entire adult life," he said.
Dr O'Meara
said people often conflated disability with weakness, which created a work
culture of discrimination.
And with
no-one to ask about making adjustments, no-one is taking responsibility for the
issue, according to Dr O'Meara.
"Legally,
someone's got to take responsibility," she said.
"But
actually, in practice, when you're asking around the place you work, who do I
talk to, then everybody goes 'ah, not my problem'."
Hopes
report will lead to change
Mr
Djajamihardja said he hoped the report would lead to change in the industry, in
the same way that he had to change his perspective on disability after his
stroke.
"What
resonates most about living my life since acquiring my disability and their
associated barriers is that while it was the most unwanted and unexpected of
life's adversity barriers, it has also proven to be the most undeniable and
unstoppable of personal growth opportunities," he said.
Dr O'Meara
said non-disabled people had contacted her after reading the report expressing
surprise that they had worked with disabled people and not realised it.
"It's
just opened their eyes up to the kind of variety of disabled people's
experiences," Dr O'Meara said.
