A former public service employee with a disability said she resigned from her job after finding the service ''too hostile'' and ''difficult to work in''.
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New statistics show people with disabilities are more likely to resign from the public service than their colleagues without disabilities, and are far less likely to retire.
Advocacy for Inclusion general manager Christina Ryan worked in the service for only 12 months before she got to the point where she felt she had to leave.
''I had to get out and it was due to my disability, absolutely. I told them that at the exit interview and it was shocking for them and certainly something they didn't want to hear,'' she said.
She said that although she had liked her colleagues and socialised with them, there had been a lack of preparedness in the workplace for someone with a disability.
Personal questions, jokes at her expense, frustration and outright bullying were just some of the problems Ms Ryan had to deal with.
''There are some people who think you're the work experience kid, because no one with a serious disability would be there under any other circumstances,'' she said.
''It's not just an occasional glitch, it's a systemic problem.''
Figures in the latest State of the Service report showed the federal public service had trouble retaining people with disabilities, as their numbers hit a 20-year low.
People with Disabilities ACTO executive officer Robert Altamore said he had seen many people with disabilities struggle to get into the public service and stay there.
He said the government could do some basic things to support workers with disabilities.
''Once you acquire a disability you're still the same worker, you've still got the same strength that got you to that position, you still have the same qualities,'' he said.
During Mr Altamore's time in the public service, he said he had a colleague who was forced to leave because the department couldn't accommodate his disability.
''[He was] a good friend who just had to leave that agency, because they couldn't cope with his acquired disability. He didn't want to leave, of course,'' he said.
Ms Ryan said managers and staff needed to be better trained, so people with disabilities felt confident working in the public service with structures which support them.
''The public service used to be a leadership employer, they used to be the people who did it well, and they knew how to make an example,'' she said. ''They've lost that, they've thrown it out the window and they just don't seem to know how to get back.''