By the time Justin Le Couteur resigned from his position in the ACT public service, he was "completely demoralised".
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Mr Le Couteur, who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, said he would often face instances of indirect discrimination by management.
"I once had a manager who told me I can't write and said 'so how are you going to do that task'," Mr Le Couteur said.
"The same manager also referred to me as 'good boy' and I was 40."
Since leaving the public service, Mr Le Couteur has set up a consulting business aimed at helping improve disability access.
However, he said an unconscious bias remains against people with a disability in the workplace.
"The biggest problem is that people think that people with a disability are harder to manage, and these are older stereotypes," he said.
"Something that people with a disability are only suited to entry-level positions and can't do anything more than that.
"In some areas there is a lot of indirect discrimination and a lot of people don't realise they are doing it."
The former public servant was one of 18 people who made a submission to the ACT government's inquiry looking into the employment of people with disabilities.
Public hearings for the inquiry began this week and will continue on Tuesday.
Data from the Human Rights Commission shows the disability employment rate in the ACT stands at 2.2 per cent, which is lower than any other state or territory except for South Australia.
As of 2015, 3.3 per cent of the federal public service identified as having a disability. The ACT government has set a target of 3.4 per cent.
Despite calls to help boost the number of people with a disability in the workforce, Mr Le Couteur said targets were not the best way to achieve it.
"Having a target to increase the number by a certain percentage just encourages organisations to go to disability employment service and grab the first person that might be suitable, rather than finding the right person," he said.
"The state and federal governments in Australia have had targets for a long period of time."
Mr Le Couteur said while the perception of people who work with a disability might not extend beyond entry level positions, many people were just as capable across all roles.
"While I was in the public service, none of the positions filled by people with a disability were entry level, and they were all university qualified and had administration or policy roles," he said.
