As an Inclusion Consultant with Queenslanders with Disability Network (QDN), and a key contributor to Manufacturing Skills Queensland’s (MSQ) Work in Manufacturing Jobs Portal (WIMJP), Ben Noonan is helping reshape how the manufacturing industry attracts, understands and supports talent.
His work sits at the intersection of people, opportunity and practical change – and it’s progressively transforming the way manufacturers think about hiring.
Ben’s journey into inclusion consulting wasn’t planned. After completing a civil engineering degree and working in project management, a life-changing motorbike accident, during which he became a paraplegic, forced him to rethink how he engaged with work.
Ben rebuilt his pathway – starting with volunteering, reconnecting with the community, and gradually moving back into professional environments.
That experience now underpins everything he does.
“When I work with employers, I try to bring both sides together,” Ben explained.
“A person with a disability might feel apprehensive, and the employer might not know how to approach the conversation. My role is to help both sides understand each other and communicate better.”
It’s this ability to translate experience into practical guidance that makes Ben’s work so effective.
At the centre of Ben’s work with MSQ is the Work in Manufacturing Jobs Portal – an AI-enabled platform designed to match job seekers with a disability to manufacturing roles based on their strengths.
“The goal is to create a better match between what an employer needs and what a person with a disability is capable of,” Ben says.
What makes the platform particularly powerful is how it has been designed with people with disability.
Ben, fellow inclusion consultants with varied disabilities and different lived experiences, and the co-design team who also have lived experience of disability, focused heavily on communication preferences – recognising that traditional application processes can be a barrier. The portal supports multiple ways for candidates to connect, including text, phone and video, allowing people to engage in ways that suit them best.
The result is a more human, more accessible recruitment experience – one that opens the door to candidates who may never have considered manufacturing before.
And for employers, it unlocks a largely untapped talent pool.
“There’s a big group of capable people out there,” Ben said, “often more capable than they realise – and just as good, if not better, than any employee.”
Beyond the portal, Ben works directly with manufacturers, conducting workplace “health checks” to assess accessibility and identify opportunities for growth. These health checks are conducted with the support of a QDN Inclusion Consultant to access what they are doing well, and where there are opportunities for growth.
What he’s found may surprise many employers.
Most businesses are already open to employing people with disabilities – they just don’t always know where to start.
“By the time they engage with MSQ, they’re already willing,” Ben says. “The challenge is usually understanding how to approach it, and what adjustments might be needed.”
And often, those adjustments are far simpler than expected.
Flexible work arrangements, clear communication, and minor physical modifications – sometimes supported through funding programs like JobAccess Employment Assistance Fund – can make a significant difference.
“Physical changes like ramps or adjusted workstations are often straightforward,” Ben explains. “But even just improving communication can have a big impact.”
One of the most important parts of Ben’s role is challenging misconceptions.
There’s still a lingering assumption in some parts of industry that hiring people with a disability is complex or risky. In reality, Ben says the opposite is often true.
“People with a disability are often very reliable, very committed employees,” he says.
And once employers experience it firsthand, their perspective shifts quickly.
“What surprises me most is how open and responsive employers are,” Ben says. “They’re willing to have the conversation and learn.”
Together, the WIMJP and MSQ and QDN’s inclusion consulting support are creating something the industry has long needed: a direct, supported pathway for people with disability into manufacturing careers.
It’s about expanding the definition of who belongs in the industry – and ensuring more people can see themselves in it.
Ben’s final message to manufacturers is simple – “start the conversation.”
Whether it’s booking a QDN Inclusion Consultation or posting a role on the Work in Manufacturing Jobs Portal, small steps can lead to significant outcomes – for all parties.
When barriers are removed, and strengths are prioritised, everyone benefits.
25 May 2026