Charlotte Bailey has two jobs. Three days a week, she works in the bistro at Eastlake Football Club in Canberra, brewing coffee, ferrying meals and making jellies. One day a week, she performs admin tasks at the offices of ACT Down Syndrome and Intellectual Disability, where she writes speeches to advocate for people who, like her, have Down syndrome.
The 24-year-old’s situation is unusual: she is paid at least the standard minimum wage for both jobs – currently $24.10 per hour before tax. But workers with Down syndrome often receive vastly less than this, sometimes as low as $3.01 an hour.
