How disability has not held back video jockey Jim Medcraft

The 38-year-old video jockey from Leichhardt should have been dead.

He had been at the top of his game, creating live video and mixing visuals at music events such as Stereosonic and Future Music, when it all came crashing down on a street in Austin, Texas.

Medcraft was touring the US with Australian DJ Alison Wonderland and had just packed up after a show when he crossed the road at 4am to get something to eat.

A hit-and-run driver knocked him down, leaving him to die by the side of the road with a broken spine, collapsed lungs, a lacerated liver, minor brain damage, crushed legs and numerous fractures.

"He did a pretty complete job," he said. "The only thing that really escaped damage was my left arm."

Getting back to work was always in the back of Medcraft's mind as he spent nine months in two hospitals, a rehabilitation facility in Balmain and recovering at home.

The driver was never found so Medcraft never received any compensation. While he was in hospital, his work equipment was stolen.

Then, a fortuitous offer came.

Barely a day out of rehabilitation, as he was thinking about returning to work, he was approached to make a four-part documentary about people with disabilities succeeding in the workplace.

On Monday, he will launch the films he directed and starred in for the state government's Don't Dis My Ability campaign.

"I've never been the sort of person to sit around and do nothing so it was a good feeling [to get back to work]," said Medcraft, son of ASIC chairman Greg Medcraft. "But I'm not going to lie, it was very testing. There were times I'd get blood clots in my legs and spend days in hospital when I was meant to be out shooting.

"There was a point I was almost going to pull out because it was just too much. I was in hospital and just feeling defeated but I kind of pulled myself back."

One in five people in NSW has a disability yet about 20 per cent of people with disabilities who are able to work are unemployed. Government research indicates their representation in the public sector has declined in recent years.

Medcraft, who has been told he may walk again in two years, says he is slowly learning how to adjust to his capabilities.

"I used to juggle three jobs at a time and pull an all-nighter when I needed and my brain is still thinking I can do the same things," he said. "It's quite challenging to say to myself, 'Jim, you don't have the same stamina anymore'."

Minister for Disabilities John Ajaka has made access to employment one of the government's top priorities and one of five goals in the state's Disability Inclusion Plan. For the first time, every government department has submitted individual inclusion plans.

"The evidence and statistics are absolutely clear: employment is a significant, persistent issue for people with disability," Mr Ajaka said. "Frankly, it's not good enough. We need to do more if we are going to change the status quo."

Don't Dis My Ability runs from Monday to December 11.