Start date: April 2020 Completion date: June 2026
Funded by Department of Social Services
School to Work aims to inspire, increase confidence and motivate students with disability to find and keep meaningful employment with the help and support of their family. This will be achieved by delivering a series of webinars and workshops, two conferences, and the development of resources.
The School To Work Project
Together with Resourcing Inclusive Communities/Family Advocacy (NSW) and CRU – Community Resource Unit (QLD), we are working on a project to support young people with disability to engage with employment.
This project is funded by the Department of Social Services (DSS) – Economic Participation Grant under Information, Linkages and Capacity Building (ILC) funding.
This was initially a three-year project. However, funding was extended for another 12 months with a new completion date of June 2024
The project hopes to see the trend reversed on poor disability employment figures. We want people with disability who have the desire and capacity to work to have greater choice and access to the right supports to achieve their employment goals.
Working and contributing to society are important for everyone, and everyone can have a real job. School to Work will help families build confidence to explore what work might look like for them. When work goals are set early in a child’s high school years, there are many potential benefits:
- developing a sense of belonging
- making connections and friends
- starting to find financial independence
- building a career.
The project consists of:
- 12 webinars each year (2020, 2021, 2022)
- Two in-depth workshops each year (2021, 2022, 2023)
- One national conference in the Australian Capital Territory
- Development of resources to support families through this journey.
Please contact Fiona McIntosh for more information: fiona (at) imaginemore.org.au
Why Is Employment for People With Disability So Important?
People with disability have significant barriers to obtaining paid employment. Australia ranks 21 out of 29 in the employment of people with disability among OECD countries. The rate of NDIS participants in employment has remained at 21% throughout the life of the Scheme and only 41% of this group aged between 14 and 25 obtained paid employment in the open market.
The most recent NDIS employment outcomes data reported that people with Down syndrome and intellectual disability are most likely to be working in an Australia Disability Enterprise (ADE) rather than in open employment (NDIS 2018, Outcomes Report).
How can we change these grim statistics?
To improve these outcomes, a grassroots approach is needed. Individual families must develop the vision, knowledge and capacity to support their children to plan early, harness the use of existing pathways in the school years and support their children to find and keep meaningful employment.
Events
Please visit our events page to learn about and register for upcoming School to Work events.
Four-year evaluation
This report provides a summary of four years of evaluation data and qualitative input from School to Work participants. This shows that the project has been highly successful in achieving the outcomes envisaged in the program logic. Participants begin their engagement with the project already motivated to support young people into employment, and find this motivation confirmed and strengthened through their participation.
Project Timeline
Nov 2020
Project commencedJun 2021
Progress from November 2020 to 30 June 2021During the first 8 months of the project, we developed foundational material, including:
- – Imagining work webinar (Years 7 and 8)
- – Discovering work webinar (Years 9 and 10)
- – Finding work: Getting started webinar (Years 11, 12, and beyond)
- – Finding work: The next steps webinar (Years 11, 12, and beyond)
- – We conducted the Imagining, Discovering, and Finding Work workshop twice in June 2021. The workshops were held live in Canberra. Over 50 people registered to attend.
Jun 2022
Progress from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022Between July 2021 and June 2022, we developed the following resources:
- – Accessing Work Experience through School webinar
- – NDIS Plan: Getting the most out of employment supports webinar
- – Customised Employment webinars
- – School to Work Live Q&A webinar
- – Real Stories of Meaningful Work webinar
Jun 2023
Progress from 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023Between July 2022 and June 2023, we developed the following resources:
- – School to Work online workshop for school staff and other professionals
- – Customised Employment workshops with Milton Tyree from Marc Gold & Associates (various content)
- — The Discovery process (with two follow-up webinars)
- — Visual resumes workshop
- – Customised Employment Working Group
- – Work Experience: Think outside the gate for families – webinar
- – Work Experience: Think outside the gate for professionals – webinar
- – School to Work conferences
- — Sydney – September 2022
- — Canberra – May 2023 – Opening opportunities
- – Demystifying the Disability Support Pension (Services Australia webinar)
- – Developing a visual resume for work workshop
- – ‘A journey to meaningful employment’ webinars – Getting started, Next steps
- – ‘A real job or just filling in time? How Social Role Valorisation can help’ webinar
Jun 2024
Progress from 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024Between July 2023 and June 2024, we developed the following resources:
- – Various detailed content on Customised Employment with Milton Tyree in all three locations
- – Creating a visual resume webinar (two webinars)
- – Job development workshop
- – Engaging support webinars x 2
- – Develop your own visual resume webinars
- – Interactive Discovery webinars for families
- – Customised Job Development: Interactive follow-up sessions
- – Getting started with Discovery: Interactive webinar
- – Creating and using visual resumes for families of people with disability
- – Co-creating employment with Discovery
- – Every student can contribute
- – Thinking about work: Approaching employment for young people with disability workshop – 1-day conference in Townsville
- – Discovering microenterprise: Exploring possibilities workshop
- – Employment Supporters: Securing the right match webinar
- – Discovery discussion group
- – Animated explainer series about Customised Employment
Jun 2025
Progress from 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025