Career guides for the disabled

While this day marks a significant achievement, they face the reality that embarking on a meaningful career path is often far more difficult than for those without a disability.

Australian Bureau of Statistics figures reveal a 53.2 per cent labour force participation rate for disabled people aged between 15 and 64 years compared with more than 80 per cent for those without a disability.

A disability employment services program, part of the National Mental Health and Disability Employment Strategy launched late last year, is trying to close the gap. The federal Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations initiative is being administered through agencies such as Advanced Personnel Management.

Kim Brocchi, senior project officer at APM, says a key component of the program is sending school engagement officers into high schools to identify and assist students who need help.

“It’s not just about [putting] them straight into a job, it’s working with the school and assisting the young person while they stay at school,” Brocchi says.

Given the high requirement for such services, APM has been recruiting 16 school engagement officers across Australia, with seven positions still vacant.

The main focus of officers, Brocchi says, is “getting young people on to the program [and] finding the young kids in schools who require additional support to undertake their education due to their disability or learning difficulty”.

The roles require officers to independently approach schools to find students who may benefit from APM’s services.

“They ring up, they knock on doors, they find out the best person to talk to, making that initial contact and then talking with specialist teachers in the school,” Brocchi says.

DEEWR figures indicate almost 20 per cent of Australia’s population suffers some form of disability. The department acknowledges that employers may be reluctant to give people with disability a chance and has channelled funding to support education and training for people with disabilities and to open
up relationships with the business community.

Brocchi says APM tries to give high school students the skills to cope with workforce demands and find a career path. It is important for students to gain access to the program at an early stage so they can take advantage of youth support networks and plan for when school finishes.

“They may not have had an opportunity to go into employment in a part-time job and they would need support to do that or helping them make sure they’re linked in with us so they don’t disappear [out of the system] once they leave school.”

Brocchi says the new engagement officers will be expected to deploy APM’s professional expertise while complementing those skills with a school’s knowledge of individual student needs.

The program targets students from age 15, so officer candidates with empathy for youths and experience within an educational environment will be preferred. Officers are most likely to be placed in their local district to take advantage of their community knowledge and connections. Tertiary qualifications are not essential.