
An innovative approach to help people living with disability and mental health conditions find and maintain meaningful employment
The evidence is clear—engaging in meaningful employment can improve wellbeing for people living with mental health conditions and disability.
This fact has been recognised at the highest levels of the Australian Government.
Informed by the Federal Government’s Disability Employment Strategy, the NDIS is in the final year of its first Participant Employment Strategy.
Both policies highlight several benefits of employment for people with disability (including psychosocial/mental health disability), such as:
● Expanding community connections and social networks
● Giving greater financial independence
● Improving overall health and wellbeing
● Promoting a stronger sense of self-worth and identity
These claims are backed by evidence from Australia and across the globe, with researchers consistently finding that supported employment results in improved mental health symptoms and quality of life outcomes for people with severe mental illness and other forms of disability. In terms of psychiatric recovery, supported employment is considered a core component of high-quality mental health care.
Even at the societal level, there are substantial economic and business benefits to supporting people with disability to enter the workforce. A Deloitte Access Economics report from 2011, projected a $43 billion increase in the gross domestic product in Australia if the gap between unemployment rates for people with and without disability was reduced by one third.
Unfortunately, while the benefits and importance of supporting people with disability in employment are widely accepted—as a Nation, we haven’t made much progress on this issue over the past decade.
Barriers to Employment for People with Disability
Despite almost 1 in 5 people in Australia living with disability, workforce participation rates are just 53.4% for people with disability, compared to 84.1% for people without disability. Furthermore, almost half of all employed people with disability report experiencing unfair treatment or discrimination regarding work over the past 12 months.
These statistics highlight the fact that people with disability in Australia still face substantial barriers when it comes to employment.
The NDIS Participant Employment Strategy has a target of reaching an employment rate of 30% for working age participants by 2023. This is an increase from 24% in 2019—but still significantly lower than the 54% overall National average for people with disability.
Several “well known barriers to employment” are highlighted in the NDIS strategy. Some of the most noteworthy include:
● A perception that NDIS participants (and those on the Disability Support Pension) can’t work
● Lack of high-quality employment and disability support services
● Government programs not working well together
● Overly complicated legislative and policy frameworks that make employers feel it is too difficult to employ NDIS participants
● Challenges around workplace accommodations for people with varied disability support needs (ie. physical, mental health, intellectual)
● Limited opportunities for supported work experience and training
● A pattern of ‘under employment’ for people with disability, where hours are limited and roles restricted to menial tasks
Looking through that list, it’s understandable that for many—employment for people with disability all just seems too hard!
The data seems to support this assumption, with just 21% of working age participants having an employment-related goal in their plan. In our opinion, this is one of the most concerning statistics of all.
It’s possible for almost anyone with disability to get into meaningful employment, but it can take some time. And for most people, the journey to finding work doesn’t start until that first intention is set—by making it part of “the plan.”
Now, so that we don’t just focus on problems, we're going to share a little about how we approach supporting NDIS participants with employment.
Work Skills Go Beyond Technical Ability
At Carewise, we don’t draw a huge distinction between work skills and life skills.
It’s not that employment doesn’t involve specific work related skills that must be learned. That’s an essential part of the process for most people. But for many NDIS participants—the barriers to employment extend beyond a lack of know-how or technical ability.
For example, we run a program called Workwise, where we help participants discover the benefits of paid work and build employment skills. Members of our Workwise property maintenance crews learn hands-on skills in areas like landscaping, mowing and painting. They are taught by expert tradespeople, who are hand picked because of their passion for teaching and training people from all walks of life.
But these practical skills will only take someone so far. To find (and keep) a job, a person also needs ancillary skills, like:
● How to set employment goals
● Resume writing and interview skills
● Workplace behaviour and safety
● How to travel independently and show up on time
● Resilience and problem solving
Some of this can be learned on the job. But much requires individualised 1 on 1 support, education and training. We build this level of support into Workwise, to give members of the program the greatest chance of success in finding meaningful employment.
In addition, to be successful at work, a person also needs a stable home base and the ability to keep themselves physically and mentally well enough to maintain a job.
That's where the rest of our program comes in.
Building the Skills to Stay Well
We provide Supported Independent Living (SIL) services for NDIS participants.
Many of our clients are young men who might be considered ‘difficult’ or ‘challenging’ by some segments of the population. But where others see challenge—we see potential.
Our mission is to help as many participants as possible to progress from supported to independent living. That's why every aspect of our program is focused on developing a stable home base, identifying goals, then supporting participants on their journey of growth and recovery.
Whether a participant has an employment goal or not, we provide a fully furnished and modern home with hand picked support staff, who are compatible with our residents. We work with each participant to develop an individualised custom plan, incorporating our unique model of care.
When it comes to employment, the 7 pillars of our Skillwise [1] program ensure that residents learn everything they need to stay well and thrive at work.
With Skillwise, we focus on building skills to optimise:
● Health and wellness
● Positive communication
● Relationships and friendships
● Problem solving
● Financial management
● Employability
● Cooking and nutrition
All of these life skills are just as essential to finding and maintaining employment as practical job skills are. When working with a young person who has a goal of obtaining employment, staff from all areas of our service collaborate with the participant, their relatives and any other involved services, to turn their goals of finding meaningful employment into reality.
Work is Everyone’s Business
In addition to the overwhelming benefits to individuals and the community—having the opportunity to undertake paid employment is considered a fundamental human right for people with disability in Australia—not just something that’s nice to have
While there’s still a way to go, we’re encouraged by the increasing recognition among Government agencies and NDIS providers that employment assistance is a core component of high-quality disability and mental health supports.
Considering this, we believe that all providers should at least consider how they might incorporate employment related activities into their work with NDIS participants.
We acknowledge that for many participants, specialised vocational rehabilitation input might be required. But there is still a lot mainstream providers can do to support participants with work related goals.
The two areas we suggest providers start with are:
Recognising and promoting the fact that the vast majority of people with a mental health condition or disability do have the capacity to engage in meaningful employment. Sadly, many people with mental health conditions and disability simply never consider the possibility of working. Encouraging words from a support worker, along with practical advice on how to set and pursue employment goals can make a huge difference.
Looking for simple ways to incorporate and promote work related goals, skills and development within existing services. In many cases, aspects of daily support—like building social and emotional skills, improving self-care, and increasing independence with transport—can all be tied back to an employment goal.
If everyone involved in supporting NDIS participants does their bit, hopefully we can get closer to the 30% target for participant engagement in employment in the current NDIS Participation Employment Strategy and maybe, even strive for loftier goals in the next plan scheduled for 2024.
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