07/02/2024
Supported Employment: Enabling People with Disabilities to Succeed in the Workplace
Estimated reading time: 9 minutes
Table of contents
What is Supported Employment?
Supported employment provides jobs supported employment opportunities where people get lots of help. They get the support they need to obtain and maintain paid jobs.
It lets people with disabilities work in roles that match them. The jobs fit their interests, abilities, and support needs. Trained staff give them assistance while working.
The employment support here is tailored for each person. It gives people who need more help the chance at fulfilling careers. Careers they may not have gotten or kept without the extra support.
Benefits of Supported Employment
A job for people with disability is more than a paycheck. It provides purpose, dignity, freedom, and using talents. Supported employment opens up these chances for people with disabilities.
It offers:
Meaningful work that fits your goals
Fair wages
Career development
Friendships at work
Better quality of life
Let’s explore these benefits in greater detail.
Meaningful Work
Employees are matched with jobs suiting their skills, interests, and needs. Roles can be in mainstream workplaces, social enterprises supported employment services, small businesses, or disability services.
Just getting a job is not enough to feel happy and fulfilled in your work. You need a job where you feel like you’re making a difference.
Fair Wages
Employees earn at least minimum wage. This provides financial independence. Some roles link pay to productivity.
Working in a job takes an investment of time and energy. Supported employees deserve to have that time valued through a fair exchange of value.
Career Development
Ongoing support helps as goals change over time. Employees get training, mentoring, and chances to take on more. This grows their career.
Not to mention we live in a world where technologies are constantly changing the workforce. Just think of new technologies we’ve seen over the past 30 years. The rise of the Internet. The invention of smartphones and tablets. The dawn of AI.
Social Inclusion
Having a job lets employees use their talents and make friends. They connect with co-workers and community.
Working at a work site means people with disability build their interpersonal skills. In other words, just through working, employees learn how to build stronger relationships as they become better communicators.
And the other thing about working with other people is you belong to a community.
Improved Quality of Life
Working provides purpose, achievement, and self-worth. It builds confidence and esteem. Contributing value makes employees feel they make a difference.
Everybody Has A Unique Contribution to Make
When people with disability aren’t contributing anything of value to the community, it’s easy for them to feel like they’re not worth much. When an employer is willing to pay supported employees for the work they do, they feel worth more. Someone else considers them and their contribution valuable.
NDIS Funding
If eligible for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), supported employment assistance can be funded. It is funded under Supported Independent Living or Core Supports. These categories allow flexible use of supported employment funding across settings.
The NDIS funds support based on each person’s needs to help build independence. If supported employment assists this, the NDIS will help participants achieve their employment goals.
Types of Support Provided
The support matches each person’s needs, preferences, and goals just as a job does.
It can include:
Finding a job based on interests, strengths and needs
Preparing for interviews
On-the-job training, coaching and guiding
Customising work tasks to suit capacities
Building skills like teamwork and communication
Help with mobility, self-care, managing disability
Ongoing support and advocacy at work
Advice on disclosing disability
Guidance in getting concessions at work to do your job
Technology and workplace changes.
Finding the Right Services
Explore supported employment opportunities from providers such as:
Organisations on the BuyAbility website
Disability advocacy groups.
Factors to Consider When Selecting Employment Services
Consider your work options, location, new skills the provider can help you develop, size, expertise and values. The way to find the right employment services for you is to consider your goals. And be clear about the standards of behaviour, or values, they’re looking for in a provider.
Quality Standards
Supported employment services must meet NDIS Practice Standards. This includes quality of life, wellbeing, independence, and work goals. Ask how they support rights, risks, and self-direction.
Every provider must also have a complaints process.
Working Across Australia
Supported employees have diverse roles nationwide. These include:
Mainstream businesses, companies, government
Hospitals, hotels, cafes, retail
Non-profits, small enterprises
Disability services, Australian Disability Enterprises
Manufacturing, recycling, cleaning services
Roles matching individual skills and interests.
Opportunities keep increasing as inclusion grows.
Pathways to Open Employment
With proper support, supported jobs can lead to open jobs. Supported employees build skills, and gain confidence and experience to work more independently.
How We Can Help
We connect people to supported and employment services providers. We assist with:
Finding suitable providers. We’re happy to help you find the details to reach out to providers to get the employment supports you need.
Considering ideal jobs. We’ll listen to your goals so you can have an idea of what your options may be.
NDIS funding planning. We can direct you to information to help you apply for NDIS funding if you’re not currently an NDIS participant.
Building skills for goals. We can connect you to programs to help develop the skills you need to reach your goals.
Advocating for your needs. We can help prepare you for conversations with a prospective employer or employment services agency so you get your needs met.
FAQs
Employers can support mental health by encouraging employees to share their mental health needs and providing them with practical support during any mental health crises. Creating an environment that supports mental health, such as through addressing sources of distress and a work-life balance, can ensure that employers get the best from their employees not just today, but into the future.
Yes, they can. Emotional support animals do not have the same legal recognition in Victoria that other assistance animals have. If your employer doesn’t understand why you need an emotional support animal, you can either explain why you need one to them, or ask someone to advocate on your behalf.
While you’re the only one who knows what you need best, you have a couple of ways to communicate to an employer how they can support you. Before you go for the job, or if you already have one, write out a list of ways employers can provide you with the support you need. Take this list to your employer and discuss it with them, or discuss it with your carer or someone who can advocate on your behalf.
Conclusion
Supported employment provides tailored help. It lets people with disabilities gain meaningful careers. This improves quality of life through achievement, friendship, and inclusion. There are many high-quality providers to support people in their disability employment journey.
Action Steps
Contact us on 1300 777 258 to discuss skills and interests. We’ll connect you with providers.
Learn about providers and services in your area.
Share this post to raise awareness of supported employment benefits.
Daniel G. Taylor has been writing about the NDIS for three years. His focus has been on mental health and psychosocial disabilities as he lives with bipolar disorder I. He’s been a freelance writer for 30 years and lives across the road from the beach in Adelaide. He’s the author of How to Master Bipolar Disorder for Life and a contributor to Mastering Bipolar Disorder (Allen & Unwin) and he’s a mental health speaker.
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