School of Social and Political Sciences - Research Publications
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ItemA systems analysis of the factors that lead to the employment of people with intellectual disabilities in Australia.( 2018)TITLE: An Examination of Factors that Lead to the Successful Employment of People with a Disability. BACKGROUND: Disability Employment Services (DES) is the primary vehicle in Australia charged with promoting and supporting successful open employment opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This research examined the client-consultant dynamic to see what factors were at play in promoting successful employment. METHOD: Research was undertaken using a Multiple Perspective Design that resides within the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis methodology. Clients with a wide variety of ID/DD (n=24) and Employment Consultants (n=23) were interviewed using semi-structured interviews in small group settings. The data were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) that allowed for themes to be developed. RESULTS: The research highlighted five primary themes: Relationships, Processes, Compliance Driven Systems, Employers and the Environment. These themes provide a base to develop an understanding of some of the factors influencing employment outcomes amongst the client participant base and the disability employment consultants. The results highlighted disparities in perceived abilities, attitudes and a lack of understanding between the system participants. The results also highlighted the influence of ecology on employment outcomes and a high level of disequilibrium within the employment system and environment. IMPLICATIONS: The inability of the disability employment system to use known evidence-based processes that support clients with ID/DD and consultants has resulted in a system that lacks any real understanding of the client and consultant needs, placing primacy on compliance and system needs ahead of the stated purpose of the program which is to support people with a disability to gain and maintain meaningful employment consistent with their capacity and career aspirations. The research highlights the importance of relationships in creating real understanding of the client to supporting employment outcomes.
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ItemInnovative Workforce Fund: Final Implementation and Reflection Report(Innovative Workforce Fund, 2018)This project developed an approach to Customised Employment (CE) tailored to the needs of Australians with disability. An overview of Customised Employment is provided at Section 4 of this report, and an overview of the final curriculum for the staff development program (The Work First™ curriculum) plus the interview guides are provided in the appendices. Also, the references include links to several on-line resources generated as part of this project (e.g., interviews with world experts in CE, and managers implementing CE in their organisations), which could be used in both staff and organisational development activities.
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ItemDeveloping open employment outcomes for people with an intellectual disability utilising a Social Enterprise Framework(IOS PRESS, 2018-01-01)Background: Workplace participation for people with ID is a major policy issue, with both economic and social imperatives. Policy reforms in Australia associated with the implementation of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) require new and innovative approaches to address these problems. Objective: This project was established to investigate how a Social Enterprise Framework could be used as a mechanism to transform supported employment services (Australian Disability Enterprises) into open employment settings that secure meaningful, rewarding, and sustainable employment for people with ID. Methods: A systematic literature review was undertaken, and a model of Social Enterprise was developed that would be inclusive of people with ID. The theoretical model was reviewed by industry experts and refined. Its practical application and feasibility was then tested through the implementation of an organisational audit and strategic planning exercise. This was designed to produce an enterprise model. Results: Social Enterprise is an umbrella term describing any organisation that focuses on social change. For people with ID, its essential features include an economically viable business, which provide the payment of 'a living wage', in a setting involving meaningful work that includes opportunities for the acquisition of socially valued skills and career development, as well as contributing to the person's opportunities for social relationships. Conclusion: Though a challenging undertaking, Social Enterprise provides a promising employment option for some people with ID, when such initiatives are driven from executive and senior personnel of an organisation.
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ItemTransitioning Australian Disability Enterprises to open employment community hubs using the Australian legislative framework(IOS PRESS, 2019-01-01)The transition of sheltered workshops or Australian Disability Enterprises (ADE) as they are known in Australia, to open employment settings unlike the USA lacks the legislative driver to encourage providers to move towards the promotion of integrated employment in the community. As a result, we have witnessed a move to rebadge ADE's as social enterprises in order to change public perceptions, without changes in wage outcomes or pathways to real work in the community. ADE's in Australia present as something of a challenge for government in trying to balance the competing provider agenda, against its obligations to people with a disability underpinned by the Disability Services Act (1986), the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with a Disability and the establishment of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). OBJECTIVE: This paper will examine the policy drivers for change and findings from work undertaken by the Centre for Disability Employment Research and Practice (CDERP) to promote provider transformation to integrated employment settings and the issues experienced in provider transformation within these policy settings. CONCLUSION: Education, ongoing support for employment staff and families, along with community partnerships are seen as ingredients for creating provider transformation and meaningful employment outcomes.