After-school jobs for students with intellectual disabilities

Ticket to Work is an initiative of National Disability Services (NDS) that works to improve employment opportunities and outcomes for young people with disability. Over three years, from 2018 Ticket to Work implemented the After School Jobs project which aimed to facilitate young people with significant disabilities to transition from school to the labour market by offering work experience whilst they were at school and explore the experiences and long-term effects for students of participating in after school jobs. This type of employment is rite of passage, yet there is limited support for young people with intellectual disabilities to have these experiences. Funding from philanthropic sources and the Victorian State Government enabled local networks of secondary schools, employment support organisations, families and employers across Australia to support individual students to reach their after school job goals. This study reported here is in two parts. First a literature review about after school work for young people with intellectual disabilities and second a collection of empirical data about the experiences of participants in the After School Jobs project.