Alex Devine

Thesis: I’m proud of how far I’ve come. I’m just ready to work.’ Exploring the relationships between the life circumstances of people with psychosocial disability and their engagement with the Australian Disability Employment Services program

2020

Supervisors:

Anne Kavanagh and Cathy Vaughan

Title:

The life circumstances of job seekers with psychosocial disability and their engagement with government funded Disability Employment Services

Summary:

Australians with disability are less likely to be in the labour force compared to people without disability (53.4% vs 83.2%), of which people with psychosocial disability have the lowest participation (29%). People with psychosocial disability are known to experience socio-economic inequalities, poor health outcomes, and multiple challenges in relation to access to appropriate support services. These factors are both causes and consequences of poorer employment outcomes. The Disability Employment Services (DES) program is the main Government program to improve employment outcomes for people with disability. This study aims to explore whether and how the life circumstances of job seekers with psychosocial disability are influenced by their engagement with the DES program.