Welcome to the latest edition of the National Collaboration on Employment and Disability (NCED) newsletter.

• NCED youth advisors launch new resource for young job seekers: 'Thriving in employment services: your rights, your future'.
• Webinar and report: 'The Inclusive Pathways to Employment final evaluation findings and four principles for inclusive youth employment services' 
• Please share BSL's survey for people 17-25 years old: Understanding post-school careers education practice and experiences for young people

We are thrilled to share this new online guide created by the youth advisors at the National Collaboration of Employment and Disability, based on their lived experiences of the ups and downs navigating employment services: 'Thriving in employment services: your rights, your future'.

It has great advice and useful links for young people, especially disabled young people, to explore:  

• what they need to thrive,  
• their rights and how to advocate for them, and  
• what employment service providers can and should be doing for them. 

 You can find this exciting new series of resources at this link: www.bsl.org.au/nced-youth

This guide has been written by young people with disability for young people who are looking for work. It includes a video and ten short, easy-to-read articles on topics including:

• The right to dream big.
• The right to change employment services.
• The right to be heard.
• The right to have your conditions for success understood.
• The right to know all that's available to you.
• The right to access opportunities to build your skills.
• The right to have a support person with you.
• The right to make a complaint.

The full guide is also available to download as an accessible word document.

Three young people living with disabilities led the work, supported by staff at BSL. Each youth advisor brought their strong sense of justice, different lived experience of navigating study, work, and employment services, and creative skills to this project.

“For our final project of the year, we’ve developed a fantastic resource to help young people understand their rights in employment services. We noticed a gap in resources that are easily available for job seekers, and we wanted to collate some information for young people entering the workforce with the help of employment services. We’d love your help to spread the word!”

- Rhianna, youth advisor and co-author of the Thriving in Employment Services guide

We have put together printable posters as well as social media graphics and some draft wording in this media kit for you to help spread the word.

The Inclusive Pathways to Employment (IPE) Pilot is an NCED initiative in partnership with four Transition to Work providers across the country. Over the past two years, we have been investigating what it takes for mainstream youth employment services to support young people with disability to pursue their interests, aspirations, and goals, and to be socially and economically included in their communities.

Thank you to everyone who attended our webinar 'The Inclusive Pathways to Employment final evaluation findings and four principles for inclusive youth employment services' last month. We had over 90 people log in live, and we give our apologies to the others who couldn't find the link!

You can watch the webinar recording on YouTube.

We encourage you to learn more by reading the evaluation report:

• Final evaluation report – at a glance (PDF, 231.0 KB)
• Final evaluation report (PDF, 1.6 MB)
• Final evaluation report – executive summary (PDF, 1000.0 KB)

Links that were shared in the webinar chat, and other resources we recommend:

Advantaged Thinking

Advantaged Thinking is a practice approach to working with people, it focuses on recognising the capability of a young person and supporting them to move from "surviving" to "thriving", its deeper than a strength-based approach as it focuses on the systemic barriers and shifting ways of working away from a deficit approach.

• BSL – Advantaged Thinking Overview (PDF, 233 KB)
• What is Advantaged Thinking?  (Advantaged Thinking website)
• Advantaged Thinking in Schools (YouTube video)
• Colin Falconer on Οpen Talent at TEDxThessaloniki  (YouTube video)

Resources for employers

• find Resources for Employers on the NCED website
• NCED Youth Advisors developed a resource on inclusive hiring and presented a webinar. You can find links to the inclusive hiring for employers developed by young people with disability here.

Resources for job coaches

• Check out this webinar series and linked resources for great employer engagement strategies: NCED customised employment webinar series with Milton Tyree  (NCED website)
• Article on holding ‘high expectations’ for young people with disability: How to avoid setting the ‘Work Readiness Trap’ for young people with disability (NCED website)
• Engaging employers and negotiating customised positions (YouTube Video)
• Resources on employment, microenterprise and employer engagement (Imagine More website)