Regional Disability Liaison Officer

Central Queensland

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Enhancing Your Practice: Strategies for Including people with disabilities in graduate career services in post-secondary education and training.

Contents

Information Sheets

Information Sheet 1
Marketing your Careers Services to Students & Graduates with disabilities

Information Sheet 2
Careers Information & Resources for Students and Graduates with Disabilities

Information Sheet 3
Inclusive Careers Resources for Students and Graduates with disabilities.

Information Sheet 4
Ensuring Disability Issues are included in Careers Workshops.

Information Sheet 5
Making Careers Workshops accessible for Students and Graduates with Disabilities.

Information Sheet 6
Work Experience for Students and Graduates with Disabilities.

Information Sheet 7
Advising Students and Graduates with Mental Health Difficulties.

Information Sheet 8
Disability Training and Awareness for Practitioners.

Information Sheet 9
Answering FAQs

Aim

This resource offers strategies for careers services in post-secondary education and training that will enhance the transition of people with disabilities into their post-graduate careers. The information sheets in this package are adapted for Australia from a similar collection produced by the UK Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services.

Context

People with disabilities make up a significant proportion of the population of all western countries. In 1998 the Australian Bureau of Statistics stated that 19 percent of the population of Australia had some form of disability. (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1998). This large proportion of the Australian population is currently disadvantaged in two ways - people with disabilities are up to three times more likely to be unemployed (Thornton P. and Lunt N. 1995) and they are more likely to be in the 'poorly paid, low-skilled low status jobs, which are both unrewarding and undemanding' (Barnes, 1991 p.65) (Perry, Hendricks and Broadbent (2000) p. 923).

The double disadvantage in the latter trend is, that within the new and highly competitive economies of today, it is these positions that are increasingly disappearing.

Research has shown that one avenue by which people with disabilities can more readily gain employment and compete for positions at a higher level is to complete a higher education degree or undertake Vocational Education and Training (VET). Governments have recognized this and have enacted policies that have succeeded in improving access rates of people with disabilities into tertiary education. In the five years since data was first collected in 1996, the number of students with disabilities commencing at University alone has risen by over 60% from 11 656 to 18 926.

Students with disabilities currently make up 5% of the total student population (Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs, 2000).

However evidence suggests that while tertiary education and training does indeed improve access to employment, tertiary graduates with disabilities continue to experience lower levels of employment and higher levels of underemployment than their non-disabled peers. Several researchers have described the underlying causes for this pattern of disadvantage.

From their research three categories of issues emerge:

• Issues that exist within the graduate with a disability.
• Issues that exist within employer attitudes and behaviours.
• Issues that exist within career advisory services established within universities and TAFE's.

Boardman E. (2001) gives a full description of each of these three categories together with the research behind them. To view this description visit - http://www.dest.gov.au/NR/rdonlyres/6CD9A531-1ABD-4970-8A5F-22D16EC59C3A/802/03_10.pdf

The Information sheets included in this resource were designed to address the third category of issues, i.e. Issues centered in the graduate career services

Issue 1.
Lack of information, skills or role definition to assist students with disabilities overcome the barriers they face in transitioning into their careers.

Earlier studies had suggested that a gap existed between the Disability Officers and graduate career services, when it came to the provision of career services for graduates with disabilities. In an email survey undertaken by Boardman E. (2001) however, it was found that of nineteen careers advisory services in Australian universities, all nineteen had indicated a willingness to accept responsibility for the careers assistance required by students with disabilities. Within the same group however there was recognition of the need to improve knowledge and skills in this area. This resource is a response to this perceived need.

Issue 2.
Lack of access to Career Advisory Services by students with disabilities.

Some studies suggest that students with disabilities for various reasons do not access the career advisory services available at their institution. This may be because of a perception that the service is not inclusive of the issues they face, or worse, the service is not accessible.

Currently very few graduate career services in Australia have any procedure to ascertain or record the rate of access by students with disabilities. Given that many of the disabilities of students within tertiary education and training are not overt, there is currently no way of ascertaining or tracking the access rates of students with disabilities to their respective graduate career services. The information sheets included in this package contain strategies that practitioners can adopt to make their service more attractive to students with disabilities.

Acknowledgements

The author would like to acknowledge the many contributors to the development of this resource. Firstly the UK Disability Development Network upon whose work this resource is based. Thanks go to the RDLOs who read and provided valuable feedback during the development phase.

On the cover of each of the Information Sheets is a call for these materials to form the basis for debate and action rather than be seen as a definitive guide. It is only through such consultation can resources of this nature truly promote best practice. On the following pages is a list of practitioners throughout Australia who have indicated their willingness to be a part of such a community of practice. Thank you for your interest and I trust this resource will act as a catalyst for greater discussion and a striving for excellence in the provision of career guidance for students and graduates with disabilities.

University	Given	Surname	Title	Phone	Fax	Email
Central Queensland University	Eric	Boardman	Regional Disability Liaison Officer	07 4930 6394	07 4930 9119	e.boardman@cqu.edu.au
	Ron	Wallis	Careers Counselor	07 4930 9517		r.wallis@cqu.edu.au
Charles Sturt University	Lim	Hodgson	CSU Careers, Bathurst NSW 2795	02 63 384 695	02 63 384 614	careers@csu.edu.au
Deakin University	Kasia	Quail	Careers Consultant - Graduate Outcomes	03 5227 1221	03 5227 2829	kasia@deakin.edu.au
	Kevin	Murfitt	WAM Coordinator			kfm@deakin.edu.au
	Joan	Barnet	Divisional Liaison Officer	03 9244 3796	03 9244 6965	barnetj@deakin.edu.au
Edith Cowan University	Susan	Surgener	Resource Officer	(08) 9273 8212	(03) 9273 8396	s.surgener@ecu.edu.au
	Marilyn	Prestage	Manager	(08) 9273 8525	(08) 9273 8396	m.prestage@cowan.edu.au
Flinders University	Peter	Torjul	Head Careers & Employer Liaison Centre	08 8201 2832	08 8201 3036	peter.torjul@flinders.edu.au
Griffith University - Gold Coast Campus	Sharon	Garside	Disabilities Service Officer	07 5552 8989	07 5552 8854	S.Garside@griffith.edu.au
	Donna	Harris	Careers & Welfare Support Officer	07 5552 8138	07 5552 8854	d.harris@griffith.edu.au
Griffith University - Nathan Campus	Dina	Fyffe	Career Development Officer	07 3875 7502	07 3875 5360	D.Fyffe@griffith.edu.au
James Cook University	Debby	Hourston	Senior Careers Advisor,	07 4781 5116	07 4781 4700	Debby.Hourston@jcu.edu.au
La Trobe University	Pat	Watson	Careers Consultant	07 9479 2459	03 9479 1989	p.watson@latrobe.edu.au
	Anna	Heywood	Careers Consultant	03 9479 2459	03 9479 1989	a.heywood@latrobe.edu.au
La Trobe University - Bendigo Campus	Mary	Fraser	Careers Officer			m.fraser@bendigo.latrobe.edu.au
Monash University	Pamela	Horlor	Information Officer	03 9905 4170	03 9905 5725	Pamela.Horlor@adm.monash.edu.au
QUT	Mandy	Adams	Career Counsellor	07 3864 3656	07 3864 9721	mj.adams@qut.edu.au
RMIT University	Jenni	Bell	Careers Counsellor	03 9925 2078		jenni.bell@rmit.edu.au
	Geraldine	Foley	Careers Counsellor	03 9925 2078	03 9925 3942	geraldine.foley@rmit.edu.au
RMIT - City Campus	Paul	Lockman	Disability Coordination Officer	03 9925-5269	03 9925-3942	paul.lockman@rmit.edu.au
Australian National University	Kim	Pollock	Careers Counsellor
	Karen	Hosking	Graduate Recruitment Co-ordinator	02 6125 3593	02 6125 5191	Karin.Hosking@anu.edu.au
The University of Melbourne	Toni	Waugh	Employment Services Manager	03 8344 6555	03 9348 1237	toniw@unimelb.edu.au
	Michelle	Maes	Careers Consultant	03 8344 9880	03 9348 1237	mmaes@unimelb.edu.au
University of NSW	Lene	Jensen	Head of Careers & Employment	02 9385 5432	02 9385 6145	l.jensen@unsw.edu.au
University of New England	Rhonda	Leece	Careers Officer	02 67733408	02 67733763	rleec@metz.une.edu.au
University of Newcastle	Monique	Kassi	Careers Counsellor - Ourimbah Campus	02 4348 4034	02 4348 4065	monique.kassi@newcastle.edu.au
University of Queensland	Jacqueline	Rochester	Student Support Services	07 33651704	07 33651702	j.rochester@mailbox.uq.edu.au
University of Southern Queensland	Peter	McIlveen	Manager Careers & Employment Student Services	07 4631 2210		mcilveen@usq.edu.au
University of Sydney	Nitsa	Athanassopoulos	Asst Manager Careers Centre	02 9351 3481	02 9351 5134	nitsa@careers.usyd.edu.au
University of the Sunshine Coast	Adam	Stepcich	Careers Officer	07 5430 1226	07 5430 2883	astepcic@usc.edu.au
University of Wollongong	Robyn	Gleeson	Careers Counsellor	02 4221 3970	02 4226 2399	rgleeson@uow.edu.au
UTS	Karen	Cavanaugh	UTS Careers Service	02 9514 1471	02 9514 1474	karen.cavanaugh@uts.edu.au
Malcolm	McKenzie	Manager - UTS Careers Service		02 9514 1471	02 95141474	m.mckenzie@uts.edu.au
Victoria University	Susan	Oldham	Careers Adviser	03 9688 4827		Susan.Oldham@vu.edu.au
	Andrew James	Tchen	Careers Educator	03 9688 4944		Andrew-James.Tchen@vu.edu.au
Victoria University of Wellington	Elizabeth	Medford	Manager, Career Development and Employment	64-4-463-5390	64 4 463 5252	liz.medford@vuw.ac.nz
	Karen	Penrose	National Treasurer NAGCAS	07 3279 0838	07 3279 0896	karenwpa@powerup.com.au