Work is good for lots of reasons. You can earn money from work. A job is often part of living a more independent life. You can meet more people and make new friends when you have a job. Working is an important part of feeling positive about your future.

Having a job is part of an ordinary life. You should be able to have a job and a career, if you want to. People with a disability can find it harder to get and keep a job. It is important to us to support people with a disability to find a job, build a career and stay in work.

There are lots of different supports you can use to pursue your work goals. These guides have information about different supports. The guides also tell you where to get more information. When considering what supports you may need, remember that a support that works for someone might not work for a person with your disability and circumstances.

Our Guidelines - Work and Study has information about work or study now or in the future. It tells you how we make decisions, what we fund and what supports may be available outside your NDIS plan.

You can use the Let’s talk about work booklet  to get ready for a conversation about work. You can use it to record key information about your work capacity, strengths, barriers and challenges. It is also good to have with you at a planning meeting with your LAC or NDIS planner.

More information and examples of what kind of supports the NDIS funds is available on the ‘Would we fund it’ website, the School Leaver Employment  booklet and Supports in Employment  webpage.

The information in the guides is from:

  • high quality research evidence
  • participant preferences
  • provider expertise

This is called using an evidence-informed framework. Below, you can read more about the information in these guides.

Research Evidence

These guides use research from a scientific review. The review was written in 2021 by researchers from:

  • University of Melbourne
  • University of NSW Canberra
  • Brotherhood of St Laurence.

The review has information about:

  • people on the autism spectrum
  • people with an intellectual disability
  • people with a psychosocial disability

The researchers looked at how different supports could improve opportunities for work for people with different disabilities. The review also told us how these different supports are used in Australia.

The guides also use information from a research project . We did this research to find out how the NDIA can support participants to find and keep a job. The research looked at:

  • participants with an intellectual disability
  • participants on the autism spectrum
  • participants with a psychosocial disability.

We spoke to participants, NDIS Planners, Local Area Coordinators and NDIA representatives.

The guides also have information from a report by the Centre for Social Impact Swinburne about fostering employment for people with intellectual disability

Disclaimer

This guide can help you understand which supports you could use to help you pursue your work goals. It does not mean a support will be added to your plan. It does not mean a support will be funded by the NDIS. Some of these supports are provided outside the NDIS. All supports in your plan must meet our reasonable and necessary standards. This includes being value for money. If you read this guide, you should also read work and study supports .

This page current as of
23 August 2022
Indicates required field
Was this page useful?
Why?
Why not?