Employment and Queenslanders with Disability Final Report

Abstract

The Department of Seniors, Disability Services and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships (DSDSATSIP) requested a high-level proposal to examine employment experiences of people with disability in Queensland. The project aimed to identify insights unique to Queensland and provide evidence that could improve experiences of people with disability (both with and without NDIS funding) in relation to employment. Specifically, the project: • Investigated employment experiences of people with disability in Queensland (formal, unpaid and supported); • Explored the nature of financial security for Queenslanders with disability; • Examined the drivers for satisfaction or dissatisfaction for those who have, or have previously had, employment and the challenges to success in employment; and • Explored employment and work aspirations, including preferred career pathways, hours of work and locations. This project was conducted in three phases: Phase 1: Literature review and statistical analysis; Phase 2: Project Co-development; Phase 3: Data collection and analysis by Citizen Scientists. The December Progress report contained an initial scoping of the literature to inform the next phase and a review of employment statistics to reveal the current state of employment in Queensland (Phase 1). It also contained a description of the way in which the project was codeveloped, including a preliminary data analysis to identify key themes that required further investigation (Phase 2). Through these two phases, we identified and co-designed the data collection process for Phase 3. This Final Report contains the full literature review (Phase 1) and the findings from the qualitative and quantitative data collection with citizen scientists (Phase 3) which includes strategies throughout regarding how to improve meaningful employment for people with disability.