SDET model: best practices in placing DES jobseekers into work
Exploring how to improve overall servicing and ultimately employment outcomes for jobseekers with intellectual and developmental disabilities
Findings
The Australian Welfare and Work Lab, in collaboration with La Trobe University, is pleased to share insights from our ongoing partnership with CVGT Australia, exploring innovative approaches to improve employment outcomes for jobseekers with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Placing highly disadvantaged jobseekers into sustainable employment remains a pressing challenge within welfare-to-work programs, both in Australia and globally. CVGT, a not-for-profit employment service provider, has taken a proactive approach by developing the Specialist Disability Employment Team (SDET) model. This person-centred initiative aims to address the unique barriers faced by this cohort by integrating employability services with counselling and allied supports.
Findings from this research report will provide evidence on what works for people with a disability and shed some light on what can be learned from these experiences in relation to the next wave of reform of DES in 2025.
Our partnership with CVGT
To effectively place highly disadvantaged jobseekers into employment remains a challenge for welfare-to-work reforms in Australia and elsewhere. CVGT, a not-for-profit, for-purpose employment service provider, has developed its own philosophy and methodology to assist very disadvantaged jobseekers into work.
Specifically, through the creation of the Specialist Disability Employment Team (SDET), CVGT explores ways to improve overall servicing and ultimately employment outcomes for jobseekers with intellectual and developmental disabilities under the current DES program. Aimed to be person-centred and delivered in conjunction with partner organisations, the model places respect for the complexity of participants’ life circumstances and personal histories at its core, focusing on integrating employability, counselling, and other allied support services and prioritising transitions to sustainable, ongoing employment over short-term job placements. The model sits within a whole-of-organisation approach to critical empowerment and leadership.
This project aims to conduct an in-progress evaluation of the SDET model via defining key characteristics of the SDET model and developing evidence base for its effectiveness (or lack thereof) in supporting this group of jobseekers. Research findings are expected to inform not only CVGT’s practices but also the development of a responsive employment service model for people with disability.