Expanding vocational and professional skills

Overview

Participating in vocational and post-secondary education or training helps people with disability develop skills and access pathways that allow them to gain employment and lead fulfilling lives. Research consistently shows that access to recognised qualifications increase the likelihood of securing meaningful, stable employment and earning more.^{1 2 3 4}

People with disability work in a diverse range of occupations, with most requiring skills and qualifications. Around one quarter of people with disability work in professional occupations, 14% in community and personal Service roles, 14% in clerical and administrative roles, 12% work in trades and technical areas, and 11% work as managers.⁵

Vocational and post-secondary training options (accredited and non-accredited) include:

• Vocational Education and Training (VET)
  These are certificate and diploma courses focused on practical skills usually provide by TAFE, Registered Training Organisations (RTOs), or private training providers.
• Higher education
  Also called tertiary education, higher education takes place at universities or higher education facilities. Higher education may include foundation or enabling programs, undergraduate courses (associate or bachelor degrees) or postgraduate courses (graduate certificates, graduate diplomas, masters and doctoral degrees). Some universities offer education programs designed for specific groups of people with disability, including intellectual disability.
• Australian Apprenticeships  
  These provide formal training pathways where a person is employed and learns a skilled trade/role on the job while also completing a qualification with a VET provider, including as part of secondary school education. Note that Australian Apprenticeship include traineeships. 
• Micro-credentials and short courses
  These are accredited short, targeted units of learning that teach a specific skill, knowledge or competency, which can be completed flexibly and may contribute to broader vocational or higher education qualifications.
• Community-based adult education
  This is non-accredited training offered by a range of community organisations, for example Neighbourhood Houses and adult education providers.

All people with disability can be supported to succeed in vocational and post-secondary education. 

Key strategies for success

Not all training programs are the same, and it is important to look for quality vocational and post-secondary training. Some strategies to support this include:

• prioritising quality over quantity by guiding people to training that builds skills and leads to career pathways that matter to them
• advocating for access to adjustments that meet the person’s individual learning needs and conditions for success ⁶
• partnering with inclusive providers with strong links to industry to maximise learning outcomes for the person.⁷