The Asquith Group Case Study Part 5

While maximising the choice and opportunities of people with a disability regarding their lifestyle and community participation is increasingly at the centre of both State and Federal policies, employment levels continue to fall well behind in this area. Recent figures illustrated Australia’s comparatively lacklustre position with a ranking of 21 out of 29 OECD countries for employment levels of people with a disability. Workforce participation for the 20% of Australians who identify as having a disability has dropped to 53%, with a large number of this cohort also dealing with underemployment and workplace discrimination. This predicament is compounded by a shortfall in school completion rates of students with a disability. At the current time, while over 9% of students identify as having a disability only 36% end up finishing their Victorian Certificate of Education, with a further 26% not making it past year 10.