Equity Works has received funding to assist young people with disabilities access real, sustainable, and open employment. The project will be working with young people with disability aged 14-24 through to December 2024. Equity Works is funded in this project by the Department of Social Services, Information, Linkages and Capacity Building (ILC) program.
A life of purpose, contribution, security, and belonging is a solid foundation on which to build a good life. Employment provides many benefits for all Australians. For too many people with disability this is not their reality.
We believe employment for young people with disabilities is a complex problem in our community. We don’t have the solutions, but we believe if we listen deeply and respectfully to young people and all members of the community and work together, we’ll come up with long term solutions that will make life better for all of us and lead to much needed social change.
Our project approach will use the Customised Employment approach.
Customised employment (CE) is a method of tailoring the job relationship between a job seeker and an employer to make sure it works well for both of them. CE occurs when the interests and contributions of the job seeker are a fit for an unmet need of the employer – achieving mutual benefit. This is especially important for individuals with disabilities. In CE, the job seeker's unique skills, interests, and requirements are figured out through a process called "discovery," and then the job responsibilities and work conditions are adjusted to fit these factors through a negotiation process.
As a result of their participation in the project Here Now Next aims to secure employment for 25 young people. We also aim to support all people, organisations, and local businesses to take their very next step towards inclusive employment and become a community of leaders for social change on the Sunshine Coast.
Real Stories
Watch the videos below to hear from real people about their real stories of customised employment success with Here Now Next.
Get Involved.
Young people can register their interest by completing this brief form Register Interest in the Here Now Next project
We encourage community members and businesses to contact us to learn more about customised employment. We are building a social capital network of community members who are interested in learning more about how our community can work to change employment for people with disability.
Contact the team
Email: herenownextproject@equityworks.org
Phone: 1300 486 440