Pillar 4: Opportunity and pride – 47 actions

Education – 17 actions

The Department of Education is using disability confident and inclusive workforces, co-design with people with disability and peak agencies, and universal design approaches to improve the achievement, participation, and wellbeing outcomes for students with disability.

Training, peer-to-peer discussions and funded supports assist educators and teachers to build capability, practice and confidence to better meet the learning and wellbeing needs of all students with disability from kindergarten to school.

The department continues to implement the Victorian Government’s Disability Inclusion reform, which represents the biggest investment in disability support for Victorian government schools in the state’s history.

Over a staged rollout between 2021 and 2025, Disability Inclusion is replacing the existing funding and support model for students with disability with a new strengths-based model.

The model’s key features include:

• the new strengths-based Disability Inclusion Profile
• a facilitator workforce to administer the profile in schools statewide
• a new school-level funding allocation
• a new student-level funding allocation.

Victorian government schools are using Disability Inclusion funding to recruit and train staff and purchase and upgrade resources. This will strengthen schools’ capacity to provide quality, differentiated and adjustable teaching practice for students with a disability.

Implementation is on track. Over 1,240 Victorian government schools have transitioned to the new funding and support model, in line with the staged rollout.

Disability Inclusion also invests in capability-building initiatives to ensure that school workforces are equipped to meet the diverse learning needs of all students. These initiatives are now operating statewide. They include the Diverse Learners Hub, the Inclusion Outreach Coaching Initiative and other professional learning opportunities.

The department is also implementing intersectional approaches in schools. From April 2022 to April 2024, 11,234 school-based staff participated in whole-school ‘Respectful Relationships’ professional learning. The department is also updating its ‘Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships’ and ‘Building Respectful Relationships’ teaching and learning materials. This work supports schools to implement respectful relationships education in the Victorian curriculum. The updates will incorporate language that recognises intersectional experiences and is inclusive of all sexualities and genders.

In the Skills and TAFE sector work is progressing to develop education and training for people with disabilities including:

• Funding of $36 million for the Gordon’s Centre for Excellence for Disability Inclusion in the TAFE network
• The Hard-to-Reach program which provides foundation skills and accredited training to help people with disabilities into a job
• The Skills First Training Needs list including Auslan courses.

17 actions are on track.

Employment and economic participation – 12 actions

Across all government departments, the Victorian Government is co-designing programs and campaigns to attract diverse workforces to roles in the public sector. It is also developing mentoring programs, providing tailored pathways to employment and upskilling the public service to be more disability confident and inclusive.

For example, the Victorian Public Sector Commission co-designed a Neurodiverse Employment Toolkit to support the recruitment and include workplace adjustments for neurodivergent employees. This initiative continues the implementation of the Getting to Work public sector disability action plan. This plan is supported through the Jobs Victoria program, which is administered by the Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions.

In 2022–23, the Victorian Public Sector Commission provided training on mentoring for public sector employees with disability as part of the Leading Together program. In 2024, the Victorian Public Sector Commission also delivered the Victorian Graduate Program, in which 13% of the graduates who entered the public service had disability.

Other completed actions include:

• the Impact21 program that supported a number of adults with Down Syndrome into employment and built the capabilities of employers to confidently manage a diverse workforce.
• a microenterprise development grant program that funded groups, including people with disability, to participate as entrepreneurs or small business owners.

The above programs contributed to the systemic reform of disability confident and inclusive workforces.

We have completed 3 actions. A further 9 actions are on track.

Voice and leadership – 10 actions

Victorian Government agencies, including the Victorian Public Sector Commission, the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing and others, continue to work with the disability sector to co-design policies and programs that develop and elevate voice and leadership opportunities for people with disability.

By taking an intersectional approach, departments ensure representation from young people, LGBTIQA+ communities and First Nations people.

The Victorian Youth Congress (Youth portfolio), Regional Presence Project (Youth portfolio) and Qhub (Equity portfolio) among others support young people with disability to connect, engage in mentoring, speak out and gain knowledge and skills through policy and programs.

The Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) employed and trained people with disability and people with lived experience of disability (Democracy Ambassadors) to participate in information sessions in the lead up to the 2022 State Election. Democracy Ambassadors provided peer-to-peer electoral information sessions for disability organisations and specialist schools and ran mock elections so participants learn how to vote and gain an understanding of how the votes are counted.

VECs Education and Inclusion team, together with the VEC Electoral Access Advisory Group, will design a resource to support people with disability to enrol to vote.

All 10 actions are on track.

Creative industries – 4 actions

Creative Victoria’s Creative State 25 strategy has helped implement co-design, intersectional approaches and universal design principles.

State-owned creative organisations including the National Gallery of Victoria, State Library Victoria, Museums Victoria and Arts Centre Melbourne continue to be guided by disability plans. They routinely host accessible events.

Several of Creative Victoria’s grants programs, including the Creators Fund, Music Works Grant Program and Creative Ventures program, have dedicated funding streams ensuring that at least 15% of funds go to artists and creatives with disability.

Grants were also provided to 22 artists and creatives with disability in partnership with Arts Access Victoria, and 72 in partnership with Regional Arts Victoria, through the Sustaining Creative Workers initiative.

In January 2024, Creative Victoria published the Creative space design guides. The guides provide detailed advice about designing and building creative spaces and include universal design principles and best practice.

All 4 actions are on track.

Pride and recognition – 4 actions

The Department of Families, Fairness and Housing is using accessible communication and universal design principles in its awards programs and disability pride and recognition communications.

In preparation for the Victorian Women’s Honor Roll in 2024, 2 women with disability were members of the assessment panel. Of the 165 nominations received, 16 nominees (11% of total nominees), identified as having a disability. Of those, 5 women (3% of total nominees) identified as being a member of the LGBTIQA+ community.

None of the 16 nominees identified as being First Nations women with disability on the Victorian Honor Roll of Women.

The Department of Families, Fairness and Housing will continue to co-design the stakeholder engagement processes for future awards programs with the aim of increasing nominations of both women with disability and First Nations people with disability on Victorian Honor Rolls.

We have completed 1 action. A further 3 actions are on track.