Collaboration – the key to unlocking a successful future for young people with disability

Ticket to Work aims to improve economic and social participation for young people with a disability through vocational/career development and early contact with work environments while attending school. The initiative is delivered through networks including schools, employment services, post-school providers and employers and is predicated on the notion of promoting collaboration and locally-based multi-sectorial partnerships that create better outcomes for young people with disability.

This paper contains the following:

•    A definition and models of collaborative practice
•    A review of the international literature on interagency collaboration
•    A review of Australian studies on interagency Collaboration
•    An examination of some systemic barriers to collaborative practice
•    An exploration of the Ticket to Work experience with collaborative practice
•    Recommendation for the Australian situation

Although the focus of this paper is on collaboration, there are a number of elements highlighted in the literature supporting effective school to work transitions for students with disability, and collaboration is a mechanism to implement those evidenced informed practices.

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