11 Dec 2018

From the Department of Social Services website:

Individual Placement and Support (IPS) Trial

The Individual Placement and Support Trial forms part of the Australian Government’s Youth Employment Strategy aimed at tackling the problem of high youth unemployment.

The aim of the Trial is to improve the educational and employment outcomes of young people with mental illness aged up to 25.

The IPS model integrates employment and vocational services with clinical mental health and non-vocational support, and focuses on the individual needs of people with mental illness who are seeking to enter, or remain in, education and/or employment.

Participants can access a variety of supports including job coaching, assistance navigating community support services and Centrelink systems, targeted education and/or employment opportunities, and on-the-job support.

The IPS Trial is being delivered from selected headspace locations across Australia.

To be eligible to participate in the Trial, people must:

• be a young person with mental illness aged up to 25*
• be an eligible client of headspace in the participating Trial site
• have employment, education or training goals and be facing barriers to achieving these goals, and
• be willing to participate in the service and able to make an informed decision to participate.

* Note: a formal diagnosis of mental illness is not required to access the Trial. The decision that a young person has a mental illness can be established by the clinical staff of the headspace Trial site.

Read full announcement here: https://www.dss.gov.au/mental-health-programs-services/individual-placement-and-support-ips-trial