Youth employment coaching is a new 2-year program that helps young people discover their talents, learn life skills, build independence and get ready for work. Youth employment coaching is also known as NDIS school leaver employment supports.
The program starts on 2 February 2027 and runs for 24 months. It takes place 3 days a week, from 9am to 3pm. When you graduate, you’ll be ready for a job!
If you are aged 16-25 and have an intellectual disability or cognitive impairment, youth employment coaching is for you. It’s designed for young adults with ongoing support needs, not just a one-off intervention.
Supports may be funded through the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) under capacity building, but you do not have to be an NDIS participant to take part – you can choose to pay for the program with your own money.
Youth employment coaching will help you discover your talents and get job-ready.
When you take part in our program, you attend in-person training 3 days a week for 24 months, with a 4-week break over the Christmas period.
Youth employment coaching takes place at one of our Inclusive Employment Australia (IEA) locations: at St Albans and Preston in Melbourne, and from Southport on the Gold Coast.
Youth employment coaching is delivered in partnership with Registered Training Organisations (RTOs). In Victoria, the RTO is GenU Training. In Gold Coast, the RTO is Aurora Training Institute.
The first 18 months of youth employment coaching is focused on learning and training. The last 6 months is all about getting hands-on work preparation, including work trials, industry visits, work experience and other work activities.
Join us for a free information session to learn about Afford’s Youth Employment Coaching (YEC) Program, designed to help young people discover their strengths, build confidence, gain certificate level qualifications, and prepare for meaningful employment.
Date: 18 November 2027 | 3:30pm – 4:30pm
Location: Afford IEA Southport Office | 6 Short St, Southport QLD 4215
Register here – QLD Event
Date: 27 November 2027 | 3:30pm – 4:30pm
Location: Afford IEA Preston Office | 327-329 High Street, Preston, VIC 3072
Register here – VIC Event
Learning and training
18 months
Practical work preparation
6 months
We will help you find a job whenever you’re ready
When you’re ready to start working, you may be eligible to access our free Inclusive Employment Australia program at any time during the 24-month program.
Personalised coaching from our friendly and experienced employment coaches
Two Certificate level qualifications to get you ready for work
Finding out what kind of work is right for you and your talents
Job ready skills, confidence and knowledge
Practical workplace experience
Community connections
Career plans and goals
A clear path to work with Inclusive Employment Australia
Afford is an experienced provider of disability employment services for people with disability, and a registered NDIS provider. We are also an Inclusive Employment Australia provider.
This means we have lots of experience supporting people with disability to find meaningful employment and achieve their goals.
When you choose Afford for youth employment coaching, you’re choosing a pathway into the workforce and open employment.
Youth employment coaching gets you ready for work, then Inclusive Employment Australia helps you find a job to love, including your first job.
At Afford, the same friendly employment coaches deliver both programs from the same sites. This can help make the transition from getting job-ready to finding a job much easier.
89% of our employment clients say having a job helps them work towards their goals.
86% say earning money improves their life.
“I’m having the best time and I’m learning so I can get myself a real job that I love.”
“I’m having the best time and I’m learning so I can get myself a real job that I love.”
When our friendly youth employment coach met Trey, his passion for sports and fitness and his desire to help others shone through.
Trey’s co...
We have youth employment coaching offices in Victoria and Queensland.
You may access youth employment coaching through your NDIS plan. We can help you work out if you have NDIS support for this program. A support coordinator can also help you check what funding applies to you.
Youth employment coaching may be linked to the following support categories in your NDIS plan:
You do not have to have government-approved funding packages to access our disability supports and services. Self-funded is a way you can pay for services with your own money.
This gives you the flexibility to access the supports you need if you have a one-off request, or if your government funding package does not cover what you need. You can also self-fund supports while you wait for a funding package to be approved. Sometimes, self-funded is called fee-for-service.
Youth employment coaching helps young people with disability transition from school to work or further study by building job-ready skills through work experience, industry visits, and hands-on training.
Youth employment coaching is for people with disability aged between 16 to 25. Ideal for those who have finished school or be close to leaving school.
Our youth employment coaching supports you to connect with employers, explore what work is like in fields you are interested in, apply for jobs, and build up the skills employers look for. We will support you to follow your path and find adventure in the world of work.
Our friendly youth employment coaches will support you to learn the essentials for thriving in the workplace. This includes customer service and teamwork, workplace communication and respect, time management and daily routines, travel training and public transport, road safety, work health and safety (WHS), diversity, inclusion and your rights, and financial literacy and understanding wages.
Yes. Youth employment coaching is the same thing as school leaver employment supports (SLES). We call it youth employment coaching because it’s not just for people who are getting ready to leave school or have recently left school. Our youth employment coaching is for anyone aged between 16 to 25.
We are here to help you find the answers you need.
Youth employment coaching supports you on your work adventure.
Youth employment coaching used to be called school leaver employment supports.
It is for people with disability aged 16 to 25 years old.
They will be with you all the way!
You can tell us what you want from your youth employment coaching.
We will help make it happen.
Trey loves sport and fitness and helping people.
We helped Trey get a job at a gym.
Now he is working towards getting his learner’s license so he can drive to work!
Trey says: “I’m having the best time and I’m learning so I can get myself a real job that I love.”
You can read more about Trey at this page on our website:
afforddeve.wpenginepowered.com/trey-on-his-way-to-dream-career/
You may pay for youth employment coaching with your NDIS plan or with your own money.
We have lots of experience with YEC and NDIS.
To work out if it is right for you, you can talk to:
We will make it easy to understand your funding options and costs.
We will be with you all the way!
You can fill out our online form at:
afforddeve.wpenginepowered.com/contact/
You can call us on the phone at
We cannot wait to say hello and support you on your work adventure.
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