Employment for People With Intellectual Disability in Australia and the United Kingdom

Australia and the United Kingdom have implemented similar policy and legislative initiatives designed to enhance the participation of people with intellectual disability in the workforce. However, the results of these initiatives have differed across these two countries because of historical and administrative differences in the management of government-funded employment services for people with a disability. Similarities across both countries include increased funding for employment services for people with a disability, strong policy statements on the inclusion of people with a disability in the workforce, a dearth of meaningful data on the employment of people with intellectual disability, continuing high unemployment rates for this population, and the lack of an outcomes-focused approach to evaluating whether employment services are meeting the needs of people with intellectual disability and their families.