On this page

Fill out this form to sign up to the YDAS Early School Leavers Program.

From 2025 to 2026, YDAS is running a program for disabled young people who are leaving or have left school early. The goal of the program is to support up to 40 disabled young people take their next steps in education, training and employment after leaving school early.

An early school leaver means someone up to 20 years old who left school before finishing year 12. We will focus on people from Merri-bek, Casey, Greater Dandenong, Greater Geelong and Ballarat local government areas.

This page will be updated to help disabled young people, their carers, family and other supporters see if they are eligible for the program, what the program includes, how to sign up and more.

If you would like to contact the Early Leavers team:

The staff of YDAS that run this project are all qualified youth workers. We have training and experience in youth work, mental health first aid, trauma-informed practice, child and young people safeguarding and a range of identity and cultural safety practices. You can learn more about YDAS here.

This program is funded by the Victorian Department of Education. We work with the Department and regulatory frameworks to ensure safe, successful delivery of the program. You can learn more about the Victorian Early Leaver Connection Initiative here.

We have a privacy policy that explains how we use any information we collect. You can view our privacy policy here.

We have a feedback and complaints policy. We encourage you to give us feedback or make a complaint by going to this page.

We are a child safe organisation. You can learn about how we safeguard children and young people’s safety here.

For disabled young people

What is this program?

This program is for disabled young people who left school before finishing year 12.
We can help you with study, training or work.
You might have started study, training or work.
Or you might need help finding study, training or work.
The program is free. You do not have to pay.
You do not need to be on the NDIS.

We work at Youth Disability Advocacy Service (YDAS).
We will help you in this program.
We are youth workers. We are disabled too.
We want to help you start and stay in study, training or work.
We will help you as much as possible.

How we can help you.

  • Understand your goals.

  • Work out what to do to reach them.

  • Build your confidence and skills.

  • Speak up for what you need.

  • Apply for courses, training, apprenticeships, traineeships or jobs.

If things don’t go to plan, we will help you find a new option.

You can learn more about the program on our website.

Who can join this program?

You can join if:

  • You are 12 to 20 years old

  • You are disabled* (see below)

  • You either:

    • Have a formal exemption from school** (see below)

    • OR you are doing VCE or the Victorian Pathways Certificate at a TAFE

If you left school without finishing Year 12, you may still be able to join.
If you're not sure, contact us and we will help you work it out.

What does “disabled” mean?

You can join if you are any of the following:

  • A disabled person

  • A person with a disability

  • A long-term chronic illness or health condition

  • Neurodivergent (like autistic, ADHD, etc.)

  • Blind or have low vision

  • Deaf, deaf, or hard of hearing

  • Mental health issues

You do not need a diagnosis.

What is a “Formal Exemption from School”?

This means:

  • Your school talked to you about leaving early

  • The principal filled out an exemption form

  • You got permission to leave school early

For family, carers and supporters

Thank you for your interest in our Early Leavers program. As a parent, guardian, family member, carer or supporter of a disabled young person, we know you are passionate and motivated to support them. We have included information about YDAS and this program above to help you feel safe and comfortable about the staff that will be working with the young person in your life. This program has been designed to incorporate two elements:

  • Research the Department of Education has gathered about what disabled young people need to be successful in the early school leaver process.
  • The past successful, award-winning programs YDAS has run, including Map Your Future, Young Leaders Program, Rights to Reality and the NDIS Readiness Project.

YDAS staff always prefer that the disabled young people we work with lead the way on their support and advocacy. You can help the young person in your life take part in the project in the following ways:

  • Support them to fill out the sign-up form by offering to read it out, transcribe or note take, or just be a sounding board and motivator. You can also suggest they contact us for help directly.
  • Contact us about any concerns, feedback or complaints you might have. We want to hear from the whole community and strive to do the best we can. Your input is always appreciated.
  • Respect or seek to understand any changes to language, identity, goals or other parts of their life that they may reconsider or think about as a result of this program or their life journey. This page on disability pride might be a useful resource for you.
  • Give the young person in your life space and independence to participate in the program on their own terms.
  • Check in with them to see how they are going with the program or their Early Leaver journey. This can include offering your own support or just asking curious questions and showing you are interested.
  • If you are their emergency or second contact, we may contact you to check that they are safe if we cannot reach them when expected.

You probably already know that the young person in your life will not always share everything, even if you wish they would! We will always consider duty of care, follow the law, and respect their privacy. Our goal is to maintain trust with the young people in our program. We can assure you we will be working hard on their goals and together as a team support the young person in your life.

For workers, educators and employers

If you are working with or have been teaching or supporting a disabled young person in this program, we are here to help. Our focus in on the young person, but we understand that it takes a whole community working together to help any of us achieve our goals as we grow up.

You are welcome to contact YDAS for general advice or support. We may not be able to give you specific information about the young person you are working with, as we must respect and follow privacy and other laws that restrict what information we can share. We also want to maintain and respect the trust we build with our participants.

With that in mind, here are some resources and links that could be helpful: