EOI - Make peer support more accessible

Expression of Interest to make peer support programs more accessible

This form closes on Wednesday, 19th of August 2026 at 5pm.

We are seeking disabled young Victorians who have multicultural, migrant or refugee backgrounds. We are Youth Disability Advocacy Service (YDAS). We are leading a project called Strengthening Student Voice in Schools: Peer support programs. The project is for the Victorian Department of Education, Inclusive Education division.

The goal of the project is to make existing peer support programs in schools more accessible and inclusive for disabled young people, especially with multicultural backgrounds. We hope that those peer support programs then increase student voice, agency and leadership in schools. Here are the details of the project:

Participants will be given $100 per workshop as an honourarium.
You will attend 8x 2-hour co-design workshops.
Workshops will all be online, using Zoom. We will record the Zooms to help us run the project.
Workshops will be 4:30pm to 6:30pm.
The dates of the workshops will be:
- Wednesday, Sep 2, 2026
- Wednesday, Sep 9, 2026
- Wednesday, Sep 16, 2026
- Wednesday, Sep 23, 2026
- Wednesday, Sep 30, 2026
- Wednesday, Oct 7, 2026
- Wednesday, Oct 14, 2026
- Wednesday, Oct 21, 2026
In the workshops you will be:
- reviewing real peer support programs,
- thinking about better ways to support students,
- sharing what you think needs to change,
- working with organisations that run programs to understand what is possible and practical
- work together to turn ideas into real changes in those peer support programs.
We will provide an agenda and questions or activities in advance, so you can prepare. You can read more about how we run online workshops here.
You will work in a group of 6 disabled and culturally diverse young people.
You will also work with 3 to 6 people from oranisations that deliver peer support programs.
2 YDAS facilitators will lead the workshops. They will be supported by a safety and wellbeing officer who can also support you if you need some help.

You can fill in this form to express your interest if you:

Live in Victoria.
Are aged 12 to 25 years old. (If you will turn 26 before January 2027, you are too old for this project.)
Are a disabled person. You do not need a diagnosis. You just need to identify as:

Having a disability
Having a health condition or chronic illness
Neurodivergent
Deaf, deaf or hard of hearing
Having lived experience of mental health issues or mental illness
Blind or have low vision

You have a multicultural, migrant or refugee background.
- If you are unsure if this is you, here are some organisations that define it further.
- Centre for Multicultural Youth
- National Ethnic Disability Alliance
- Diversity Council Australia

About this form.

We will ask you questions about your lived experience, who you are, and where you are from. We ask this because we want to choose participants that have a wide range of experiences. This helps us get lots of different perspectives.

You might feel this form is long. There is a link at the bottom to save your progress and complete it later. Once you click the link, you will be given a web address you can save, or the option of giving your email address to be sent the link.

We can help you fill out the form. You can contact us on youngpeople@ydas.org.au or text/call 0447 678 653.

What is your first name? *

What is your last name? *

Your pronouns (if you want to share)

Your phone number *

Your email address *

What is the best way to contact you? *

Phone callText messageEmail

How old are you? *

What is your date of birth?

Because you are under 16, you must tell your parent or guardian about this project, and get their permission to sign up. You can show them this form, and they can contact us. We also need to get some details about your parent or guardian in case we need to contact them, for example in an emergency. If this is a problem, please contact us.

I have told my parent or guardian about this activity and my parent or guardian gives me permission (consent) to take part. *

Because you are under 18, we suggest you tell your parent or guardian about this project, and get their permission to sign up. You can show them this form, and they can contact us. We also need to get some details about your parent or guardian in case we need to contact them, for example in an emergency. If this is a problem, please contact us.

I have told my parent or guardian about this activity and my parent or guardian gives me permission (consent) to take part.

Emergency contact name *

Emergency contact phone number *

In this next section we will ask you about why you want to join. We do not need you to share or relive traumatic events that may have occured in your life. We will give more detail of what we are looking for in each question. But in case you do choose to share a bit of your story, here are two guides you may like to look at first.

Content warning, these sites will mention trauma, eating disorders and abuse:

If you need someone to talk to before, during or after filling out this form, you can call, webchat or visit:

Kids Helpline  1800 55 1800
headspace 1800 650 890
QLife Australia  1800 184 527
13 Yarn 13 92 76
Yarning SafeNStrong 1800 959 563
1800RESPECT 1800 737 732
Lifeline 13 11 14

If you are in immediate danger call 000.

Why do you want to apply for this opportunity? *Answer this question by typing in the box above (300 words max). Or record a video, Auslan or audio message. You can share the link here or upload below.

Share any relevant experience you have. *Answer this question by typing in the box above (300 words max). Or record a video, Auslan or audio message. You can share the link here or upload below.

Upload any audio or video files here (200 mb limit)

Browse

No longer than 5 mins please. You may need to use a compressor or different file format for large videos. Accepted file types: avi, hevc, mov, mp3, mp4, mpg, wav, wma.

What types of disability do you have? *

Intellectual/Learning disabilityPsychosocial disabilitySensory disabilityPhysical disability

You can choose more than one.

Examples to help you choose:

Intellectual/Learning disability (Examples: Down syndrome, dyslexia, dyscalculia)
Psychosocial disability (Examples: lived experience of mental health issues, neurodivergence such as autism or ADHD)
Sensory disability (Examples: Blindness, low vision, Deafness, hard of hearing)
Physical disability (Examples: Cerebral Palsy, paraplegia, chronic illness such as Crohn’s disease, EDS, cystic fibrosis)

Please share any extra details or other access needs you have.No character limit.

Do you have access to a tablet, laptop or desktop computer and the internet? *

Yes I have a device and the internetNo I have a device but not the internetNo I have the internet but not a deviceNo but I can go somewhere that doesNo I don't have any of these

Do you identify with any of these groups? You can choose more than one. We ask this to understand how diverse the perspectives of our co-design group will be.

From a multicultural, migrant, or refugee backgroundLGBTIQA+, Non-binary, Sistergirl or BrotherboyAboriginal and/or Torres Strait IslanderLiving in regional or rural VictoriaI would rather not answer

Is there is any information in this form you want us to treat differently or special?

Is there anything else you want to share or tell us?

You can give more detail or include "other" here.

Would you like to be contacted about other YDAS events and opportunities?

Check this box to be told about any future YDAS opportunities or events. We will not sell your information to other organisations.

Privacy and consent

If you submit this form then you are giving us consent to store and use personal information about you. Filling out this form does not mean you will automatically be offered a role as a co-designer.

Only YDAS staff will have access to this form, but we may use parts of this information in a de-identifed way to report to Government Departments and other organisations that can benefit from what we learn in the project. De-identified means we will not shrare your name or identifying details. We will use the information we get to choose participants for this project and report on the project in an aggregated way (for example, showing the percentage of participants in different groups). We will also use it to provide accessible and inclusive spaces for participants.

If you do not want to share this information you do not have to fill out this form. You can contact us on youngpeople@ydas.org.au or text/call 0447 678 653 if you have questions or concerns or want to apply in a different way.

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. By participating in the project you agree to join us in our commitment to child safety.

Click the box so we can make sure you are human and not a scammer. *

Save and Complete Later