YDAS Early School Leavers Program Sign-up

About the program

Sign up for YDAS Early School Leavers Program

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.

We will 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.

What Happens After You Fill Out the Form

After you fill out this form:

We will read it.
We will contact you about what happens next.
You might have to wait while we go through all the forms.

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

About This Form

This form asks about:

Your school, study, training and work
Who you are
Where you are from

We ask these questions to understand who we are helping.
This helps us make the program better.
Filling out the form does not mean you are in the program.
We may not have space or you may not be eligible.
Please fill it out anyway if you want to apply.

Need Help?

The form might feel long.
You can save your answers and come back later.
At the end, there is a link to save your progress.
You can:

Save the web address
Or give your email to get the link sent to you

We can help you fill out the form.
Contact us at:

earlyleavers@yacvic.org.au
Text or call: 0407 194 786 (new number) or 0447 678 653
Or book a meeting online

About your journey

What is your full name? *

Your pronouns (if you want to share)

Your phone number *

Your email address *

What suburb do you live in?

Suburb

Postcode

We ask this in case we need to travel somewhere to meet you.

What is the best way to contact you? *

Phone callText messageEmail

Your date of birth *You can type in the date as Day/Month/Year e.g. 1/01/2008 or use the calendar pop-up.

How old are you? *We ask both your date of birth and current age because it helps our form work properly.

Because you are under 16, we suggest you tell your parent or guardian about this project, and suggest you 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 who to contact 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.

Your emergency contact's name *

Your emergency contact's phone number *

Is there anything we need to consider if we contact your emergency person? For example, should we use a different name or pronouns?

What school have you left? *This is the school that filled out your early leavers form and is still responsible for you.

Where are you in your early leaver journey? (You can choose more than one) *

I am in or about to start studying or trainingI am in or about to start a jobI am in or about to start an apprenticeship or traineeshipI am not studying training or in a job but I know what I want to doI am not studying training or in a job and I don't know what I want to do

What course and where are you doing it?For example, a certificate of something and the TAFE or Uni.

What is the job and name of your workplace?

What is the course and place you are doing the apprenticeship or traineeship?For example, a certificate in something, the TAFE or training org, and the workplace.

Where do you want to study, train or work?For example, the course, apprenticeship, traineeship or job name and which company, TAFE, Uni.

You can give more detail about what you hope to get our of this program if you like.For example, the types of jobs, courses, careers, organisations, TAFE, Uni or activities.

About you

We know you have probably filled out lots of forms and told your story to lots of other organisations. If you give us permission, we can try to find information about you. We would limit this to:

Information that helps us support you.
The school you left, including your principal, teachers and coordinators.
Your school's regional manager or director of the Department of Education.
The TAFE or Univserity you are studying at.
Your Skills and Jobs Centre or Career Advice Services.
Your employer.

We would still be limited by the privacy, confidentialty, safety and other policies and laws that these organisations have to follow. We may also be limited by your age, for example if we need your parent or guardian's consent.

It is up to you. If you do not want us to, we can still help you in the program.

We might need you to tell your story or parts of your story again. This helps us understand who you are and how we can support you. These are two sites that give you tips and advice on how to preapre and tell your story safely.

Safe storytelling | Sharing your lived experience as a young person

Check this box if you give us permission (consent) to contact the organisations mentioned above to try and get appropriate information about you. If you do not check this box, we will ask your permission each time we want to share your contact information.

What types of disability do you have? *

Intellectual/Learning disability (Examples: Down syndrome or dyslexia or dyscalculia)Psychosocial disability (Examples: lived experience of mental health issues or neurodivergence such as autism or ADHD)Sensory disability (Examples: Blindness, low vision or Deafness or hard of hearing)Physical disability (Examples: Cerebral Palsy or paraplegia or chronic illness such as Crohn’s disease or EDS or cystic fibrosis)I would rather not answer.

You can choose more than one.

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

Some of our meetings or events might be in-person. Will you need any of the following to help you attend in-person?

Pick up from a station or other location.YDAS paying for a taxi or uber.YDAS paying for public transport (bus or train).

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

Yes I have a device and the internet.No I have a device but not the internet.No I have the internet but not a device.No but I can go somewhere that does.No I don't have any of these.

Do you identify with any of these groups? You can choose more than one.

Culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) or Culturally and racially marginalised (CARM) or a Person of Colour or from a migrant or refugee or asylum seeker background.LGBTIQA+ or Non-binary or Sistergirl or Brotherboy.Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.Living in regional or rural Victoria.I would rather not answer.

We ask this to understand who we are supporting and reaching. We use this information to report to funders and organisations. No one will know what you chose in our reports. Instead, we show these answers as a big group, for example, the percentages of people in each group. This helps us make sure we reach diverse groups of people.

Is there anything else you want to tell us so we can keep you safe in this program?For example, using different pronouns with family, something you have to do for your religion or culture, or something you want us to not say or do.

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 future YDAS opportunities or events. We will not sell your information to other organisations.

Consent

Privacy and consent

If you submit this form then you are giving us consent to store and use personal information about you.

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 about the groups of people we work with. De-identified means we will not share your name or identifying details. We may report on our work in an aggregated way (for example, showing the percentage of participants in different groups). We will also use this information 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 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 program 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