Post-School Transition Planning Community of Practice
Better transitions, built together
The transition from school to adult life is one of the most important transitions a young person with a disability will make. It is also one of the hardest to navigate. It is also not one single date or point in time. It is generally multiple times across multiple dimensions.
Support for this transition spans multiple systems: education, disability, health, employment, community services, and family supports. There is broad agreement that planning works best when it starts early. In practice, though, responsibility is spread across services that often work well within their own systems but poorly between them. Many young people and families reach the end of high school feeling stressed, unprepared and unsure of what comes next.
The Post-School Transition Planning Community of Practice exists to change that.
What the Community of Practice is
The Community of Practice brings together people with lived experience and professionals from across systems to learn from one another and improve post-school transition planning.
It is a neutral, non-commercial space. It is connected to systems such as schools, social services, the NDIS, health services, service providers, training providers and employment pathways, but it is not driven by any single funder, program or policy agenda. That independence lets it stay focused on what matters most: better outcomes for young people and families.
Rather than trying to "solve" transition through top-down reform, the Community of Practice strengthens the conditions for better outcomes over time by helping people with disability, families, professionals and practitioners think together about real challenges.
A whole-of-life view
Transition is not a single pathway, program or funding decision. The Community of Practice takes a whole-of-life view, looking across six connected domains:
Learning & Lifelong Education
Employment & Economic Participation
Health & Wellbeing
Community, Belonging & Relationships
Independent Living & Daily Life
Identity, Agency & Self-Determination
This holistic view is informed by contemporary wellbeing thinking, keeping young people's whole lives and aspirations in focus, not only their funded supports.
How it works?
Members come together regularly to explore real transition challenges, share and reflect on practice across roles and systems, and develop shared language, principles and practical tools. Over time, this builds stronger relationships, reduces duplication and "handoff failure" between services, and helps everyone support young people and families earlier and more consistently.
Our practice is guided by shared values. We are strengths-based and person-centred. We hold high expectations for what is possible after school, and we stay curious, because none of us knows everything.
Who can join?
Membership is open to people with lived experience, professionals, researchers and practitioners involved in supporting young people with disability through post-school transition.
Participation is flexible: you can contribute as much or as little as your role and capacity allow, and every form of participation is valued.
The Community of Practice is convened by St Edmund's College and Specialist Teaching and Research (STaR) Ltd, with lived experience at its centre.
Express your interest in joining by completing the form below.