2. We are for jobs.
Established in 1997, NESA’s focus remains on ensuring we have a vibrant
and sustainable employment services industry, and we are dedicated to
the development and improvement of employment services and related
programmes to ensure that every individual who wants to participate in the
world of work can do so.
As the peak body for all Australian employment services, NESA members
have extensive coverage of Disability Employment Services (DES), Job
Services Australia (JSA), the Remote Jobs and Communities Programme
(RJCP) as well as other critical complementary employment related
programmes such as the Indigenous Employment Programme (IEP),
Australian Apprenticeship Centres (AAC), Group Training Organisations (GTO)
and New Enterprise Incentives Scheme (NEIS).
Our membership is diverse and includes community, not for profit, private
and public service delivery organisations. NESA members have a great track
record of delivering employment outcomes across all programmes including
those for people with disabilities and we place great importance on our
relationships with employers and industry.
Disability Employment Services are a critical part of the overarching
employment services framework in Australia. As such, the way they operate
and their ongoing success is a key focus for NESA. This paper has been
developed to put forward our policies for strengthening the DES programme,
and ensuring providers are able to assist more people with disabilities realise
their potential and explore the world of work.
About
NESA
nesa.com.au
3. Introduction
STRENGTHENINGDISABILITYEMPLOYMENTSERVICES
3
The Value of Employment
Employment matters. When it comes to being of working age – what you do for a living is part
of defining who you are. When you meet someone for the first time – more often than not, one
of the first questions you’ll be asked is “what do you do?”. It is for this reason employment has
long been one of the most significant markers of success in the rehabilitation environment. It
not only gives people a job, but a connection to community and a sense of self-worth.
We know that many people living with disability want to and are able to work. Ensuring that people
impacted by disability are able to gain and maintain their employment is not only central to their
ongoing health and wellbeing, but plays an important role in ensuring that communities are as
productive as they can be, and that we as a nation are able to meet our future workforce needs.
Disability and Participation in Australia
Approximately 15% of the working age population, or around 2.2 million people in Australia have
a disability, yet of these only just over one million were connected to the workforce in 2009.1
We know that there is an incredibly large pool of untapped potential amongst those currently
outside the workforce, and it is in our best interests as a nation to encourage more people with
disability to participate to their maximum ability.
Increasing the participation rate of people with disabilities in work by a third is estimated to deliver
a more than $40 billion boost to GDP in the next decade.2
Breaking down isolation from the labour
market, building opportunities and encouraging people with disability into, or to re-enter, the
workforce is a key challenge, and one in which employment services have an integral part to play.
It is critical however, to recognise that increasing the rates of employment outcomes for people
with disability cannot be achieved by only focussing in the area of employment policy. While
government programmes often operate in silos, as individuals within a community people do not.
Real solutions to increasing participation rates will only come through addressing disincentives
within the welfare, participation, education and training, and workplace relations environments,
and ensuring that policy areas work together to co produce the outcomes being sought.
Australia’s Disability Employment Services Framework
The significant reforms to Disability Employment Services in Australia which began in the early
2000’s with the move to Case Based Funding arrangements and the implementation of the
competitive performance framework have improved programme results with more people with
disabilities accessing services and achieving outcomes than ever before.
There are around 150,000 people participating in DES each month3
, and the programme
has achieved more than 200,000 job placements since it commenced in 20104
– providing
employment opportunities for some of our most vulnerable and disengaged job seekers. These
are great outcomes, however, there is no doubt that they could be greater.
While we recognise all of the work to date by Governments, advocates, industry groups and
people with disability themselves that has gone into shaping DES in Australia, NESA believes
there are a number of key measures that can be implemented to achieve better programme
efficiencies and ultimately increase the employment rates for people with disability. This is
particularly important as policy such as the NDIS begins to deliver more support and opportunity
for people with disability, and Governments strive to engage as many of their citizens as possible.
4. Key Recommendations
To strengthen Australia’s Disability Employment Services NESA recommends the following:
1. Realign DES Disability Management Service (DMS) contracting with DES Employment
Support Service (ESS), providing increased stability both in the programmes and for the
people with disabilities they support
2. Maintain contracting as the core purchasing arrangement with at least 5 year contract
periods
3. Annual indexation of programme fees and payments to reflect the real cost of operations
4. Reduce compliance creep within the DES Deed by better balancing quality measures against
programme assurance processes
5. Reduce the red tape and administrative burden felt by providers by simplifying programme
requirements and implementing red tape reduction measures. Efficiencies gained would
then be able to be reinvested into frontline services
6. Improve the assessment gateway to ensure people with disability seeking employment
assistance get to the right services and are able to access the right supports more efficiently
and effectively
7. Re-engage non-government organisations in the delivery of employment services
assessment services
8. Remove the 0-7 restrictions for participation in DES to enable more people to begin the
journey to employment, as no one should be deemed unemployable or unable to benefit
9. Increase employer awareness and engagement in the area of disability and employment and
drive demand through job creation strategies including within the Public Service
10. Implement a framework within employment services that supports career development
11. Enable young people with disability to be supported to find work outside of school hours
12. Remove the barriers impacting on transition from Australian Disability Enterprises (ADEs) to
DES and ultimately open employment. ADEs should be better aligned to transitional models
of employment related skills development
13. Maintain funding for DES that is outside of the National Disability Insurance Scheme to
ensure that all people with disability can access specialised support to help them gain and
maintain employment.
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5. Disability Management
Services in 2015
Recommendation 1: Realign DES Disability Management Service (DMS)
contracting with DES Employment Support Service (ESS), providing increased
stability both in the programmes and for the people with disabilities they support
The current contracts for DES DMS cease on the 30th June 2015. There has been much
conjecture by those with an interest in the employment services industry that this signals the
inclusion of DMS business into the Job Services Australia (JSA) programme, as the end dates of
the two programme contracts are currently aligned.
NESA believes it is critical that DMS remains a separate and distinct programme within the DES
environment. Feedback from our membership indicates that the preferred option for DMS in
2015 is to invoke the final contract extension available under the current Deed5
and realign the
contract end with the timeframes for ESS in 2018, and seek if necessary to test the market by
requiring low performing DMS providers to tender for ongoing business.
Extending the contract will provide the Government time to consider the future directions of
DES in the light of the many policy opportunities and challenges that are arising in relation to
the area of disability and participation. The interaction with the NDIS as it becomes more fully
established and widely available, and any further welfare reform in relation to the Disability
Support Pension are two such examples of change which will no doubt impact the future of
programme.
Market Contestability
As mentioned above, NESA understands that the Government is likely to want to ensure that
contestability of the market remains an opportunity. It should be noted that the DMS (and its
original iteration VRS) has been fully contested in the private market twice since the market was
created in 20066
, additionally it has been subject to business reallocation processes as recently
as March 2014.
If seeking market contestability in 2015, NESA would recommend a process which only requires
low performing contracts to be included in the purchasing activity – providing stability for those
providers who have demonstrated the desired level of performance and the job seekers with
disability and employers they support.
It is also important that these principles apply to the whole market, as has been the case in the
most recent DMS business reallocation – considering both the private and public providers in
the same fashion. That is, that no particular organisation is guaranteed to maintain minimum
market share.
Moving forward into the life of the contract, further contestability could be achieved through
additional business reallocation processes if required.
STRENGTHENINGDISABILITYEMPLOYMENTSERVICES
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6. Recommendation 2: Maintain contracting as the core purchasing arrangement
with at least 5 year contract periods
The Australian contracted employment services model is viewed as a leader on the world stage,
in terms of the effectiveness and efficiency of its procurement. Since the move to Case Based
Funding and formalised tendering and contracting arrangements for disability employment
services, there have been continued questions raised about other options for purchasing which
may be a better fit than the current arrangements. NESA has spent some time reviewing and
consulting with members about the notion of other procurement methods and what they may
achieve in comparison to tendering.
NESA has long articulated the following principles in relation to procurement and believes that
any model must ensure these are at the core.
• Service: Effective high quality and high performing employment and related services for
individuals, communities, workplaces and the broader economy, across the breadth of the
nation
• Stability: Minimise disruption in local labour markets; enable high quality responses
through transparent purchasing arrangements; purchasing criteria to value demonstrated
performance
• Simplicity: Ensure that the framework is unencumbered by excessive administration and
red tape and is outcome rather than process focused
• Sustainability: Resources to deliver on outcome objectives across the life of the contract
and enable the viability of the sector. Support the efficient management of services and
organisations through the provision of high level modelling data at the point of purchasing
and throughout the life of the contract.
Disability employment services in Australia operate in a very unique managed market
environment. Government has a legislated requirement under the Disability Services Act7
to
provide support to people with disability seeking to work, and additionally to provide access to
support and activities that assist job seekers in meeting their mutual obligation under the Social
Security Act.8
Because of this intrinsic link to the welfare system, services need to be available no
matter where a job seeker is located. With such a large and decentralised population, tendering
ensures that there is adequate market coverage, in a way that other options may not.
Greater stability in the market can be achieved (and has been in the case of Employment
Support Services) through the extension of contract length to 5 years or greater. Adjustments
to the procurement criteria will ensure the most skilled and appropriate services remain the
most likely to succeed in winning business, and increases to the contract management and
data supports provided by the purchasing agency will help to support the ongoing performance
of organisations and ultimately the success of their clients. A longer contract period will also
enable providers to manage costs better for example through negotiating better value for
money leases.
It is therefore NESA’s position that the current procurement method with small adjustments
offers the best way forward for the disability employment services framework.
Purchasing Arrangements for
the Future of DES
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7. Recommendation 3: Annual indexation of programme fees and payments to
reflect the real cost of operations
NESA continues to advocate for annual indexation of the contracts to ensure that the funding
arrangements for services keep up with the real cost of doing business, particularly when it
comes to human resources, in particular wages and salaries.
For example, since the introduction of the DES model in 2010 – our research indicates that the
average annual wage for employment services frontline staff has risen by around 3.5% annually
each year9
, with CPI increasing by 9.4% over the life of the contract.10
However funding against
the Deed has remained static. Such rises in costs will continue to erode the funds available to be
allocated to service provision and ultimately impact on the quality of service.
Ensuring that future contracts include the provision of annual indexation will be critical to the
ongoing sustainability of the DES programme.
STRENGTHENINGDISABILITYEMPLOYMENTSERVICES
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8. Recommendation 4: Reduce compliance creep within the DES Deed by better
balancing quality measures against programme assurance processes
Recommendation 5: Reduce the red tape and administrative burden on providers
by simplifying programme requirements and implementing red tape reduction
measures. Efficiencies gained would then be able to be reinvested in frontline
services
Providers tell us that around half of front-line staff time is being spent on administration. In
addition, the number of staff dedicated to compliance and contract management within
organisations is increasing and diverting resources from practice.
Given the current complexity of the system – for example over 1000 pages of operational
materials relating to the DES programme and over 800 guideline and other document updates
from October 2012 to October 2013 across both JSA DES, there is much that could be done
to reduce the administrative burden on providers.
We have welcomed initiatives from the Government such as those announced by Senator Fifield
in December 2013 to begin the process of red tape reduction for DES.11
The statement by the
Prime Minister, the Hon Tony Abbott MP acknowledging human error and a preference for
individual accountability over increased regulation in his Ministerial Statement to Parliament on
Deregulation is also extremely welcome.12
We recognise that a key challenge in achieving a reduction in red tape is balancing the impact
on providers against the expenditure of public monies. Accountability for taxpayer funds is
critical to the ongoing success of the non-Government sector – but it is important to ensure
that the difference between quality and compliance are recognised. NESA believes funds are
better invested in supporting the quality and continuous improvement of services, than on
increasing compliance to shape provider behaviour. Monitoring of compliance needs to occur
within the spirit of the contract. Additionally, when issues arise within programme assurance it
is imperative that the reaction to issues is congruent with the problem, and that individual or
organisational behaviour is adjusted, rather than the overall programme parameters as often
occurs now and is seen as the greatest driver of compliance creep.
It is also important now and in the future that the management of risk can be achieved within
finite resources of stakeholders. An over-emphasis on prescription as an approach to managing
risk comes at the expense of resources for service delivery and industry sustainability. Given
the capacity constraints for providers in the current DES contract, it is essential that savings be
channelled towards building the delivery of front-line services.
NESA believes that quick and significant gains can be made through a number of measures
outlined below, which would allow further resources to be redirected back to frontline services
and ultimately help increase overall programme performance. It is our position that the following
solutions should be implemented within the current operating environment and can be done
within the current funding envelope to provide an immediate reduction in administration and
red tape.
Cutting Red Tape and Reducing
the Burden of Administration
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9. Remove provider based evidence requirements for Full Employment Outcomes
that are based on 100% Rate Reduction of Income Support and Off Benefit Status
One of the aims of Disability Employment Services is to move those job seekers who are able
off income support. This is why a full reduction in income support payments is considered
an outcome within the DES programme. Where an outcome is achieved through the 100%
reduction of the allowance rate – it is as a result of information provided by the worker to
Centrelink. The additional requirement on providers to collect documentary evidence in these
instances provides a level of administration that seems unnecessary.
Given that Centrelink has the ability to reconcile income information against ATO lodgements
to detect welfare fraud, we believe that adequate accountability can be achieved, without the
requirement for additional documentary evidence to be collected and maintained by providers.
This would reduce the administration burden on all stakeholders – workers, employers and
providers.
Remove provider based evidence requirements for outcomes where the Job Seeker
Employment Hours Record (JEHR) shows required hours have been achieved
As part of their reporting requirements to Centrelink, people in work are required to report
not only their actual earnings, but the hours of work that they have undertaken. As a result the
system is able to provide a report on the hours declared.
This information should be adequate to verify an hours based outcome claim where the
information matches that which the provider is aware of, requiring additional information to only
be gathered when there is a discrepancy with the report.
This would reduce the administration burden on all stakeholders including employers, by
reducing the time and cost associated with providing and collecting supporting evidence.
Automate Service Fee Claiming
Currently providers are required to verify and physically lodge claims for service fee payments
for each job seeker in service. This is administratively burdensome and time consuming for
organisations, particularly when you consider that there are over 150,000 job seekers registered
at any given point in time (on average) nationally.
By automating the service fee claims process and moving to a claiming by exception
methodology (requiring providers to remove ineligible claims from the claims process, as
opposed to the current requirement to approve all eligible claims) the number of transactions
being undertaken by providers daily would be significantly reduced.
Given the level of information that the IT System gives the Department, there should be
adequate safe guards within the Programme Assurance framework to monitor and identify
inappropriate claiming via desktop auditing.
STRENGTHENINGDISABILITYEMPLOYMENTSERVICES
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10. Recommendation 6: Improve the assessment gateway to ensure people with
disability seeking employment assistance get to the right services and are able to
access the right supports more efficiently and effectively.
Many NESA members have concerns in relation to the accuracy and appropriateness of
assessment and referral processes leading job seekers to be serviced by DES. We know there are
many historical hang-overs from the days of the Capped Personal Support Programme (PSP),
the introduction of the DEN Uncapped and the Capped nature of DEN services which resulted
in blurred lines in the characteristics of clients flowing into services due to a need for supports
but a lack of places at the time.
PSP and its successor Stream 4 JSA were designed to assist people with multiple and complex
non-vocational barriers such as drug and alcohol related issues, gambling, homelessness, social
problems relating to domestic violence, family and relationship issues to overcome/manage
those barriers in order to move closer to being work ready. Often these barriers exist alongside
disability – particularly mental ill health. Disability employment services in all their iterations were
designed to work directly with people whose primary barrier to employment is that disability,
and provide support to manage that disability in a way that participation can be optimally
achieved.
We are aware that there are a number of people with disability being serviced by programmes
other than DES. While it could be argued that all people with disability would be better serviced
by a specialised disability employment programme, it must also be recognised that disability runs
an incredibly broad spectrum, and it is critical that choices about programmes of support are
based on a holistic view of the individual and not just a diagnosis.
Entry into the DES programme can only occur through the referral of an appointed assessor
who has conducted an Employment Services Assessment (ESAt) and determined that the
individual requires a programme of support to help them gain and maintain their employment.
What is important is that these assessments are conducted in a way that gets people to the right
programme for their unique circumstances.
Contextualise Assessments
One of the biggest concerns raised by members in relation to access to services is that the
assessments are medically based and done outside of the context of the skills and experience
of providers, such as their expertise with particular disability types, knowledge of the local labour
market, qualification and specialisation of key staff etc. Without such context being considered
– assessment results can lead to people being denied access to supports or conversely being
assessed as having a greater capacity than they display.
Further to that – issues continue to arise in relation to the availability of assessments, and
the fact that anecdotally – more and more appear to be conducted by phone, particularly in
regional and rural areas.
Employment Services Assessments (ESAt’s) take approximately 1 hour (often reported as less
however by many providers) and are focused on documented medical evidence. Previously
under the DEN model, providers conducted an assessment over a period of weeks utilising a
tool known as the Disability Pre-employment Instrument (DPI), a holistic assessment which
allowed a range of evidence to be considered, including vocational and non-vocational
barriers to work and in situ observation which allowed the assessors to view how the job
seeker responded to a range of work like situations, tasks and environments, and consider the
organisations own skills and abilities in the context of the assessment.
Improving the Gateway to DES
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11. Such assessments were also able to look at the impact of episodic or fluctuating disabilities or
illness over time and make a more thorough assessment of the likely impact on a person’s ability
to obtain work. Ways in which such context, time and experience could be returned to the ESAt
process would no doubt result in more accurate and useful assessments being undertaken. For
example, there are many factors which are not permitted to be considered in an ESAt for the
purpose of making referral determinations which are highly relevant to assessing service needs
of the individual such as undiagnosed or untreated conditions and willingness to seek assistance
and supports.
NESA recommends extending the current assessment process to include an initial period
of upfront assessment within the DES environment before the ESAt occurs (returning to an
induction and assessment phase) and allowing this evidence to be provided to the ESAt assessor
for consideration. This would alleviate many of the issues that arise from the lack of context
within the assessment environment currently, and would provide a more holistic assessment
outcome.
Make the ESAt processes more transparent
Currently the guidelines for ESAts are not made available to employment services providers
and the lack of transparency about principles guiding determination of eligibility contributes
to assessment efficiency issues. Without a clear rationale for assessment outcomes providers
often make incorrect assumptions that the assessment had not thoroughly considered all
circumstances, or had not clearly understood all of the presenting issues for the job seeker.
NESA believes that improved communication between employment services and assessors and
transparency of the guidelines would assist in better efficiency.
Recommendation 7: Re-engage non-government organisations in the delivery of
employment services assessment services
The availability of assessments in many areas, and the number of assessments being conducted
by phone or file review presents other key concerns for the accuracy of the process, and the
timeliness of individuals being able to access support. We note that when the provision of
assessment was conducted by both the government and the privately contracted market –
more assessments were conducted face to face, and more services were provided particularly
in regional, rural and remote areas. It is NESA’s recommendation that in order to improve the
assessment process, the Government consider re-contracting non-government providers.
Recommendation 8: Remove the 0-7 restrictions for participation in DES to
enable more people to begin the journey to employment (no one should be
deemed unemployable/unable to benefit)
While we understand that there are always economic considerations which are required to be
made in any government funded programme environment, the option for an assessor to deem
someone to have no capacity to benefit has raised a concern since the introduction of the
external assessment process to determine programme eligibility.
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12. Disability Services Act 1986 defines the target group for Disability Employment Services as:
(1) The target group for the purposes of this Part consists of persons with a disability that:
a) is attributable to an intellectual, psychiatric, sensory or physical impairment or a
combination of such impairments;
b) is permanent or likely to be permanent; and
c) results in:
i. a substantially reduced capacity of the person for communication, learning or mobility;
and
ii. the need for ongoing support services.13
And in the case of Rehabilitation Services (including vocational – ie DMS):
a) have attained 14 years of age but have not attained 65 years of age; and
b) have a disability that:
i. is attributable to an intellectual, psychiatric, sensory or physical impairment or a
combination of such impairments; and
ii. results in a substantially reduced capacity of the person:
(A) to obtain or retain unsupported paid employment; or
(B) to live independently.14
What is important in these definitions is that there is no mention of a minimum capacity to
access services. Although it is of course appropriate for governments to determine where
they believe they are likely to receive the biggest return on investment, if we want to increase
the levels of people with disability participation in work – we need to ensure that everyone is
provided with the opportunity to test the open employment market.
Additionally, given that the NDIS policy framework is likely to offer greater opportunities for
people to overcome many of the environmental barriers that impact on their ability to work, it is
likely more people who would currently be deemed as having no capacity to benefit will in fact
be seeking support to look for, gain and maintain employment.
NESA recommends that the eligibility policy for DES be revised to include all people with
disability who want to engage in work.
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13. Increasing Employer Engagement
Recommendation 9: Increase employer awareness and engagement in the area
of disability and employment and drive demand through job creation strategies
including within the Public Service
Increasing disability confidence with employers
It is safe to say that the majority of barriers people with disabilities face are perennial and; that
without a significant shift within the attitudes and understanding of the Australian community as
a whole towards disability, will continue to pose challenges for policy makers for years to come.
What we know is that environmental and logistical challenges are equally significant barriers
for people with disability to engage in the workforce as perception, misconception and
discrimination. Employer attitudes, lack of understanding and awareness of supports and
services available to assist and lack of exposure to disability often compound the issues people
with disability have when trying to engage in the workforce.
A key component of increasing employer engagement relates to producing disability confident
businesses and employers that feel comfortable in their ability to support a person with disability
in their workforce.
There has been much work done by organisations such as the Australian Chamber of
Commerce and Industry (ACCI) to promote the benefits of workforce diversity and employment
of people with disability.15
To build on these positive developments, policy targeted at better equipping employers, and
businesses generally, to work with people with barriers to participation is essential. The more
employers are exposed to the supports and assistance available to them to aid the employment
of people with disability, the less daunting situations involving disability in the workplace will
become. This is not only good for their business, but for anyone they may come into contact
with that experiences disability, reducing stigma and future barriers to participation as a result.
Additionally, being able to ensure people can better negotiate barriers as they arise while they
are in work and access required supports to help them stay in work makes economic and social
policy sense, particularly when this is supported by their employer.
Encouraging employer flexibility in job design and recruitment processes
We should also recognise that changes within the labour market structure itself have meant that
more and more roles have shifted away from their traditional roots. Entry-level positions often
don’t exist, what were once stand-alone roles have merged, and skill expectation is higher for
those joining the workforce for the first time. Job design can be poor, and often employers have
a set expectation of what they want in a particular role, so encouraging role redesign can be
difficult.
Ensuring that more employers look at workplace flexibility, job design and reasonable
accommodation policy as part of their overall diversity strategies would increase “disability
friendly working environments”. Many of these solutions would benefit not only people with
disability, but staff within the organisation as a whole as work undertaken by organisations such
as the Australian Network on Disability (AND) indicates.16
When the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) released its employment strategy for
people with disability – As One17
, they noted the “need to break the traditional ‘recruitment
mould’ and give managers confidence to recruit a candidate with disability”. Additionally they
recognised that “it is only through first-hand experience that managers come to appreciate that
STRENGTHENINGDISABILITYEMPLOYMENTSERVICES
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14. the management of an employee with disability is often just like managing an employee without
disability”.
As mentioned earlier, exposure to people with disabilities is one of the key factors in assisting in
the breakdown of some barriers to employment. With this is mind strategies being implemented
by the APSC such as Guaranteed Interview Scheme, which ensures individuals with disability
who meet the minimum criteria for a job receive an interview, ensure increased exposure to
people with disability and their capability for hiring managers, helping to overcome some of the
misconception and implicit bias individuals may have.
In light of this NESA believes it is critical to review ways in which DES policy could include
assisting employers to undertake internal HR Recruitment process reviews to support the
recruitment and retention of people with disability and ways in which the funding structure of
the programme could be enhanced to fund this work.
Supporting job creation
Particularly in areas where there are limited labour market opportunities, NESA believes that
opportunities which seek to develop the local economy, such as micro enterprise, self-
employment and social firms, can lead to job creation opportunities. We know that DES
participants can now access NEIS in order to support their self-employment goals however,
there are many ways in which local solutions can be advanced to assist where there are limited
job options, which we feel are important to explore and for governments to support.
NESA recommends that assistance measures be provided to DES providers (and more
broadly to economically underdeveloped communities) to identify potential economic
growth opportunities, support feasibility studies of identified opportunities and facilitate the
establishment of such ventures, including providing support to created targeted Disability
Employment Strategies and disability friendly workplaces.
Increasing the employment of people with disability within the public service
NESA continues to support the application of policy that encourages the public sector at all
levels of government to engage with DES providers when seeking to recruit new staff. It is
important that government leads from the front in terms of increasing the opportunities for
economic participation for people with disability, and seeks to reverse the recent decline it has
experienced in the retention and recruitment of people with disability.18
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15. Supporting Career Development
for People with Disability
Recommendation 10: Implement a framework within employment services that
supports career development
Equal opportunity in an employment context means that all employees and potential
employees have equal access to the opportunities that are available, whether that is a job offer,
a promotion, training or just being able to undertake a full range of work activities. The current
settings within the DES programme are primarily focussed on entry to the workforce and, in
the case of Employment Support Services (ESS) policy, maintaining that position only. However
this is not the only context in which people with disability require support when it comes to
navigating the world of work.
Assistance focussed towards career development has the potential to improve the sustainability
and quality of employment for people with a disability. A more sustainable presence and
progression of people with a disability across all levels of the workforce could increase improved
recognition of the contribution that they make. We note that this would require a policy shift,
and a change in the way in which Governments as a whole consider the optimum benefits of
employment support. However it would no doubt increase long-term employment participation
and productivity.
There are a number of policy areas that could be adjusted to further support career
development including working with young people with disabilities and the interaction between
Australian Disability Enterprises and the DES programme.
Recommendation 11: Enable young people with disability to be supported to find
work outside of school hours
In previous iterations of the DES programme (the Disability Employment Network/DEN) support
was provided to young people with a disability to help them engage in work in the same way
that their non-disabled peers have with work outside of school hours. Changes to the policy
settings have meant that the eligibility requirements for assistance now preclude this type of
support from being provided to young people with disability – unless they are in their final year
of schooling.
NESA has long stated that the importance of early intervention and connection to the workplace
for young people should not be over looked. We know that those that participate in the
workforce early in their working life are less likely to become long term unemployed in the
future.19
For young people with disability this is even more crucial as it puts the aspiration of
employment and a career on the agenda, not only for them but also their families and carers, at
the same time it occurs for their peers without disability.
Many young people with disability do not get access to career counselling in the education
environment. If we truly want to increase the participation rates of people with disability, working
must be put forward as an option for their future as early as possible.
In light of this NESA recommends returning to the previous policy position that enabled
providers to support young people with disability of legal working age to work outside of school
hours.
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16. Recommendation 12: Remove the barriers impacting on transition from
Australian Disability Enterprises (ADEs) to DES and ultimately open employment.
ADEs should be better aligned to transitional models of employment related skills
development
While ADEs are an environment that provide valuable work opportunities to many people with
significant disabilities – historically, what we find is that once employed in the ADE environment,
very few people transition into open employment – even though the Government also funds
specific employment services to assist people gain and maintain work in the open labour market
through the Disability Employment Services (DES) programme.
We know that work is being undertaken by the Government to improve ADE employment
environments and business models, and to increase opportunities for people with disabilities to
gain and maintain employment and increase economic and social participation.
NESA believes that now both the DES and ADE programme are situated within a single
department, there is an opportunity to review and implement a simple policy adjustment within
the current DES framework which would encourage transition between ADE and DES services
and better support possible transitions to open employment opportunities.
Historically, policy surrounding Disability Employment Services (DES) considered the use of
ADEs and DES concurrently as “double dipping” and prevented ADE employees from accessing
support of the open employment programme without leaving their position within the ADE.
Policy changes occurred in 2010, when the revised DES contract was implemented, which
made it possible in principle for people with disabilities to access both employment in ADE’s and
DES support concurrently. This was considered a significant and positive change which would
aid in supporting more people to test their capacity in the open employment market, without
having to leave their ADE employment, as was previously the case.
Unfortunately – while the DES Deed supports the concurrency of ADE employment and DES
participation – the way in which the policy has been implemented means that people with
disability are still required in most cases to leave their ADE employment if they wish to access
DES support.
In principle based on Deed definitions, those employed in the ADE environment are not
considered employed. However, within the guidelines for eligibility into the DES programme,
any hours worked within the ADE will count towards the individual’s benchmark hours. What
this means in practice is that any individual who is working in an ADE greater than their assessed
benchmark hours – is not eligible to access DES supports.
Most people with disabilities working in ADEs are likely to be assessed at a low benchmark – 8
hours, based on comparisons to other people outside the ADE system who present with similar
barriers to employment.
The average hours worked by ADE employees based on historical data is approximately 22
hours per week. This means that while not considered employed under the Deed – they are
working greater than their benchmark hours – and would therefore still be required to give up
their ADE place in order to access DES services.
Feedback from providers of both Employment Services and ADE’s indicates that people with
disability want to test the waters in terms of open employment, and that many would be capable
of successfully making the transition with the right supports – such as that provided by DES.
The impact and risk associated with leaving their position within the ADE however is often
considered too great and is therefore a deterrent. While ADE policy keeps the individual’s place
open for them for two years post exit – this does not guarantee that the person could step back
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17. into their role should they find open employment unachievable.
Additionally – the impact of leaving an environment that they are likely to have been in for
some time – and to cease using the employment related skills that they would be utilising while
working in the ADE can have a detrimental effect on the individual – and push back their work
readiness, similar to the impact of being unemployed for an extended period.
Removing ADE worked hours from consideration under benchmark hours judgements removes
the barrier to concurrent servicing arrangements.
Enabling concurrent servicing would encourage ADEs and DES organisations to work more
closely together to identify individuals who may want to test the open employment market, and
enable them to access the supports of the DES programme, while maintaining the work related
skills and capacity development that occurs while being employed at the ADE.
Transition into the open labour market could then occur in a stepped way that would allow the
security of the ADE environment to continue – until the individual has been able to meet their
capacity in an open position and is comfortable in making the transition complete.
This model of transitional support and dual servicing also allows for ADEs to implement models
of capacity development for staff, which does not result in their most productive workers
leaving as soon as they identify a want to explore other opportunities, and are able to better plan
employee transitions from a business perspective – hopefully encouraging more transitional
employment models to be developed.
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18. Recommendation 13: Maintain funding for DES that is outside of the NDIS to
ensure that all people with disability can access specialised supports to help them
gain and maintain employment
The NDIS will be life changing policy for many people with disability. It will provide an
opportunity for them to access supports which aid their participation in ways that we have not
seen before in this country. There is no doubt that as a result of this important reform – more
people with significant disability will be in a position to seek work than ever before.
There are some people who have questioned why DES has remained outside of the NDIS
environment. It is NESA’s position that the NDIS and DES, while having similar goals in terms of
increasing the overall participation of people with disability, are complementary programmes
and as such should remain separate and distinct.
As mentioned earlier, under the Disability Services Act of 1986, governments have an obligation
to provide employment support to people with disabilities. Disabilities come in a wide variety
of shapes, sizes and ultimately levels of impairment. We know that the NDIS is not a golden
chalice, and that not every person with disability will meet the eligibility requirements for an
NDIS package, yet there are more that 1.2 million people with disability currently outside of the
workforce.20
It is important from our perspective that DES remains available to as many people with
disability as possible, and believe that drawing DES into the NDIS would severely restrict the
number of people eligible for support. We instead believe that it is important for people with
disability who have had many of their barriers to community participation reduced through the
support received as a result of the NDIS, are then able to access government funded disability
employment supports to help them reach their employment goals.
Disability Employment Services
and the NDIS
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20. National Employment Services Association Ltd
A.C.N. 079 065 428 A.B.N. 69 079 065 428
Level 8, 20-22 Albert Road South Melbourne, Victoria 3205 Australia
T +61 3 9624 2300 F + 61 3 9686 3660
E nesa@nesa.com.au
www.nesa.com.au
