Part 2: Achievements and challenges–performance insights
- Building the evidence base
- Partnerships
- Volunteering
- Indigenous communities
- Stronger Families and Communities Strategy
- More help for families
- Helping prevent homelessness
- Giving children the best possible start in life
- The new Child Care Support Program
- Helping parents support their children—the Child Support Agency
- Work and family
- Encouraging participation
- Reforms to support people with disabilities
- FaCS–Centrelink Business Alliance
- People are a priority in FaCS
- FaCS triple bottom line reporting
Reforms to support people with disabilities
Key points
- In 2003–04, through the Disability Employment Assistance Program, the Australian Government provided funding of $295 million through 403 disability employment services, across 774 outlets, to help more than 70 000 jobseekers with moderate or severe permanent disabilities to find and keep jobs.
- In April 2004, a $99 million funding package–'Security, Quality Services and Choice for People with Disabilities'–was announced after a wide-ranging consultation process.
Open employment services help people with disabilities find and keep a job in the mainstream labour market. Key features of the Government's broad reform agenda for employment assistance and rehabilitation services are the introduction of a new quality assurance strategy, including the introduction of award-based wages for business services–commercial enterprises whose workforce is comprised predominantly of people with disabilities–and the implementation of new outcome-based funding arrangements, known as case-based funding.
In the last two years the Australian Government has made significant investments towards the reforms: $161 million in the 2003–04 'Improving Employment Assistance for People with Disabilities' Budget package; and $99 million in the 'Security, Quality Services and Choice for People with Disabilities' package in April 2004. Implementing these packages has been a priority for FaCS this year.
Improving Employment Assistance for People with Disabilities
The 'Improving Employment Assistance for People with Disabilities' package included $135 million to implement case-based funding and a $25 million front-end investment to improve the viability of business services.
Case-based funding providers are paid on a fee-for-service basis to help jobseekers with disabilities to find and keep employment. Fees are based on the individual's needs and their employment outcomes. During 2003–04 FaCS has been working with providers in the disability sector to finalise arrangements for implementing case-based funding from 1 January 2005.
The $25 million investment in business services will ensure a viable, sustainable industry into the future. Particularly in rural communities, these businesses are important local employers and are often the only disability service in their area. Business services provide an important support service for their employees and their families. This year FaCS has coordinated business reviews of over 200 services by independent consultants.
Following the review, funding is being provided to offer services assistance tailored to meet their specific needs–for example, to purchase business equipment or software, carry out business planning, develop corporate governance policies and procedures, train staff or develop marketing strategies.
Security, Quality Services and Choice for People with Disabilities
In 2002, legislation was passed to introduce minimum service standards into services funded under the Disability Services Act 1986. Disability employment assistance services must be independently assessed against these standards by 31 December 2004 in order to continue to receive Australian Government funding. The disability service standards include a requirement that business services pay award-based wages to their employees with disabilities.
The 'Security, Quality Services and Choice for People with Disabilities' package aims to ensure that people with disabilities in business services will enjoy continued service, choices in their employment and payment of award wages in a quality environment. It includes a wage assessment tool to help business services determine pro-rata award-based wages for employees with disabilities. The package was developed in response to a range of issues raised by services, consumers and their representatives about the impact of the reforms on disability employment services. This package builds on the 'Improving Employment Assistance for People with Disabilities' package.
During the last year FaCS has concentrated on the development of this package. FaCS carried out consultations throughout Australia with business services, employees with disabilities and their families and carers as well as discussions with a range of consumer and industry representative bodies. The finalisation of the wage assessment tool has been another critical area of work in the last year.
