Issue 55 | 5 December 2005
Call for Interested business services to be part of Stage 2 Focus Group
Stage 2 of BizAbility will add the eCommerce transaction capability including a shopping basket, quote facility and a secure facility to allow users to place and pay for an order online. With Stage, shoppers will be able to check the status of a current order and the history of previous purchases.
We are calling for 7-8 business services to be members of the Stage 2 Focus Group. As part of this group, we will need you to actively participate in designing the functionality and business processes. This will involve you actually trialing the eCommerce transaction capability for your individual business on the BizAbility web site. This is an important role and will directly impact on the design and development of this eCommerce functionality for the business services’ sector.
Interested? Please send a note to the BizAbility@facsia.gov.au mailbox marked “Stage 2 Focus Group”.
Organisations or Business Services Merging
Any organisation or business service that is undergoing a merger will need to update their organisational details on the BizAbility website. If you need help with amending your details, please contact the BizAbility@facsia.gov.au mailbox for assistance.
Images for BizAbility
We are seeking images relating to the sub-categories listed on BizAbility from all business services, eg. photographic images that you have on your own web site or in publications. If you would like images from your business services to feature on the sub-categories of the BizAbility web site, please email the BizAbility@facsia.gov.au mailbox and we will contact you to talk about the images and permission of use from the person/s featured in the images.
Urgent
Another reminder to all organisations and business services that have access to the administration area of the website to check the accuracy of and update their organisation and/or business details if necessary. We strongly urge you to log on to the administration area and check your details. If you are unsure of how to log on or require some assistance to make the actual updates, please request assistance through the BizAbility@facsia.gov.au mailbox.
For anyone who has not yet completed a user access form, please do so and send it back as soon as possible. If you need another copy of the form please email the BizAbility@facsia.gov.au mailbox.
Also, organisations that do not have a website and would like one created under the BizAbility project, please forward the information as soon as possible to the BizAbility@facsia.gov.au mailbox.
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Global-Mark has recently been accredited by JAS-ANZ to conduct certification assessments of disability employment service organisations.
Global-Mark started in February 2006, and is headed by Herve Michoux who previously established Benchmark Certification.
Herve Michoux believes "Global-Mark brings many talented people, new business model, new approach to Certification, a great track record, and plenty of experience. We are always happy to talk to people and see how we can assist, this is why we have been successful in the past, and we will continue to do this".
Contact details for Global-Mark appear below.
Herve Michoux, Managing Director[ top ]
The post implementation review of the Business Services Wage Assessment Tool is well underway. Written submissions addressing the questions raised in the consultation paper are due this Friday 9 December 2005.
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Please note that you will not be paid an Intake Payment for new cases until their Intake Assessment has been completed and authorised on FOFMS. It is your responsibility to ensure that Intake Assessments are authorised on FOFMS once you have completed them. FaCS will not backdate Intake Assessments, or make back-payments. Please note that normal case rules for DMI assessments still apply, ie you must wait 13 weeks after the Intake Assessment authorisation date before a DMI can be completed and authorised.
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Most Disability Employment Assistance payment are paid in arrears. The following information is provided to help clarify what these payments are for and when they are made.
Intake Fee – A one-off $500.00 fee paid when a Client’s Intake Assessment (IA) is completed and authorised on FOFMS. The Intake Fee is paid one month after the IA is authorised. More information is in Paragraph 20 of the Disability Employment Assistance Services Programme Procedures.
Employment Assistance Fee (EA) – EA or Pre-DMI fees start one month after the IA is authorised and are payable for up to twelve months. Payments are made on the anniversary date of when the Client’s IA is authorised. For more information please see Paragraph 21 of the Programme Procedures.
Employment Maintenance Fee (Maintenance Payment) – The Employment Maintenance Fee, or Maintenance Payment, is paid one month after a DMI is authorised. Payments are made monthly thereafter on the Client’s anniversary date. For more information please refer to Paragraph 23 of the Programme Procedures.
DMI Assessment - This quarterly payment reimburses services $160 for each DMI completed during the previous 3-month period for block grant funded clients.
Work Based Personal Assistance - This payment is made when we receive a completed eligible claim and is for Work Based Personal Assistance services provided to a Client, either directly or purchased from another Service. For more information please refer to Paragraph 30 of the Programme Procedures.
New Apprenticeship - This payment is an incentive payment for Services who have placed a client in a New Apprenticeship and is made when we receive a completed claim form. For more information please see Paragraph 31 of the Programme Procedures.
Cash Flow Adjustment Payment - This payment is made to Services who have transitioned clients from CBF to BGF at one of the transition points. The payment is made to help services adjust to being paid in advance under BGF to in arrears under CBF. It is paid every six months after clients have been transitioned and it will stop once the transition to CBF is complete.
DEA Transition Payment (previously Block Grant Funding) – On the first day of each month Services are paid the Average Block Grant Price for active Block Grant Clients. This is an advance payment. More information is in Paragraph 13 of the Programme Procedures.
Business Service Funding Subsidy – Paid to services to help them with the transition from BGF to CBF. This is an ‘in advance’ payment made at the beginning of a month. For more information please see Paragraph 39 of the Programme Procedures.
Please allow up to three days from the time a payment is shown as being made on FOFMS for it to reach your bank account.
For any queries relating to DEA payments, please contact the CBF Helpdesk on 1800 034 887 or email Helpdesk.CBF@facsia.gov.au
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If you believe a client’s disability or medical condition requires access to Work Based Personal Assistance (WBPA) you can ask for an assessment of the client by a qualified assessor. Please note: only clients receiving Cased Based Funding are eligible for WBPA; clients receiving Block Grant Funding are not eligible for WBPA. If the assessment determines that the client needs WBPA you will need to record the requirement in the client's Employment Assistance Plan. To claim WBPA you will need to complete the WBPA claim form in the Literature section in FOFMS. Once you have completed the form, fax it to the CBF Helpdesk on (07) 3005 6097.
If you have any questions about WBPA you should contact your local Contract Manager or State and Territory Office contact.
For more information about WBPA please see section 30 of the Disability Employment Assistance Services Programme Procedures.
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At the Best Practice in Disability Conference in Armidale, NSW on Wednesday 30 November, the Minister for Family and Community Services, the Hon Kay Patterson announced a $3.5 million boost for disability business services. The new initiatives include a Rural and Remote Service Supplement and funding to support business services to develop collaborative partnerships with mainstream businesses to help improve financial viability. Grants will be available to individual business services to help them attend trade fairs and industry days.
The new Rural and Remote Service Supplement targets funding where it is most needed and will triple the amount that flows to business services from $700,000 over the past 18 months to $2.4m in 2005-06. A simple five band payment structure will replace the complex set of rural and remote payments that consisted of five ARIA bands along with a Set Up Fee, Baseline Fee and Jobseeker and Outlet Locational Loadings.
The first payment of the new Rural and Remote Service Supplement will be made in December 2005.
More information about these initiatives can be found on the FaCS website, or contact your local FaCS Contract Manager.
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The Australian Government Disability Services Census 2004 report was released recently. The report is the tenth in the series, and represents the most detailed information available on Australian Government funded disability services. The new report is in a reader friendly format and provides high level analyses of the behaviour, characteristics and demographics of our service users. A copy of the report may be obtained on the FaCS website or by calling the Data & Analysis Section on (02) 6244 6844.
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Email disAbility e-news ) if you'd like more information on a particular issue or program in disAbility e-news or to let us know what you think of the newsletter.
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Your contributions to disAbility e-news are welcome. Do you want to let others know about your successes? Or how you engage with local businesses to create employment opportunities for people with disabilities? Email your story idea to disAbility e-news.
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