Review Objective:
To identify how funding for supported employment can be more efficiently and fairly allocated.
Background:
KPMG have been engaged to conduct the review which began in April and is due for completion by 16 September 2011.
Service providers of supported employment face an ongoing challenge of balancing the need to provide meaningful employment opportunities to people with disability with the need to operate as a viable and sustainable business.
In providing supported employment Australian Disability Enterprises (ADEs) incur costs relating to supervising and assisting people with disability in their work, as well as a range of 'unique business costs' which other businesses do not incur. To assist ADEs to meet the costs of supporting workers with disability and still operate a viable and sustainable business they are provided with support funding through the Case Based Funding (CBF) system.
The review consists of three phases, these are:
Phase 1 – Understanding support costs. The focus of this relatively brief but important phase will be on gaining a detailed understanding of ADE costs, cost structures, cost drivers, and how the current CBF model influences ADE efficiency and employment and support practices.
Phase 2 – Developing a new funding model for supported employment. This phase builds on phase 1 and will focus on designing a supported employment funding model which incentivises ADEs to be efficient and to provide meaningful employment opportunities to people with disability, and which compensates ADEs for the costs associated with supporting people with disability in an ADE environment. The proposed model will be consistent with the new vision for supported employment as well as contemporary practices in supporting people with disability.
Phase 3 – Identifying subsidies or 'prices'. This phase will involve extensive data gathering and analysis to underpin the development of subsidy levels or prices for employment support in an ADE environment, to give effect to the funding model identified in phase 2.
Stakeholder management and communication:
This is an important project for the supported employment sector, and stakeholder engagement will be critical to the project's success. FaHCSIA will provide regular updates through Disability eNews. KPMG will have a dedicated email address and 1800 number so that stakeholders are able to contact the project team, and to provide structured input.
As part of the review 11 ADEs, covering a range of service sizes and types, were visited by KPMG to gain an in-depth understanding of the support costs and cost drivers.
Following this sample a nationwide survey will be sent to service providers for a more focussed analysis for the review. The survey will be sent to all ADEs via email and the KPMG 1800 number will be available for any questions or comments.
CBF Review Reference Group:
A reference group has been established to provide KPMG and FaHCSIA with high level advice and feedback on the progress and outcomes of the review.
The reference group is made up of representatives from National Disability Services (NDS), Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR), Department of Finance and Deregulation (DoFD) and Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA). The reference group will meet five times over the life of the review.