News
Temporary Viability Support available for Australian Disability Enterprises
In July 2008, the Government committed to providing Temporary Viability Support (TVS) funding to help Australian Disability Enterprises facing a short-term financial crisis, where closure of a service would result in workers with disability losing their jobs.
TVS may be available, for example, in the case of a fire, flood, earthquake, or some other disaster, or where the global financial crisis creates a sudden and unexpected business downturn. Should TVS funding be provided, it will be on a conditional basis, such as helping organisations with merger expenses.
TVS applications will only be considered in situations where there is confidence TVS will improve the long-term viability of an organisation. It is not intended to provide temporary relief when there is reasonable doubt surrounding an organisation's long-term prospects. TVS will rarely be available for capital expenditure or business development.
Applications for TVS should be sent to your contract manager who will then make a submission to the Program Delegate. In your application you should include the following:
- Background information on the incident and circumstances creating the requirement for TVS.
- A clear statement of the current situation and what is required to rectify the situation, along with detailed costings and profit projections of implementing the requested support.
- How critical TVS support is and the urgency of the situation.
- Detailed financial information supporting your organisation's inability to trade out of the current situation or showing what is necessary to rectify your organisation's current position, including last financial year's audited financials, a year-to-date profit and loss statement, cash flow projection and comment about capacity to self fund requested support.
- An outline of what your organisation believes will rectify the situation and an explanation of how it will improve the bottom line, for example, potential strategies and financial assistance required and how this will increase net profit (rather than just increasing sales) including market research and business plans.
- Details of any preventative measures and/or remedial action you have undertaken.
- The estimated timeframe in which the assistance may be required.
- Strategies for management of similar incidents in the future i.e. tighter financial controls, maintenance and replacement budgeting, upgrading insurance requirements, risk management plans, disaster recovery plans etc.
As TVS funding is limited, your request should contain enough information to ensure FaHCSIA is able to make a determination. If you need assistance to develop your application, please contact your local contract manager.
If TVS is granted, FaHCSIA will usually require actions from your organisation, for example, encouraging your organisation to merge with another organisation.
To reduce the need for organisations to apply for TVS funding and to improve each organisation's capacity to assist people with disability in light of the current economic climate, FaHCSIA recently made a one off payment to each organisation. A letter explaining what the payment was for and the amount you can expect to receive has been sent to each organisation.
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Australian Disability Enterprises marketing material
The marketing material for Australian Disability Enterprises produced by FaHCSIA is being developed into a package for distribution in the coming weeks. The CD will include PDF copies of logos, brochures, posters and banners for providers to print and distribute their own Australian Disability Enterprises promotional materials as required. The CD will also include the Australian Disability Enterprises Corporate Branding Guidelines, which gives information about how the materials should be used.
Once the package has been distributed the material will be removed from the Literature Tab in FOFMS.
To ensure the distribution reaches the most appropriate recipient in each organisation, marketing contacts in each Australian Disability Enterprise are asked to send their contact details (name, position, address, organisation, email address) to Michelle Creed by
email.
The Australian Disability Enterprises Excellence Awards 2009 - nominations close 20 July!
Nominations for the Australian Disability Enterprises Excellence Awards 2009 close on
20 July 2009. If you know of an Australian Disability Enterprise that has made a significant contribution to ensuring that people with disability are encouraged to participate to their full potential in employment, tell us about it by nominating them for the Australian Disability Enterprises Excellence Awards 2009.
To nominate an Australian Disability Enterprise for an Award, or to make an enquiry about the Awards visit the
FaHCSIA website, email
excellenceawards@fahcsia.gov.au or call
1800 108 196.
Australian Disability Enterprises website updates
New feature on the website
The Australian Disability Enterprises website can now provide your business opening hours to customers. If you would like to include these details for your Australian Disability Enterprise please email your details to
australiandisabilityenterprises@fahcsia.gov.au.
It is important to keep your information up-to-date on the Australian Disability Enterprises website.
The success of the
Australian Disability Enterprises website relies on the accuracy of the information provided to consumers. If any of your details change (phone numbers, addresses, business lines and so on) please ensure the updated information is emailed to
australiandisabilityenterprises@fahcsia.gov.au.
Let us know what you think
Have you received any feedback about the
Australian Disability Enterprises website lately? Have you received any customers through the website or Log A Job? Email your feedback to
australiandisabilityenterprises@fahcsia.gov.au.
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Join the national celebration of IDPwD 2009!
Do you like to celebrate? Are you passionate about promoting inclusion? Do you want to celebrate the remarkable contributions people with disability make to our community?
In 2008 more than 700 individuals, organisations, schools and community groups registered to host an event to celebrate International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD).
You can join the national celebration of IDPwD in 2009 by hosting your own event!
The type of event you can host is limited only by your imagination-from a morning tea to an art exhibition or street fair-the choice is yours! Hosting an event on IDPwD is a great way to promote and celebrate the achievements and contributions of people with disability in our community.
Event registration for IDPwD 2009 is now open on the IDPwD website at
www.idpwd.com.au
Free promotional products are available to help celebrate and promote your IDPwD event. Products are only available to registered events and can be ordered as part of your event registration on the IDPwD website.
This year products include bandanas, wristbands, balloons, badges, stickers and posters as well as new tote bags and pens! The A3 whitespace posters are back again and have enough space to insert the details of your event, to help you promote it locally.
If hosting an event isn't your thing, keep an eye on the online
Schedule of Events to see what other celebrations are taking place in your area and around Australia, that you may be able to attend.
Check out all the details at
www.idpwd.com.au today!
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Program Updates
Updating Activities Records in FOFMS
Activities in your FOFMS homepage can be removed once completed, or if no longer relevant, by manually updating the status of the activity.
a) Choose the desired 'Activity' alert in your homepage by selecting 'To Do' in the type field.
b) Once you have selected an activity you can alter the status of the Activities Record by selecting 'Done' in the status field and save the record.
c) The activity will no longer appear in your 'Homepage' view.
Please note that case activities will only appear in your homepage if you are the assigned case worker on FOFMS. Altering the 'Case Worker' field in the Cases view will not transfer pre-existing case activities to your homepage and it is your responsibility to ensure that you complete DMI assessments within the required time frame.
If you have any questions regarding Activities please contact the CBF Helpdesk on
1800 034 887 or
Helpdesk.CBF@fahcsia.gov.au
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DMI Reassessments no longer required for Funding Level 1 Cases
From 6 April 2009 FaHCSIA removed the requirement for Funding Level 1 DMI Reassessments.
In certain situations the level of assistance required to maintain a Funding Level 1 client in employment may need to be reassessed. A DMI Reassessment may be initiated by you if you think that the support needs of a client have changed. You should refer to the DMI Reassessment Trigger Table to help you make this decision and include circumstances where:
- a significant change in health status, stamina, physical capacity, personal circumstances or a profound change in disability resulting in changed support requirements
- an onset of new episodic symptoms or onset or escalation of behavioural issues resulting in changed support requirements
- an increase or decrease in the required workload, employment environment change, re-employment or re-skilling resulting in changed support requirements.
Please refer to Annexure C of the DEA Funding Agreement for the DMI Reassessment Triggers Table.
You may also still complete a DMI Reassessment for Funding Level 1 cases two years after the previous DMI. This choice remains for instances where there has been a gradual change in support needs of the client that are not recognised under the DMI Reassessment Trigger Table.
If you elect to complete the DMI Reassessment for Funding Level 1 cases, remember you will still need to collect appropriate evidence to support your answers. This change is for Funding Level 1 cases only and does not negate your requirement to complete DMIs for other Funding Levels or any other requirements under the DEA Funding Agreement.
If you have any questions regarding the removal of the requirement for DMI reassessments for Funding Level 1 cases please contact the CBF Helpdesk on
1800 034 887 or at
Helpdesk.CBF@fahcsia.gov.au
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New Task Card available on FOFMS Literature
A Task Card has been created for updating Client address records and is now available on the FOFMS Literature tab.
Task Cards are a step-by-step guide to FOFMS procedures and are available for the following topics:
- Clients
- Cases
- Queries
- Reports
- Exporting
- User Access
Tip Sheets demonstrate the key areas in FOFMS and are available for the following topics:
- Home Screen
- Agreements
- Agreement Schedules
- Cases
- Payment Requests
- Alerts
To access these documents:
- Navigate to the Literature tab
- Click Query
- In the 'Name' field type 'DEA' and then click Go.
A list of documents specific to the Disability Employment Assistance Program will display.
Should you have any queries please contact the CBF Helpdesk on
1800 034 887 or
Helpdesk.CBF@fahcsia.gov.au.
New CBF Helpdesk Fax Number
The Case Based Funding Helpdesk can now be contacted on a new fax number, which is
(02) 6133 8340. All WBPA claims, Australian Apprenticeship claims and any other information that needs to be faxed to the Helpdesk can be sent using this number.
Please contact the CBF Helpdesk on
1800 034 887 or
Helpdesk.CBF@fahcsia.gov.au if you have any questions.
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