Issue 137
24 August 2009
The business listings on the website enable one logo or photo to be displayed when a business’ details are displayed. All Australian Disability Enterprises are invited to provide the department with a logo or photo for this purpose. However, there are certain requirements that must be met.
Logo Requirements:
Photo Requirements:
A photo of your product could look as per the sample photo.
Please note that the department retains the right not to use a photo if it does not comply with above requirements.
Please email your logos and pictures to Australian Disability Enterprises (australiandisabilityenterprises@fahcsia.gov.au).
[ top ]
The Australian Government, as part of its social inclusion agenda, wants to develop a new and stronger relationship with the Third Sector (the non-profit sector including organisations such as charities, clubs, churches, etc) in Australia. One way to do this is through a national compact. A national compact will provide an opportunity to develop an agreement between the Government and the Third Sector which will improve and strengthen the relationship and in turn, the services provided in the community.
The Government wants to know what you think about the work that has been done so far. Your contribution will aid the development of a final compact between the Government and the Third Sector. Your views on how a national compact could benefit local communities and what it might mean for local government and their stakeholders would be invaluable. This second stage of consultations will focus on the draft principles and priorities which have emerged in the work to date.
Between May and July this year, the Compact Joint Taskforce with representation from non-profit organisations, Commonwealth agencies, local government and the Australian Council of Trade Unions met to develop a framework for the compact containing key priorities and principles.
During this planning phase of the national compact, it has become evident that not everything can be done at once, and we need to be sure of the issues that are most important to your organisation and other organisations across the sector.
A consultation paper has been developed, and is now available. Share your views on what a national compact would mean to you and the people you work with. Your input is very important, so register online to participate in a national discussion on the building of a national compact, at Social Inclusion (www.socialinclusion.gov.au/forums).
Organisations are invited to lead targeted consultations with your members and stakeholders. A consultation toolkit will shortly be available to organisations to engage with their own stakeholders and collect structured feedback.
Further information about the national compact and the forum is at Social Inclusion (www.socialinclusion.gov.au) or FaHCSIA website (www.fahcsia.gov.au) or you may phone 1800 607 839 Monday - Friday from 8.30-5.00pm (AEST). TTY users - phone 133 677 then ask for the phone number you wish to contact.
[ top ]
From Thursday 1 October 2009 FaHCSIA’s only operational email domain will be: firstname.lastname@fahcsia.gov.au.
All emails addressed to either: firstname.lastname@facs.gov.au or firstname.lastname@facsia.gov.au will no longer be deliverable.
To ensure your correspondence reaches the intended recipient within the department please check that you have the correct email address for all of your contacts.
[ top ]
Volunteer Grants 2009 provides funding for eligible non-profit organisations to support their volunteers and encourage volunteering by:
Organisations can apply for grant funding from a minimum of $1000 up to a maximum of $5000. Funding is limited and applications will be assessed and prioritised according to how strongly they meet the selection criteria.
Applications for funding close 25 September 2009. For more information and a copy of the selection criteria visit the FaHCSIA website.
[ top ]
FaHCSIA has developed the Australian Disability Enterprises FaHCSIA Online Funding Management System (FOFMS) Training Resource Centre to provide organisations funded under the Disability Employment Assistance Program (DEA) with links to instructional movies. The five videos have been designed to provide assistance to access and operate FOFMS.
The training videos cover logging into FOFMS, basic navigation and each business process that DEA Service Providers complete for the Disability Employment Assistance program.
All DEA FOFMS users will soon be sent an email with a link to the Australian Disability Enterprises FOFMS Training Resource Centre. Users will then be able to access the videos from their desk at their own time and pace. The videos can be played and paused to allow users to view the videos, complete activities in FOFMS then restart the movie, guiding the user step-by-step through each business process at each users own controlled pace.
FaHCSIA has also recently updated all of the DEA Forms, Task Cards, Tips Sheets and iHelp files which are located in FOFMS to assist with completing each process. The training movies provide instruction on how to access these resources in FOFMS.
If you have any questions regarding the ADE Training Resource Centre, training videos or other Case Base Funding issues, please contact the Case Based Funding Helpdesk on 1800 034 887 or Helpdesk (Helpdesk.CBF@fahcsia.gov.au).
[ top ]
The disAbility e-news & Australian Disability Enterprises website survey 2009 was sent out to subscribers with this issue of e-news. Please complete and return your survey by close of business on Monday 7 September.
Completed surveys can be emailed to disAbility e-news (disability.enews@fahcsia.gov.au) with the subject line ‘disAbility e-news feedback’. Alternatively, you can fax your completed survey to (02) 6244 5362.
Your feedback will be used to improve the content and format of disAbility e-news and the Australian Disability Enterprises website.
[ top ]
The department reminds enterprises that people with disability listed on FOFMS must be receiving supported employment at your DEA funded outlet to receive Case Based Funding (CBF) from FaHCSIA. This is a requirement of your funding agreement with the department.
FaHCSIA funds the provision of Employment Assistance services to people with disabilities. ‘“Employment Assistance services” means the provision of supported employment in the workplace to a supported employee of yours, which is directly relevant to their employment and results in them being paid a wage from you. This is defined on page 13 in the Terms and Conditions of your funding agreement with the department.
You should not claim DEA funding from FaHCSIA for people with disability who are not employed at your Australian Disability Enterprise. People with disability undertaking work experience or work preparation training should not be put onto FOFMS.
The department can take action against any organisation in breach of their agreement and there may be serious implications for organisations that are incorrectly claiming Case Base Funding (CBF) payments for other purposes.
If you are aware your organisation is claiming CBF for a worker not in receipt of supported employment, you should contact your local state and territory contract manager immediately.
If you have any questions or want to discuss any issues around CBF eligibility please contact the CBF helpdesk on 1800 034 887 or by email to Helpdesk (helpdesk.cbf@fahcsia.gov.au).
[ top ]
You can temporarily exceed your outlet capacity to assist a supported employee returning from Suspension or Exit by utilising Stretch Capacity. Stretch Capacity is a ten per cent allowance on top of your Outlet Capacity.
Stretch Capacity places are utilised when your organisation has no vacancies and a supported employee who has previously been Suspended or Exited from your Australian Disability Enterprise wishes to return to work. The case will take up a Stretch Capacity place only while there is no outlet place available. When another case is Exited or Suspended this frees up an outlet place and the case in Stretch moves over to use the outlet place.
To access Stretch Capacity your Disability Enterprise outlet must be at full capacity and you must return a supported employee’s case from Suspended or Exited status within 12 months from when the supported employee was Suspended or Exited.
If the supported employee Exited your Disability Enterprise to access open employment then the period for return to your Disability Enterprise has been extended to two years. You will need to contact the Case Based Funding Helpdesk for assistance with returning these cases.
Stretch Capacity places cannot be used for new supported employees who have not previously been supported by your Disability Enterprise.
If you have any further queries regarding your outlet’s stretch capacity please contact the Case Based Funding Helpdesk on 1800 034 887.
[ top ]
Access to FOFMS can be obtained by completing a ‘FOFMS System Access Request Form-Service Provider’ form on the Literature tab on FOFMS, the completion of which confirms your agreement to the responsibilities of being a FOFMS user.
When accessing information on FOFMS it is important to note that any unauthorised use or disclosure of data contained on FOFMS may be a breach of the Privacy Act 1988, and as such FOFMS access is provided to users on the understanding that they alone use it to access records on the system and they will be held personally responsible for any work conducted under their User ID. You must never share your User ID and Password with others.
In accordance with the requirement of authorised access to FOFMS, it is the responsibility of Australian Disability Enterprises to notify the FOFMS Helpdesk of the names of staff members who have left the organisation and no longer require access to FOFMS.
If an ex-employee’s access is not removed they will still have access to confidential client and case records. The ‘Remove User’ field can be ticked on the ‘FOFMS System Access Request Form-Service Provider’ form and sent to the FOFMS Helpdesk to ensure ex-staff members no longer have access to your Organisation on FOFMS.
For additional information on removing user access you can refer to the DEA Task Card – User Access – Remove Users from FOFMS, which is available on the Literature Tab.
Please contact the Case Based Funding Helpdesk on 1800 034 887 or Helpdesk (Helpdesk.CBF@fahcsia.gov.au) if you require further information.
[ top ]
During September an upgrade of FOFMS will be undertaken and will include changes to the ‘look’ of the portal to reflect the new FaHCSIA corporate colours. An example of the homepage with the new colours is provided below.
There are also some minor changes to disability functionality including:
If you have any questions regarding these upgrades please contact the Case Base Funding Helpdesk on 1800 034 887 or Helpdesk (Helpdesk.CBF@fahcsia.gov.au).
[ top ]
The GV Centre Disability Service’s newest Australian disability enterprise, Billabong Sweets & Treats was officially opened by Bill Shorten MP, Federal Member for Maribyrnong and Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Children's Services on Monday 20th July.
Billabong Sweets & Treats is an Australian Disability Enterprise confectionery packaging business and a direct to the public retail outlet developed to provide the community with quality sweets, whilst providing valuable employment/training options for people with disability.
Last year the business was in a trial phase to enable the GV Centre to obtain the necessary information on range and quality. This phase was completed at the end of last year and full production has commenced at the GV Centre’s processing site in Shepparton. Not only has the Billabong Sweets & Treats shop been a huge success, the local community is also accessing Billabong for their fundraising requirements and a large number of local businesses are placing a charity box full of sweets in their reception area or tea room. This success has seen an increase in sweets packaging from one day per week in March to currently five days per week. This is an ideal outcome for our service users with a disability as it provides greater long term employment and training options.
With the assistance of capital funding from the department the GV Centre established this new business enterprise at their facility in Shepparton which also houses another GV Centre business, GV Ragz.
Billabong Sweets and Treats' huge assortment of mouth-watering confectionery is ideal for all:
Billabong Sweets & Treats is located at 8 New Dookie Road Shepparton and is open to the public Monday – Friday from 8.15am – 4.30pm. Ph: 03 5822 1716.
[ top ]
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.
[ top ]
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.
[ top ]