A new era of disability employment

Change is afoot in the world of employment and the disability sector. While our attention has been focussed on the NDIS reviews, taskforces, a new NDIS Bill, and fraud, the government has also been restructuring Australia’s employment supports. In case you missed it, here’s (almost) everything that’s been happening in the employment space. And what it could mean for the future of employment supports in the NDIS.

Many people you support can use these mainstream services to find and maintain work. So, let’s get you up to date, because the employment space is changing at a rate almost as fast as the NDIS.

Employment Services – Jobactive – Workforce Australia

The Australian Government is responsible for general employment services that help all Australian jobseekers find and keep a job. Until June 2022, Employment Services were delivered mainly through the Department of Education, Skills and Employment’s (DESE) Jobactive program. However, there were concerns the program was not “fit for purpose” and was punitive. This led to an overhaul and the new Workforce Australia employment service.

In July 2022, Workforce Australia commenced. It was described at the time as a new “front door” service, aimed at helping people keep a job, change jobs or create their own job. It is made up of 2 streams: an online portal called Workforce Australia Online (open to everyone) and a face-to-face service (for those with income support and mutual obligation requirements). This marked the beginning of a shift towards providing general employment services to a much broader group.

NDIS participants looking for work can register with Workforce Australia Online to search and apply for jobs, receive training and mentoring, and participate in work experience activities to build their skills for employment.

JobAccess and Disability Employment Services (DES)

In addition to Workforce Australia, the Australian Government runs JobAccess, a free national hub for workplace and employment information for people with disability, employers and service providers. JobAccess provides financial support, workplace modification advice, training and development, and Disability Employment Services (DES).

DES is the Australian Government’s employment service to help eligible people with disability find and keep a job. DES also offers a targeted support program for students with disability in their last year of school (Eligible School Leaver (DES-ELS)).

To be eligible for DES, people with a disability need to:  

• meet the minimum legal working age in their state or territory,
• not be studying full time, and
• have a future work capacity of at least 8 hours per week.

See the full list of eligibility on Department of Social Services website.

The DES eligibility criteria of having the capability to work a minimum of eight hours per week often led to the exclusion of NDIS participants.

The NDIS seems to mirror rather than complement employment services available to all Australian job seekers. For participants not eligible for DES, NDIS employment supports enabled participants to:

• Get jobs in Australian Disability Enterprises (ADEs) instead of open employment.
• Receive School Leavers Employment Services (SLES) instead of DES – ELS.
• Attend work-related skills training through day programs and group-based support, instead of JobAccess Services.
• Help with self-employment arrangements instead of, for example, through Self-Employment Assistance Program.

However, the ongoing reforms indicate a shift towards a more inclusive employment service, where the responsibility for supporting NDIS participants is integrated into the broader employment services system.

DES and the new Disability Employment Support Model – the change we need

A new specialist disability employment program will replace the current DES program from 1 July 2025. Designing the new Disability Employment Support Model (DESM) has been underway since the end of 2021— you can read about the initial consultation in our article Designing a New Disability Employment Service. Since then, the Government has consulted on potential changes, including considering recommendations from the Disability Royal Commission, the NDIS Review and the House Select Committee on Workforce Australia Employment Services.

In May this year, Minister Amanda Rishworth MP gave a speech about the future of Disability Employment Services. She outlined an additional $227.6 million for new Disability Employment Services. The new DESM program will focus on:

1. Measuring quality through a new Quality Framework for Disability,
2. Building employer confidence, and
3. Breaking down silos within organisations and across service systems and industries. Including redefining responsibilities between NDIS/ DSS/ Department of Employment and Workplace Relations.

In a nutshell the new DESM will:

1.     Support more people, including NDIS participants, by:

• Expanding the eligibility to include people who have an assessed work capacity of less than 8 hours per week and people who don’t receive income support.
• Offering customised support, including a range of pre-employment, job search and in-employment support.
• Providing supports to maintain a job in the long term.

2.     Support employers by:

• Working with employers to identify their business needs, helping find suitable candidates and/or helping support them to retain employees with disability within their workforce.
• Offering specialised assistance for workplace adjustments, additional training, job customisation and other supports to help employers provide safe and productive workplaces for people with disability.

3.     Be delivered by a diverse network of providers supported by a Disability Employment Centre of Excellence.

Disability Employment Centre of Excellence (The Centre of Excellence)

A significant piece of DES reform will be the creation of an evidenced-informed, best-practice hub that will provide resources, tools and training to assist DESM providers, Workforce Australia, the Community Development Program (CDP), NDIS and supported employment (including ADEs).

The Centre of Excellence will create resources to disseminate research on what works in disability employment. Following the establishment of the Centre of Excellence towards the end of 2025, NDIS providers will have access to these resources.

Imagine the impact of all systems using the same resources, tools, and evidence.

Changes to NDIS Employment Support – the Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits (PAPL)

NDIS pricing arrangements for employment supports have slowly been shifting towards an individualised, hourly rate. Firstly, support items utilised by ADEs moved from the Capacity Building budget to an hourly rate in the Core budget. The most recent PAPL announcement also included transitional arrangements for School Leaver Employment Supports (SLES) from 1 July 2024. Providers can claim using a new support item as an hourly rate or continue to use the current weekly rate until 2027. There is also a new support item for Support Coordinators (SC) and Psychosocial Recovery Coaches (PRC) to support participants to gain and keep employment.

The Future

I am quietly optimistic that the past 4 years of consultation, pilots and budget investments will significantly improve employment outcomes for people with disabilities. The introduction of the Centre of Excellence and the broadened eligibility of DESM to include more NDIS participants are promising steps. These changes suggest a future where all job seekers, including those with disability, will have access to the same services, and all providers will have access to the same resources, tools, and evidence-based practices.

For those interested in exploring the consultations, papers, research and pilots further, here’s a list:

• House Select Committee on Workforce Australia Employment Service - established to investigate and report on matters related to Workforce Australia Employment Services, including Disability Employment Services (DES).
• Jobs and Skills Summit. The invitation-only Summit, led by the Prime Minister and Treasurer, was held over 2 days in September 2022. The Summit received 400 public submissions and agreed to 36 immediate initiatives, outlined in the Jobs and Skills Summit Outcome Document. These included 4 priorities for improving employment outcomes for people with disability.
• The Employment White Paper builds on the Summit themes and outlines a roadmap for the Australian labour market, including 4 (of 10) policy areas relating to employment of people with disability.
• Centre for Social Impact Research projects: WISE, Ticket to Work, Includeability.
• The Career Pathways Pilot – a partnership between Australian Disability Network and Business Council of Australia focussing on career progression for employees with disability.
• NDIS/DES Pathways Pilot to trial collaboration between NDIS and DES.
• Employment Support for School Leavers co-design grant announced.
• A $29.5 million Structural Adjustment Fund to facilitate ADE’s to adopt innovative approaches.