Innovations in disability employment policy and practice

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Innovations in disability employment policy and
practice
Susan ThomsonAustralian Department of
Employment and Workplace Relations
Third International Forum on Disability
Management 8-11 October 2006
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Session outline

• Welfare to Work reforms
• changes to income support for people with
  disability
• new and expanded services
• focus on increasing employer demand
• New initiatives

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Why change?

• Economic climate
• low inflation and interest rates
• low unemployment rate
• growth in average real wages
• Increased demand for workers
• Accelerated population ageing
• Reduce welfare dependency

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Welfare to Work

• Comprehensive reform of the welfare system
• lifting workforce participation
• increasing employment rates
• reducing welfare dependency
• Increased focus on engaging people with
  disability
• Introduced on 1 July 2006

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Reform principles

• Best form of income comes from a job not
  welfare
• People on welfare with capacity to work part
  time should be required to seek workto the level
  of their capacity
• Services for people with a workforce
  participation requirement should be focussed on
  getting them prepared for and into sustainable
  work

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Key areas of reform

• Payments
• Work obligations
• Services
• Increasing employer demand

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Changes to payments

• Over 705,000 people on Disability Support Pension
• approximately 5 of working age population
• 10 of Disability Support Pension recipients have
  earned income
• OECD average is 30

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Changes to payment

• People who can work 30 or more hours a week are
  required to look for suitable work
• People who can work independently for 15-29 hours
  a week within 2 years now receive Newstart or
  Youth Allowance and are required to look for work
• Shift in focus to what people can do

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Changes to payments

• Safety net arrangements continue to apply
• Disability Support Pension is for people who
  cannot work
• at least 15 hours a week within 2 years
• at full wage rates
• independent of support in the mainstream labour
  market
• Workforce participation continues to be voluntary

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Increased services

• New Job Capacity Assessment process
• Job Capacity Account
• Significant investment in services to help people
  move from welfare to work
• expansion of Providers of Australian Government
  Employment Services

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Job Capacity Assessment

• New assessment and referral process
• single assessment
• replaces several separate assessments
• Premise of Job Capacity Assessments
• comprehensive assessments can streamline multiple
  assessments while maintaining quality
• increased job seeker engagement will improve job
  seeker motivation
• timeliness can be improved

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Job Capacity Assessment

• Job Capacity Assessment objectives
• provide comprehensive assessment of participation
  barriers and work capacity
• recommend interventions and assistance
• inform income support determination
• refer job seeker to the right service
• provide comprehensive report
• Conducted by a range of medical and allied health
  professionals

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Job Capacity Account

• Job Capacity Assessment providers have access to
  a new stream of funds
• Job Capacity Account helps job seekers get job
  ready prior to employment assistance
• short term interventions, for example
• mental health counselling
• pain management

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Australian Government Employment Services

• Employment services
• Disability Employment Network
• Vocational Rehabilitation Services
• Job Network
• Pre-employment Services
• Personal Support Programme

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Increasing employer demand

• Help employers increase work opportunities
• Increasing demand for workers with disability
• JobAccess
• increase in funding for workplace modifications
  and wage subsidies
• tools to assist employment of people with mental
  health illness
• stronger promotion of benefits to employers

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JobAccess Components

Website content
Workplace Adjustment Tool
JobAccess Advisers
Workplace modifications
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Workplace modifications

• Pays for the costs involved in making the
  workplace more accessible
• Examples of modifications include
• building a wheelchair ramp
• providing adaptive equipment

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National Action Plan on Mental Health

• Australian and State Government agree to a
  National Action Plan on Mental Health
• Australian Government contribution of 1.9
  billion over five years
• Includes increased funding to help more people
  with mental illness find sustainable jobs

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Work Experience Trials

• New Work Experience Trials initiative will help
  disadvantaged job seekers
• Pay the cost of accident and personal liability
  insurance
• help alleviate employer concerns
• provide protection for job seekers
• placements from 5 days to 8 weeks

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Auslan assistance

• Free access to an Auslan interpreter
• induction training,
• occupational health and safety training
• team meetings
• Assistance for co-workers to attend introductory
  deafness awareness training and Auslan courses

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Contestability forVocational Rehabilitation
Services

• From 1 July 2007 contestability for Vocational
  Rehabilitation Services market will be introduced
  for
• 50 services for people with 15-29 hours work
  capacity and part time participation requirements
• 20 remaining services

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More information

• Come to JobAccess exhibit for more information
  on
• Welfare to Work reforms
• employment services and new initiatives for
  people with disability
• how JobAccess works
• a copy of the Mental Health First Aid e-learning
  CD ROM