Have your say on new Disability Employment Services

3 November 2016

This week, Minister for Social Services, the Hon Christian Porter MP, and Assistant Minister for Social Services and Disability Services, the Hon Jane Prentice MP, released a discussion paper providing suggested changes to Disability Employment Services (DES). Further details are available on Minister Porter’s media release and Minister Prentice’s media release.

People with disability, employment service providers and employers of people with disability are encouraged to provide feedback on the discussion paper aimed at introducing a new model of DES from 2018.

To view a copy of the discussion paper, visit the Department of Social Services Engage website at www.engage.dss.gov.au. Submissions are open until the end of the consultation round in December 2016.

DES plays an important role in helping Australians with disability break down the barriers to participating in the economy and there is an opportunity to improve DES to help more people stay in employment over the long-term.

The proposals outlined in the discussion paper build on the feedback received by the Disability Employment Taskforce which undertook two consultation rounds in 2015. Talking with people with disability, their carers and families, disability advocates, DES providers, disability peak bodies and employers of people with disability identified important areas for reform including:

  • improving participant choice and control over the services they receive;
  • generating greater competition between providers;
  • developing better incentives for providers to service all participants equally; and
  • engaging employers to hire more people with disability.

The Australian Government will invest over $800 million a year when the new model begins in March 2018 and feedback on the proposals in the discussion paper will help to inform the new model.

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