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Youth Mental Health Trial Guidelines
V 1.0
Disclaimer
This document is not a stand-alone document and does not contain the entirety of Disability
Employment Services Programme Providers' obligations. It should be read in conjunction
with the Disability Employment Services Deed and any relevant Guidelines or reference
material issued by the Department of Social Services under or in connection with Disability
Employment Services Deed.
DES Youth Mental Health Trial Guidelines
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Table of Contents:
Document Change History:
3
Background
3
Trial sites
3
Eligibility
3
Implementation
4
Star Ratings
4
Guiding Principles for using the Career Account
4
Standard rates for services
5
A Hypothetical scenario to illustrate spending Career Account funds
6
Making a Claim
6
Unspent Career Account funds
7
Monitoring of uptake of places
7
Documentary Evidence
7
Disability Employment Services Deed Clauses:
8
Reference documents relevant to these Guidelines:
8
Explanatory Notes:
8
DES Youth Mental Health Trial Guidelines
Effective Date: 17 August 2015
2
DES Youth Mental Health Trial Guidelines
Document Change History:
Version
Start Date
Effective Date
End Date
Change & Location
1.0
17 August 2015
17 August 2015
Original version of document
1.1
17 August 2015
17 August 2015
 Further detail of paid work
experience placements
 Typographical error fixed under
Guiding Principle 3.
Background
The Disability Employment Services (DES) Youth Mental Health Trial (the Trial) is part of the
Australian Government’s Youth Employment Strategy (part of the 2015-16 Growing Jobs
and Small Business Budget package) designed to reduce the risk of young people
disengaging from education or employment and becoming reliant on long-term income
support.
The Trial intends to test a participant-driven employment assistance model in DES.
Increased funding will be available during the 2015-16 financial year for up to 200 DES
Participants aged 24 years or under with mental illness. The Trial will be evaluated to inform
future employment services for people with disability from 2018.
Trial sites
The Trial will operate from 17 August 2015 to 30 June 2016 ('Trial Period') in the
Employment Service Areas (ESAs) of Maroondah (Victoria), North Brisbane (Queensland)
and North Metro (Western Australia). These ESAs are locations with a viable labour market
and relatively high caseloads of eligible DES Participants.
Trial places will be allocated to Providers by the Department. Providers must notify the
Department by Monday 31 August 2015 if they do not wish to participate in the Trial. All
correspondence with the Department relating to the Trial must be made through the Youth
Mental Health Trial mailbox.
If allocated Trial places are not taken up by Friday 16 October 2015, the Department may
reallocate unallocated places amongst the Providers in the Trial ESAs, based on demand and
at the discretion of the Department, at anytime.
Eligibility
The Trial is available to Participants who are 24 years old or under with mental illness (either
primary or secondary) who have commenced in the DES programme and who are in the
Employment Assistance phase, but have not yet achieved an Employment Outcome.
Participants must have already left school.
DES Youth Mental Health Trial Guidelines
Effective Date: 17 August 2015
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Implementation
Providers that choose to participate in the Trial will have access to a new ‘Career Account’,
which is a transparent, participant-directed pool of funding of $5000 per Trial Participant.
The $5000 payment will be an Ancillary Payment for the purposes of the Deed.
Providers that would like to participate in the Trial are required to canvas the interest of
eligible DES Participants and explain to those eligible Participants how the Career Account
will work. If an eligible Participant chooses to take part in the Trial, the Provider will make a
claim for payment from the Department. Funds will then be disbursed to the Provider and
the Department will write to the Trial Participant further explaining how their Career
Account may be used.
Each Trial Participant will have a choice and control over how the Career Account funds are
used, with the Provider helping to identify appropriate supports consistent with the Guiding
Principles outlined later in this Guideline. Trial Participants and Providers should agree on
appropriate supports, which must be recorded in the Participant’s Job Plan.
To maximise flexibility and innovation in service delivery, in respect of Trial Participants only
and only for the Trial Period, Providers will not be required to:
(a) comply with clause 89.1 (minimum number of Contacts) of the Deed; or
(b) complete quarterly updates of the Trial Participant’s Job Plan as outlined in the Job Plan
Guidelines.
Providers should use their discretion when determining the number of Contacts for each
Trial Participant, and in the frequency of updating the Job Plan. However, Job Plans must be
current and should remain relevant at all times. Trial Participants with Mutual Obligation
Requirements must be supported to meet their requirements.
Star Ratings
Trial Participants will be removed from the numerators and denominator of future Star
Ratings calculations for all performance measures, regardless of any Outcomes achieved.
Specifically, Trial Participants will be excluded from a Provider’s Star Rating at the ESA and
Site level (for each specialisation) for the applicable Period of Service. Even after the Trial
ends for the Trial Participants, if they are continuing to be assisted by the Provider, then
they will continue to be removed from the numerators and denominators from the Star
Rating calculations. However, Participants that transfer to a different Provider, or
commence a new Period of Service in DES, will be counted in the numerator and
denominator for all future performance measures. Trial Participants will not be excluded
from DES performance reports and the Health Check report.
Guiding Principles for using the Career Account
The Career Account uses a principles-based approach to allow optimum flexibility. The
principles that Providers must adhere to when making purchases using Career Account
funds are:
DES Youth Mental Health Trial Guidelines
Effective Date: 17 August 2015
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1. The expenditure of funds must align with a Trial Participant’s future employment goals,
or show a pathway towards identifying a Trial Participant’s employment goals.
2. Funds must not be paid directly to the Trial Participant. Only in the exception of a paid
work experience placement can DES providers use the Career Account funds to directly
pay participants for their placement. This payment must occur following the completion
of the placement, and it is expected that providers retain evidence of all spent funds for
auditing purposes.
3. Funds must be used to purchase goods or services that will address a Trial Participant’s
vocational or non-vocational barriers to employment, including integrating with mental
health treatment services. Goods or services that cannot be reasonably expected to help
improve a Trial Participant’s employment prospects must not be funded through the
Career Account. For example, luxury personal care items or costs for travelling long
distances or to another country.
4. The expenditure of funds must be consistent with the Deed and all Commonwealth and
State or Territory laws (including, for example, any relevant work health and safety
legislation).
5. The expenditure of funds must represent value for money. Providers should confirm that
no other source of funding is available to fund the goods or services before expending
Career Account funds. Providers must actively seek the best possible rate for goods and
services but balance these against the specific needs of the Trial Participant (for example,
the timeliness of supports or interventions).
6. The expenditure of funds and any goods or services purchased must be defensible and
capable of withstanding a reasonable level of public scrutiny so as not to bring DES into
disrepute.
Providers must ensure that all purchases made through the Career Account meet the
requirements under the Deed and these Trial Guidelines. If DES Providers are unsure about
the appropriateness of the purchase of goods and services through the Career Account, they
can contact the Department through the Youth Mental Health Trial mailbox.
The Department may provide further descriptions of what constitutes
appropriate/inappropriate use of funding, if required throughout the Trial.
Standard rates for services
Professional services
When seeking reimbursement for internally delivered Professional Services, the following
hourly rates apply:
1. Services provided by allied health professionals:
$150 per hour ($2.50 per minute) GST inclusive for services provided by a qualified
psychologist
$125.40 per hour ($2.09 per minute) GST inclusive for services provided by other
qualified allied health professional (e.g. counsellor, occupational therapist, and social
worker). Where a Professional Services intervention is delivered through group
counselling, the DES Provider must only charge the hourly rate across all job seekers.
DES Youth Mental Health Trial Guidelines
Effective Date: 17 August 2015
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To claim the allied health professionals rate, Provider Personnel delivering Professional
Services must:
 possess a degree or graduate diploma in:
a) applied health sciences or behavioural sciences
b) social work
c) rehabilitation counselling, or
d) other allied health qualification, and
 where the discipline to which the qualification relates requires registration to practice, be
currently registered with a relevant registration authority, or
 where the criterion above is not applicable, be currently eligible for full membership of a
professional association related to the qualifications relied on by the applied health
sciences.
Providers should refer to the relevant State or Territory Government Health Agency for the
applicable classification of allied health professionals.
A Hypothetical scenario to illustrate spending Career Account funds
Amy is 20 years old and has a mental illness. Amy is registered with a local DES Provider in
one of the Trial sites. Amy meets with her DES Provider, who explains how she could use the
$5000 Career Account as a pathway towards achieving her employment goals. Amy chooses
to access the Career Account, and receives a letter from the Department which further
explains how she may use the $5000 to help her achieve her career goals. Amy decides she
would like a future career in office administration.
Amy decides the following supports are to be funded:
 individual counselling for therapeutic support to address her mental health condition.
Amy would like to receive 20 sessions of counselling over the Trial Period which will cost
approximately $140 per hour, at a total of $2800;
 group counselling to enable her to improve participation with peers in her daily activities.
Fiftteen sessions of group counselling over the Trial Period will cost approximately $56
per hour, at a total of $840;
 attend a training course in computer skills. Amy has chosen to attend 15 hours of
facilitated training, which will cost approximately $52 per hour, at a total of $780; and
 a paid work experience placement for two weeks, at $20 an hour for a total of $510.
The total estimated expenditure is $4930.
Making a Claim
Providers can make a Career Account claim through the 'Overrides and Special Claims'
application in the Department's IT System. Providers must follow the process outlined
below:
 Request type must be selected as ‘Youth Mental health’
 Specific request type must be selected as ‘Youth Mental health Override’ or ‘Youth
Mental Health Special Claim’
 Requesting reason must be selected as ‘Exceptional Circumstances’
DES Youth Mental Health Trial Guidelines
Effective Date: 17 August 2015
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 The Special Claim Override ‘Yes’ box must be selected
 Payment type must be selected as ‘Youth Mental Health’
 The amount field must be populated at $5000.
Unspent Career Account funds
The Department will recover all unspent Career Account funds from the Provider, including
if a Trial Participant Exits, Transfers to a new DES Provider, is suspended from the DES
programme, or no longer wishes to participate in the Trial.
Providers, must notify the Department of the status of the Career Account (including any
unspent funding) within 14 days of a Trial Participant ceasing participation in the Trial, or by
20 May 2016 for all remaining Trial Participants.
Any Career Account funds which have not been spent will be treated under the Deed as if
those unspent funds were an overpayment and will be recovered in accordance with clause
22.1 of the Deed.
Monitoring of uptake of places
Providers have been allocated a set number of places by the Department. It is expected that
demand for the Trial may be different for each Provider, and to ensure the required uptake
of places during the Trial Period the Department will monitor the uptake of places. Where a
Provider is not using its places, or may not use the places during the Trial Period, the
Department may seek to redistribute the places allocated to the Provider to another
Provider in the Trial ESAs.
Documentary Evidence
Providers participating in the Trial are required to retain sufficient Documentary Evidence to
prove their claim for payment, in accordance with clause 42.8 of the Deed. Providers must
keep a record of Career Account expenditure in the Trial Participant’s Job Plan and show
that each Trial Participant has directed how the funds were used.
The Provider must retain Documentary Evidence which indicates that the Participant
remained in the Trial and completed all Trial activities, as agreed to, and outlined in their
Job Plan. The Provider must also retain the original tax invoice or receipt for goods and
services purchased.
If the Department determines that any Career Account funds have not been spent in
accordance with the requirements of the Deed or Trial Guideline, the Department may
recover those funds in accordance with clause 24 (Debts and offsetting) of the Deed.
Participants commencing in Employment or Education during the Trial Period
During the Trial Period, if a Participant is placed into Employment/Education and or achieves
an Employment Outcome or an Education Outcome, all Documentary Evidence
requirements, as outlined in the Documentary Evidence for Claims for Payment Guidelines
v3.3, must be met. These Guidelines set out the Department’s Documentary Evidence
requirements for Fees for Services, Funds, Reimbursements and Ancillary Payments
provided under the Deed.
DES Youth Mental Health Trial Guidelines
Effective Date: 17 August 2015
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Note: Where the 13 Week Period or 26 Week Period contains a Permissible Break, Providers
must also ensure that they retain the required Documentary Evidence for a Permissible
Break, as outlined in the Documentary Evidence for Claims for Payment Guidelines v3.3.
Participant ceases the Trial prior to the completion period
If a Trial Participant is no longer able to participate in the Trial, the reason the Participant
exits the Trial must be retained in Documentary Evidence.
Note: This should not be read as a stand-alone document, please refer to the Disability
Employment Services Deed.
Disability Employment Services Deed Clauses:
Clause 8 Additional Services
Clause 89 Contact Services
Clause 96 General requirements for an Employment Pathway Plan
Clause 129 Ancillary Payments
Annexure A – Definitions
Reference documents relevant to these Guidelines:
Documentary Evidence for Claims for Payment Guidelines
Job Plans Guidelines
Ongoing Support Guidelines
Transfer Guidelines
Programme Review, Programme Summary and Exit Guidelines Records Management Instructions
Guidelines Eligible School Leaver Guidelines
Explanatory Notes:
1. All capitalised terms have the same meaning as in the Disability Employment Services Deed (The Deed).
2. In this document, ‘must’ means that compliance is mandatory and ‘should’ means that compliance
represents best practice.
DES Youth Mental Health Trial Guidelines
Effective Date: 17 August 2015
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