DEN National Consultation – Review of Disability Employment Services
Location – Townsville
Date – 18/09/2008
Key Questions Priorities
Question
Comment
Dots
What needs to happen to reduce the
negative impacts of red-tape?
What could we do better
What can we do to ensure job seekers get
the right service at the right time for their
individual need?
Reallocation of business for providers over
3 stars
Recognised industry training for staff
Take the “cap away and combine capped
and uncapped contracts

What can we do to ensure job seekers get
the right service at the right time for their
individual need?
What needs changing to ensure the
National Contract Management Framework
adds value to our service delivery?
What needs changing to ensure the
National Contract Management Framework
adds value to our service delivery?
How can we return our focus to providing
support to everyone who wants to work?
How can we return our focus to providing
support to everyone who wants to work?
Have an assessment fund $ to draw of
further expertise for accurate identification
of it’s needs
Longer terms of contracts

KPI’s for DEEWR and NDSS need to
combine/ be streamlined

Reducing admin

Capacity to utilise state and federal
programs to collectively enhance individual
needs – create motivation
Include CPI increase to payment/funding
arrangements inline with fuel/rent and
wages
Recognition of the additional cost of
remote/ regional services in accessing
conferences, involvement in peak
organisations accessing training and other
sector engaging activities
Encourage RTO’s to deliver to smaller
groups, rural disadvantaged due to

Employer engagement programs/
functions/ networking activities / partly
funded from donation / support

Is any change required to the fee structure
at this time, and if so what are the
changes?
Is any change required to the fee structure
at this time, and if so what are the
changes?
How can we ensure that all people with
disability who want to work get access to
the services they require?
What do you fund from alternative sources
of funding, and where do these funds
come from?






Key Questions Feedback
What do DENs do well?
 Liaise with other service providers
 Look at whole person
 Provision of long term employment maintenance assistance
 Advocate for people with disabilities in employment situations
 Personalised service
 On the job support
 Continued support – long term relationships (more so in rural areas)
 Advocate within the community eg. Mental Health Reference Groups
 Work with all stake holders to the best of their ability
What could we do better?
 Advocate for employers who employ people with disabilities
 Market our product
 Recognised industry training for staff 
 Remuneration for staff to attract the best people for the industry
 Raise awareness/reward industry incentives
 Have better transition programs for school to work and uni to work
What are the external factors we must pay attention to:
 Now
- Current Labour Market
- Government
 in 5 years
- Overseas employees
- Education – low literacy levels
- Changing market place
 in 10 years
- Aging population
- Globalisation
 in 25 years
- Continued technology change
What type of red-tape impacts negatively on us?
 Duration of contracts
 Auditing – No coherence between NDSS. DEEWR policies, programs etc
 Lack of knowledge of sector with in contract management framework = ineffective
administration processes are introduced = Unmet needs. I.e. AA’s and JCA’s
 Loose auditing framework
 Need to de-mystery DEEWR requirements
 Very complex
 Difficult to get an answer in a time by manner from DEEWR
 Inability of contract managers to provide timely and consistent interpretation of guidelines
(all programs)
 Reporting practices
What needs to happen to reduce the negative impacts of red-tape?
 Reallocation of business for providers over 3 stars 
 Introduce KPI’s recognise 12 NDS (Social Inclusion etc)
 Speacialist contract managers (Partner with DEEWR and DEN providers state based)
 DEEWR to ‘train’ providers in correct procedures, use of EA3000, more/some training
sessions, not just on-line
 Do away with DMI’s – Make maintaining payments reflective of DPI’s
 Require overarching reporting processes
What are the strengths / weakness of the current streaming (assessment and referral)
processes?
 JCA not telling whole story
 Access issues to JCA’s regionally
 JCA’s referring to own programs need more time for observations
 Not enough due diligence taken or ownership for end result
 Waiting lists
 Bureaucracy has significant effect on people with disabilities ability to participate – not an
empowering process as they have no ownership
 Weakness – Lack on experience of JCA’s in understanding the needs of people with
disabilities in employment situations
 Phone JCA’s (not face to face!!!)
 JCA’s not acknowledging out input in the assessment evidence
What can we do to ensure job seekers get the right service at the right time for their
individual need?
 Flexibility in delivery of programs
 Take the “cap away and combine capped and uncapped contracts” 
 Have panel members = Holistic approach to quality of service provision. Which is
responsive to individual needs
 Reform or do away with current JCA process
 Have an assessment fund $ to draw of further expertise for accurate identification of it’s
needs 
Who should get access to our program?
 People with disability specialist assistance to gain and retain employment and those people
with a disability who require long term assistance to maintain employment
 Anyone who feels they are disadvantages and want to reengage into the workforce
 Migrants – some have restrictions on their visa and want to work are working but aren’t
eligible of our services. Help with labour shortage.
Who should not get access to our program?
 People who refuse to work/ engage and are not work ready
 People on a medical certificate; Hospital waitlists, specialist, long term/ terminal illness
 People waiting for DSP approval and don’t want to access our agency in the short term
 People with terminal illness should not have to
What are the tensions between the Disability Service Standards and the National Contract
Management Framework?
 Lesser recognition of freedom of choice (Uncapped particularly)
 No focus on social outcomes
 One focused on the person/individual and the other is focused on payments/compliance
around fees
What have been the benefits of the National Contract Management Framework?
 Benefits appear to be only for Government – additional cost’s, risks etc. have been borne
by DEN’s
What needs changing to ensure the National Contract Management Framework adds value
to our service delivery?
 KPI’s need to be transport and repeatable.
 KPI’s for contract management (DEEWR)
 Longer terms of contracts 
 KPI’s need to be measurable with respect to individual labour markets to ensure equity in
performance measures
 KPI’s for DEEWR and NDSS need to combine/ be streamlined 
 Audit structure
What don’t we know, that we need to know, to improve our program?
 Government aim financial/ holistic
 Government benchmark or opinion on how E.S need to improve – motivators
 I think money this is a problem!
 Can they measure input vs. output
How can we ensure that all people with disability who want to work get access to the
services they require?
 Funding
 Regional availability
 Encourage RTO’s to deliver to smaller groups, rural disadvantaged due to locality 
 Supply support people to assist with intensive training. E.g. N+L
 Ease to mover between/into differing programs
 Easier access – (Return of disability officer within Centrelink)
How can we return our focus to providing support to everyone who wants to work?
 Reducing admin 
 Capacity to utilise state and federal programs to collectively enhance individual needs –
create motivation 
 Combine capped and uncapped contract – implement floating capacity
 Increased financial recognition for long term sustainable employment placements
 Making other key stake holders accountable for performance (i.e. RTO’s). Dual servicing
arrangements – Collaborative servicing.
What is your understanding of what ‘service fees’ cover?
 Administration of service
 Provision of job search assisting
 Employment of staff
 Provision of on job support
 Providing links to other complimentary services
What do you fund from alternative sources of funding, and where do these funds come
from?
 Employer engagement programs/ functions/ networking activities / partly funded from
donation / support 
 Grants, office equipment etc
 Lack of recognition of the misbalance of costs/ funds in the initial stages (particularly) of
peoples programs
 Development and promotion of DEEWR programs
What are the pro’s and con’s of merging existing Employer Incentives (WPMs, SWS, WSS,
WBPA) into an Employment Pathways Fund?
Pro
 Reduction in red tape
Con
 Ensuring key programs are adequately funded
How do we ensure our outcomes reflect the intent of the Disability Service Standards?
 Service standards focus on delivery not on outcomes, therefore there is a need for the
standards to recognise outcomes. If that’s what we want
 Encompass DSS into DEEWR
 DEEWR policies should adapt the DSS not override them
 Introduce KPI’s that align with NDSS ensure weighting is introduced as measurable KPI so
that it is not notional attempt to do the right thing
Is any change required to the fee structure at this time, and if so what are the changes?
 Recognition of the additional cost of remote/ regional services in accessing conferences,
involvement in peak organisations accessing training and other sector engaging activities 
 Need to maintain various levels reflect support requirements
 Include CPI increase to payment/funding arrangements inline with fuel/rent and wages 
 Additional funding for provisions i.e. work clothes, books, bikes etc
 Align to other fee, ensure DEN’s can offer adequate incentives. Sub wage $1500!
Identify the best features from the following funding streams: New (universal) Employment
Services, DEN Capped, DEN Uncapped, VRS Capped, VRS Uncapped.
 More funding to assist clients with individual needs. I.e. training, certificates, clothing and
transport
 Funding can be moved across clients
 Funding is at different levels, recognising levels of disabilities
Can you provide examples of positive employer awareness strategies?
 When management get involved with the employment of a client and offer to have the DEN
agency involved with educating the staff
 WEP (Although now not available to under 18’s)
 DES corporate lunch
 Ongoing employer relationships built on trust
If the measure of our Performance Management System is “outcomes”, what should these
outcomes be?
 Social outcomes
 Educational outcomes
 Whole of 1’s life balance/ connections = outcomes?!
 Employment outcomes (sustainable)
How do we ensure the right balance between the quality and quantity of outcomes?
 Align KPI’s to incorporate NDSS
 Train DEEWR staff in NDSS = More effective accurate review/ reform practices
 Change the DEEWR measures of star ratings
 Employer awareness
 Performance based outcomes – not just employment but education and training etc
 Acknowledge social inclusion in outcomes
Can you provide examples of positive community partnerships, and what will enable us to
build such partnerships?
 RTO – DEN
 JPET/PSP – Dual servicing relationships
 DEN – Schools
 DEN – Employers. Partnerships/ arrangements with large business organisations to meet
skills shortages with appropriate labour (ability matches)
 DEN – Universities, transaction programs
Others things that are important
 Recognition of special assistance required by people with mental illness