Chapter 4


Chapter 4

Job network capacity

4.1        The review of the disability support pension (DSP) impairment tables was part of a package of measures announced by the government intended to support people with a disability into work.[1]

4.2        Anglicare, the National Welfare Rights Network (NWRN), the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS), the National Council on Intellectual Disability (NCID), and Physical Disability Australia (PDA) were broadly supportive of moves to assist people with a disability into work but questioned the availability of suitable jobs.[2]

4.3        Anglicare was emphatic:

If it has been unclear up to this point, let us clarify—there are no jobs! Moving to a positive functional approach is a positive move by Government, only in so far as it is not used as a tool to manipulate and force individuals into a job market which at the moment is disinclined and unprepared to take on employees with a disability. The Government has measures in train to support jobseekers but it is oddly timed with this roll-out and whether it will be sufficient to ward off 'unintended consequences' which potentially have dire outcomes for those concerned, remains to be seen. Forcing people into circumstances, such as living on the [Newstart Allowance] is undignified, unkind not to mention unjust. Beyond that, the trap that potentially awaits people with a disability in the administrative tangle is setting them up to fail. Anglicare Australia would like to see policies from Government that provide genuine support to people to seek, obtain and sustain work, not trick them into untenable circumstances in order to meet a hard bottom line.[3]

4.4        ACOSS concurred:

The current social security system does not adequately take account of their barriers to employment in the 'real world'. A significant problem with measuring an individual’s employment potential in the abstract (without considering the labour market response and other environmental factors) is that the assessment may bear little relationship to people’s actual job prospects...the DSP assessment process as a whole does not take account of the labour market response to disability, for example whether work of the kind a person is capable of performing is available where they live and whether employers discriminate against people with a particular disability. While ACOSS strongly supports efforts to improve the job prospects of people with disabilities, it is important to acknowledge that the labour market is still hostile to disability. The overall employment rate of people with significant functional impairments in 2009 was 42 per cent compared with 70 per cent for the wider community.

This is a deliberate, and to an extent unavoidable, feature of assessment for a payment such as the DSP. If an individual's actual employment prospects were taken into account (as the legislation previously did for mature age workers with disabilities) then the distinction between the DSP and an unemployment payment would be blurred. Nevertheless, a failure to take account of the way the labour market responds to disability is problematic as this is part and parcel of the proper measurement of disability.[4]

4.5        In a report titled What if employers say no?, Anglicare together with Catholic Social Services Australia, the Salvation Army and UnitingCare Australia claimed:

In Australia, many thousands of the applicants who do not meet the revised impairment table requirements from January 2012 are unlikely to find work. As the OECD notes: "most countries today refer to a 'theoretical' labour market when assessing disability benefit eligibility, i.e. to jobs that exist in principle in the economy, rather than actually available jobs" (OECD, 2010b). Just because a person is assessed as able to work does not mean they have a realistic chance of finding a paid job—even with access to training and job search assistance.[5]

4.6        In an effort to address the lack of suitable jobs for people with a disability, Anglicare proposed a leadership role for government. Anglicare envisaged this role would comprise:

  • direct hiring and retention of people with a disability, which may involve adding new functions and changing the organisation of work, for example creating positions that allow for episodic absences and reducing the need for multi-skilling; and
  • procurement policies that require government agencies to engage providers that meet targets for employing people with disabilities.[6]

4.7        In response to the claim in the What if employers say no? report that employment prospects for people with a disability are based on theoretical rather than actual jobs, FaHCSIA stated:

The work test for the availability of work is defined in the Social Security Act 1991 s94(5) as:

"work" means work:

a)      that is for at least 15 hours per week on wages that are at or above the relevant minimum wage; and

b)      that exists in Australia, even if not within the person's locally accessible labour market.[7]

4.8        In addition to their concern about the availability of "real" jobs, Anglicare questioned the ability of disability employment support services to assist an increased number of job-seekers:

It might be argued that the Disability Employment Services (DES) will provide that support, but how well placed is that sector to absorb the expected inflow of new job seekers? There will be $11.3 million going toward the support of an additional 1,000 registered job-seekers but this is earmarked for those who have been unemployed in excess of 12 months and even then, this money is not available until at least 1 July 2012. In fact the timing of the entire suite of participation initiatives announced as part of this year’s Building Australia’s Future Workforce budget measures is at odds with the changes to the impairment tables which come into effect on 1 January 2012.[8]

4.9        FaHCSIA informed the committee that the government had already taken some steps to address this problem:

The implementation of the new Impairment Tables was announced in the 2009-10 Budget and builds on other reforms that have already been implemented including:

  • From 1 March 2010, the removal of the cap on Disability Employment Services announced in the 2008-09 Budget with a $1.7 billion investment over the contract period so that all job seekers with disability will have immediate access to assistance from an employment service helping them to gain skills and employment; and
  • From 3 September 2011, funding for extra employment services to assist people referred to a program of support as a result of the reforms to DSP assessments which require DSP applicants (other than those with a severe impairment) to provide evidence that they have been unable to obtain employment through an open employment service or vocational rehabilitation.[9]

4.10      The Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) outlined how disability employment services would respond to an increased demand for their assistance:

The open employment services in Australia are designed to provide tailored and individualised services to meet the vocational and non vocational needs of job seekers to assist them into sustainable open employment.  The employment services models are demand driven, so all eligible job seekers can receive immediate employment services – there are no waiting lists.  The flexibility of the employment services model enables major government reforms to be incorporated.

The contracting of open employment services ensures that organisations deliver services across thousands of sites in Australia.  The performance and fee structures of these organisations are driven by the achievement of sustainable employment outcomes with the overall objectives being to ensure that job seeker’s barriers to employment are addressed and that they are assisted into sustainable employment, so they can contribute and be active members of the labour market.

Ongoing Support for people with disability is an important component of the Disability Employment Services model as the Australian Government recognises that there are some people with disability that require regular support in the workplace to ensure their job remains sustainable.[10]

4.11      DEEWR also described the support available to people with a disability that are found to be ineligible for the DSP, due to the changes in the impairment tables. These programs included Disability Employment Services, Job Services Australia and the Indigenous Employment Program:

Disability Employment Services provide eligible job seekers with disability, injury or health condition access to individually tailored employment services better suited to their needs, with strong links to training and skills development, particularly in areas of local skills shortages and includes the following employment services components:

  • Disability Employment Services—Disability Management Service

    o      For job seekers with disability, injury or health condition who require assistance but are not expected to need long-term support in the workplace.

  • Disability Employment Services—Employment Support Service

    o      For job seekers with permanent disability and with an assessed need for more long-term, regular support in the workplace.

  • The Employer Incentives Scheme provides the following support for Employers of people with a disability:

    o      The National Disability Recruitment Coordinator service aims to increase the number of job vacancies available to Disability Employment Services for people with disability.

    o      The Supported Wage System aims to increase employment opportunities for people with disability by providing an industrial relations framework that enables the legal payment of a productivity-based, or pro-rata wage.  The Supported Wage System is a process that allows employers to pay a productivity-based wage that matches an independently assessed productivity rate.

    o      The Wage Subsidy Scheme aims to encourage employers to provide sustainable employment to workers with disability.  The Scheme enables Disability Employment Services to offer financial assistance through wage subsidies to employers who employ Disability Employment Services participants.  The employment must be under open employment conditions—that is, under a legal industrial agreement that complies with minimum standards established under Commonwealth, state or territory law).  It must also guarantee the worker a weekly award-based wage, for example: no commission based or subcontracting type positions.

    o      The Employment Assistance Fund provides help for people with disability and mental health condition by providing financial assistance to purchase a range of work-related modifications and services for people who are about to start a job or who are currently working, as well as those who require assistance to find and prepare for work.

Job Services Australia includes the following employment services components:

  • Stream Services

    o      All people participating in employment services work with their provider on a regular basis to develop and implement a plan which will assist them into employment.  This plan would include (for example) training, non vocational assistance, job searching and work experience.  During regular contacts with their provider, the participant is able to review and update their plan and gain assistance from their provider in receiving the support they need.  Providers also help in securing job opportunities or work experiences for their participants including on-the-job support if required.  Participants in employment services are supported by a Service Guarantee which outlines the level of support they should receive from their provider.

  • New Enterprise Incentive Scheme (NEIS)

    o      NEIS provides eligible job seekers interested in starting and running a small business with the assistance they need.  NEIS services are provided for the first 12 months of the business operation. These services are sensitive to the individual’s circumstances and background.

Indigenous Employment Program aims to increase Indigenous Australians employment outcomes and participation in economic activities, contributing to the Government’s commitment to halving the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous employment outcomes within a decade.  The Indigenous Employment Program supports a broad range of activities that are responsive to the needs of employers, Indigenous Australians and their communities.[11]

4.12      The committee is supportive of the government's intention to assist people with a disability into work but is concerned about the availability of suitable jobs and the adequacy of employment support services. The changes to the DSP impairment tables, coupled with other changes to DSP work requirements, will likely result in an increase in the number of people with a disability required to seek employment. Subsequently, larger numbers of job-seekers will be seeking the assistance of disability employment services and competing for a limited number of suitable jobs.

4.13      The committee agrees with Anglicare's recommendation that the federal government can play a lead role in addressing this issue through direct hiring practices that seek to increase the number of people with a disability employed in the Commonwealth Public Service, as well as policies that require federal government agencies to procure goods and services from providers that actively encourage employment of people with a disability.

Recommendation 3

4.14      The committee recommends that the bill be passed.

Senator Claire Moore

Chair

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