Customer with an illness, injury or disability volunteers for employment services 001-02230010

The decision to work, or participate in employment services, is voluntary for job seekers receiving payments that do not have mutual obligation requirements or compulsory Participation Requirements for Disability Support Pension (DSP) recipients.

Services Australia will encourage customers with a disability to register with employment services when they have the capacity to do so in order to help customers achieve greater self-reliance and to maximise their capacity to participate.

To be eligible for employment services a job seeker must have a current and valid assessment with an employment services referral recommendation.

From the 1 November 2025, a DSP recipient or NDIS participant with a valid Employment Services Assessment (ESAt) or Job Capacity Assessment (JCA) can be referred to Inclusive Employment Australia (IEA) regardless of the age and referral recommendation of the assessment. This includes where the recommendation is:

• to other employment services (for example, Workforce Australia or the former Disability Employment Service), or
• ‘unable to benefit’

The Job Seeker Snapshot is run for customers who want to engage in employment services. Where an additional assessment is required because of responses to some weighted Job Seeker Snapshot questions then a Job Seeker Snapshot initiated Employment Services Assessment (ESAt) is triggered. The customer is referred for an ESAt where:

• there is no current and valid assessment of the customer's work capacity
• they are a DSP recipient or NDIS participant who has never had an ESAt/JCA

Customers who have a current and valid assessment will generally be referred by the Assessor to the most appropriate employment services provider based on the recommendations of the existing report. Services Officers will action the referral to the appropriate employment service provider if the assessor has not actioned the referral at the time of the assessment. The referral could be to an Inclusive Employment Australia (IEA) or Workforce Australia provider. Customers located in a Department of Employment and Workplace Relations remote area are referred to a Remote Australia Employment Service (RAES) provider.

Where the customer is referred for an ESAt, the Assessor will complete a holistic assessment of the customer's capacity to work and identify appropriate interventions and referrals. Generally, the Assessor will directly refer the customer to the most appropriate service as part of the assessment. The customer may be referred to an employment services provider for specific services based on their Job Seeker Snapshot and referral recommendation. See Request an Employment Service Assessment (ESAt).

A job seeker with an illness, injury or disability does not have to be receiving an income support payment to be eligible for IEA. For exceptions and further information, see Eligibility criteria for participation with Inclusive Employment Australia (IEA).

For customers receiving Disability Support Pension (DSP) who do not have participation requirements, an ESAt may be conducted using a DSP Volunteer referral code to assess the most appropriate services. This process does not affect DSP income support payments and does not lead to a review of the person's pension entitlement. Customers receiving DSP who do have participation requirements may be referred for an ESAt using a DSP Participation (DSPU) referral code.

Note: From 1 November 2025, DSP recipients do not need a current ESAt/JCA to be referred to IEA. If the DSP customer has had an ESAt/JCA which remains valid, regardless of the age and referral recommendation, they are eligible to participate in IEA. DSP recipients who have never had an ESAt/JCA, will need to have an ESAt to be eligible to commence in IEA.