Disability employment assistance services and programs 008-04030000

Disability Employment Services (DES) offers 2 programs to help people whose disability, injury or health condition is their primary barrier to finding and maintaining employment. Depending on their level of need and their eligibility for Program Services, the Participant will be in either:

• Disability Employment Services - Disability Management Service (DES-DMS), that provides services to job seekers with temporary or permanent disability, injury or health conditions who require the assistance of a disability employment service and who may require flexible ongoing support but are not expected to need regular, long-term support in the workplace, or
• Disability Employment Services - Employment Support Service (DES-ESS), that provides services to job seekers with permanent disability and who are assessed as needing regular long-term ongoing support in the workplace

Australian Disability Enterprises (ADE) was previously known as Disability Supported Employment or Business Services. The ADE program provides employment opportunities for people with disabilities that are permanent (or likely to be permanent) and result in a need for ongoing support services to gain and maintain employment or access supported employment. Services Australia no longer has a role in assessment or referral to ADE.

From 1 July 2021, a job seeker has to be receiving, or be eligible to receive, income support payments to receive assistance from disability employment assistance services in most instances. Job seekers will also need to be assessed with a current and future work capacity below 30 hours per week.

As a general rule, a referral cannot take place unless DES is recommended in the customer's most recent current and valid Job Capacity Assessment (JCA) or Employment Services Assessment (ESAt).

Some groups of customers are exempt from the requirement for a JCA or ESAt, including Work Assist participants, eligible school students, special class clients and eligible school leavers. These customers generally directly register with the DES provider who will determine whether an ESAt is required.

Where required a job seeker may be referred for an ESAt to assess eligibility for DES, including job seekers who 'directly register' with a DES provider.

See Eligibility criteria for participation in Disability Employment Services (DES).

A customer may be referred to DES by Services Australia staff:

• Where an Assessor recommends DES as the most appropriate service in an ESAt or JCA report, they will generally refer the job seeker to a provider of their choice following the completion of the assessment
• Where the referral is not made by the Assessor, other Services Australia staff may be required to make the referral after the ESAt or JCA report is submitted, see deferred referrals of job seekers to employment services
• May provide job seekers with information to assist them chose a provider however, they should not choose a provider for them. Where a job seeker does not want to choose a provider the random allocation process must be utilised
• May inform job seekers that they can change their choice of DES provider by calling the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations at any time without providing a reason

A customer may also approach a DES provider through the Direct Registration pathway for Disability Employment Assistance services:

• Job seekers with an illness, injury or disability may directly approach an Employment Services Provider requesting registration for employment assistance
• This direct registration process applies for job seekers either not in receipt of an income support payment or job seekers receiving a payment with no mutual obligation requirements
• A person who is not receiving an income support payment is eligible to commence in DES to satisfy Program of Support (POS) requirements where:
• Services Australia has assessed and rejected a claim for Disability Support Pension (DSP) on the grounds that POS requirements have not been met
• the Provider has, and retains, a signed statement or email from the person that they have claimed and intend to re-claim DSP, subject to POS requirements
• the Provider records that the person is undertaking a POS in the Special Placement section of the job seeker Eligibility screen
• the job seeker meets other DES eligibility requirements, including a Valid ESAt referral
• The direct registration pathway is normally appropriate for customers who are exempt from the requirement for a JCA or ESAt including school leavers and those eligible for Work Assist assistance
• If the provider finds that the customer does not have a current and valid assessment of the customer's work capacity, they can refer the job seeker for an ESAt

For more information, see Referring a job seeker to Disability Employment Services (DES).

Services Australia can refer job seekers to programmes offered by a number of government departments at the same time to assist the job seeker find employment. This complements the assistance provided through Employment Services Providers. For example, a job seeker may be actively participating in DES at the same time as they are participating in Skills for Education and Employment (SEE).

Job seekers located in a Department of Employment and Workplace Relations designated remote area are referred to a Community Development Program (CDP) provider. The CDP provider will provide a similar disability employment service to job seekers.

If the customer would like to lodge a complaint about disability employment services they receive, direct them to contact the appropriate complaints line. The Resources page has a link to the JobAccess website for complaint resolution processes.