Eligibility criteria for participation with Disability Employment Services (DES) 008-04030020

There is a separate procedure about referring a customer to DES.

DES offers 2 programs to help people whose disability, injury or health condition is their primary barrier to finding and maintaining employment.

Depending on level of need and eligibility for program services, the participant will be either in:

• Disability Employment Services - Disability Management Service (DES-DMS) providing services to jobseekers:
• with permanent disabilities, injuries, or health conditions
• who need support from a disability employment service, and
• may need flexible ongoing support. They may not need regular, long-term support in the workplace
• Disability Employment Services - Employment Support Service (DES-ESS) providing services to jobseekers:
• with permanent disability, and
• who are assessed as needing regular long-term ongoing support in the workplace

DES gives people access to:

• support while training for a particular job, where the training may be provided by the service or subcontracted to another agency
• help in finding a job and starting employment in the open labour market
• continuing support once they have commenced employment

People can receive:

• 2 years of assistance to find and maintain employment
• up to 52 weeks of employment post-placement support
• ongoing support to maintain employment in the open labour market if needed

Post-placement and ongoing support involves maintaining contact with the person until they:

• have acquired the skills to function independently in the job, and
• are integrated into the workplace

Provision of further training may be necessary if, for example, the nature of the job changes.

DES is an uncapped service, which means it responds to the demand for places and does not have a waiting list. DES is divided into 2 distinct programs: (DES - DMS and DES - ESS).

When a person is referred to DES, their eligibility for the most appropriate program is determined by the DES provider. Services Australia staff do not need to monitor which program the job seeker is accessing.

DES-DMS provides services to people:

• with permanent disability, injury, or health conditions
• assessed as requiring flexible ongoing support. They may not need regular, long-term support in the workplace

DES-DMS provides disability employment support to:

• build work capacity (for example, physical conditioning programs, pain management, disability counselling)
• help customers to locate and gain suitable employment
• maintain employment by providing 26 weeks of post-placement support, and
• flexible ongoing support if required to assist customers to maintain their employment

DES-ESS:

• Is for people with a permanent disability and an assessed need for long-term ongoing support in the workplace. The program provides flexible, moderate, and high level ongoing support for people who are placed in employment
• Provides services to people with permanent disability who are assessed as needing regular long-term ongoing support in the workplace
• Provides disability employment support such as:
• helping people with permanent disability to find employment
• active support including advocacy services, support during job interviews and in dealing with employers
• maintain employment by providing 26 to 52 weeks of post-placement support, and
• flexible, moderate, and high level ongoing support to assist customers to maintain their employment

Work Assist supports eligible employees who are unable to fulfil their current employment requirements because of injury, disability, or health condition.

The DES provider will work with the Work Assist Participant and their employer to:

• provide support, and
• maximise the chance of the Participant maintaining their employment

Services Australia has no role in making a formal assessment of a job seeker's eligibility for Work Assist assistance with a DES provider. If the job seeker first approaches the agency seeking Work Assist, staff should tell the job seeker:

• they need to contact a DES provider for a direct registration and
• guidance about whether their assistance is likely to be suitable

The DES provider will confirm if a job seeker is eligible for Work Assist provisions, in most cases no further assistance from the agency is needed.

SCC eligibility allows job seekers who have acquired a disability, injury or illness as a result of being present at, and directly affected by an extreme event.

Job seekers are eligible if:

• they were present at, and directly affected by, extreme events such as natural disasters or acts of terrorism and
• as a result of this they acquired a disability, injury or illness

The following declared extreme event categories are currently eligible for SCC:

• Bali Bombings
• December 2004 Tsunami
• London bombings

Services Australia has no role in making a formal assessment of a job seeker's eligibility for SCC assistance with a DES provider. If the job seeker first approaches the agency seeking SCC assistance, staff should tell the job seeker:

• they need to contact a DES provider for a direct registration and
• guidance about whether their assistance is likely to be suitable

ESL helps students with significant disability to transition from school to post-school open employment.

A student who is an Eligible School Leaver can only access DES and DMS through direct registration with a provider without needing an:

• Employment Services Assessment (ESAt) or
• Job Capacity Assessment (JCA)

Services Australia has no role in making a formal assessment of a job seeker's eligibility for ESL assistance with a DES provider. If the job seeker first approaches the agency seeking ESL assistance, staff should tell the job seeker:

• they need to contact a DES provider for a direct registration and
• guidance about whether their assistance is likely to be suitable

A job seeker is eligible for DES if they:

• have a disability, injury or health condition
• are aged at least 14 years but have not yet attained the Age Pension qualifying age
• are at or above the minimum legal working age in their state or territory
• have a future work capacity with intervention of at least 8 hours per week
• have a current and future work capacity of less than 30 hours per week
• are an Australian resident including Australian citizen, holder of a permanent residence visa or holder of a protected special category visa (SCV). (Exception: DES-ESS is also available for job seekers who hold either a temporary protection visa (TPV) or Safe Haven Enterprise Visa (SHEV))
• are not studying full time (unless the job seeker is an Early School Leaver or School Leaver Trial Participant), and
• are not working at or above their Employment Benchmark hours (not applicable for Work Assist Participants and people who receive National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) funding for supported employment, and/or Australian Disability Enterprise (ADE) participants)
• are receiving an income support payment

Job seekers who are not receiving an income support payment may commence in DES if they are:

• ESAt/JCA exempt (Eligible School Leaver, Special Class Client, or Work Assist), or
• have a valid ESAt/JCA and are within the following cohorts:
• a current National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) participant
• a Pre-Released Prisoner, or
• undertaking a DES program to satisfy Program of Support (POS) requirements following a JCA

As a general rule, a referral cannot take place unless DES is recommended in the person's:

• most recent current and valid Job Capacity Assessment (JCA), or
• Employment Services Assessment (ESAt)

If needed a person may be referred for an ESAt to assess eligibility for DES, including those who 'directly register' with a DES provider.

DES programs are open to job seekers with mutual obligations who have a:

• partial capacity to work 8-14 hours per week, or
• temporary reduced work capacity 8-14 hours per week

These Job seekers can participate in DES programs on a voluntary basis and can exit without penalty.

Job seekers with mutual obligation requirements or DSP participation requirements are able to concurrently participate in both DES and Self-Employment Assistance. Eligible persons will benefit from specialist assistance from their DES as well as specialist small business services as delivered by the Self-Employment Assistance provider.

A person who has Work Capacity with Intervention of 0-7 hours per week:

• is generally not eligible for DES
• may be eligible for DES if the Assessor decides they may reach 8+ hours per week Work Capacity with Intervention with ongoing support from DES

In this case, to make sure the DES referral can proceed, the Assessor will record the following in the referral section of the ESAt/JCA report:

• the person's Work Capacity with Intervention as 0-7 hours per week and
• indicating '8+ with DES Ongoing'

A person is not eligible for DES if at the time of referral, they:

• are in receipt of DSP and/or are job seekers who have an assessed temporary reduced work capacity of 0-7 hours per week. Once the temporary reduced work capacity period has ceased, DSP recipients and job seekers with mutual obligation requirements can have a DES referral actioned as a deferred referral
• are in receipt of DSP and/or are job seekers who have an assessed Work Capacity with Intervention of 0-7 hours per week (unless Assessor has recommended they will reach 8+ hours with ongoing support)
• have an assessed current or future work capacity of 30+ hours per week
• are employed, where they have been working at or above their Employment Benchmark hours for 6 consecutive fortnights, and are likely to continue working at or above the relevant benchmark. (Note: this restriction does not apply to people seeking a referral to DES for Work Assist assistance)
• are studying full-time
• studying part-time and fully meeting their participation requirements because of that study
• have been granted JobSeeker Payment (JSP), or Youth Allowance (YA) under the non-protected SCV holder residence exemption, or
• are not receiving an income support payment unless they are an Eligible School Leaver, Special Class Client, participating in Work Assist or volunteering to meet Program of Support (POS) requirements

ESAt or JCA referral recommendation for DES or other Employment Services Providers does not consider if a job seeker is currently working at their assessed benchmark hours. If needed, the DES provider will determine at the initial interview whether the person's current work or study affects their eligibility for DES.

In some circumstances, job seekers will need a new ESAt before recommencing a DES placement after exit, even if they already have a current ESAt or JCA recommending referral to DES. See Referring a customer to Disability Employment Services (DES) for more details.

As at 1 July 2021, job seekers who no longer meet the eligibility criteria for DES will be able to complete their program with DES but will not be able to be re-referred after exiting.

Participation in DES is an approved activity, which means that the job seeker will satisfy their mutual obligation requirements while participating. Job seekers with compulsory mutual obligation requirements are required to take part in DES as set out in their Job Plan.

The DES provider includes the DES activity in the Job Plan when the job seeker commences. Services Australia is not able to code the DES activity in the jobseekers Job Plan.

See the Process page for more information about the requirements and allowable breaks for people participating in DES including those with a pending compensation claim.

All employment income must be advised and coded for people participating in DES. See Recording and correcting employment income details for assistance. Any self-employment income earned if participating in Self-Employment Assistance must also be advised and coded.

Special rules apply for DES participants who receive Disability Support Pension (DSP) to make sure hours worked and income received do not cause their payment to cancel incorrectly.

Job seekers cannot choose to exit DES, except for those who are:

• receiving Disability Support Pension (DSP) and who do not have compulsory participation requirements, or
• job seekers with mutual obligation requirements who can participate in DES on a voluntary basis because they have a partial capacity to work or a temporary reduced work capacity of less than 15 hours per week

DES providers cannot exit job seekers with mutual obligation requirements:

• before completion of the program, or
• without having achieved an employment/education outcome for the job seeker

If DES program is no longer suitable, DES providers:

• should refer the job seeker for an ESAt, and
• continue the job seeker in DES pending assessment outcome

The Assessor may then recommend the job seeker:

• be referred to another service, or
• may confirm that DES remains the most suitable service

Customers located in a Department of Employment and Workplace Relations designated remote area are referred to a Community Development Program (CDP) provider, not a DES provider. The CDP provider will provide similar DES services to eligible customers.