“Changes outlined in the DES General Deed Variation 4 took effect from 1 July 2012. This means that from 1 July 2012 DES Employment Outcomes can no longer be claimed where employment is contrived, not ongoing or not in open employment”. – DEEWR circular October 2012
But for the period of the contract just passed this was most certainly not the case – in fact these practices informed the ‘Star Ratings’ and, to the very best of my knowledge, while clearly DEEWR acknowledge the fact that DES has been riddled with deceit, no attempt has been made to remove the impact of flagrant abuse on the outcome of the purchasing bid.
Stuff that’s happened in this contract:
1. DES providers have worked to abuse the system by making placements into other related entities – this is the ‘not in open employment’ bit - frequently these placements have been made into ‘social enterprises’ (there have always been ‘related entity rules but they have been easily sorted to avoid DEEWR’s half-hearted attempts to prevent misuse).
Works like this: DES provider either gets roughly $7,500 or $15,000 during a 26 week outcome, depending upon the perceived level of disability/barriers – it’s a bit more but my math is poor – this amount covers registration and outcomes fees from placement through to 6 months working.
Each job seeker has a set benchmark for the number of hours they must work in order for the service to claim an outcome – that benchmark is automatically 8hrs for anyone on the Disability Support Pension.
Here’s a subsidy sum: 8hrs X $20 X 26wks = $4160
So, at least $3340 net to the service provider.
Then of course there is the value of that persons labour and output to their employer
2. The real misuse and abuse of the past/present process occurs when DSP recipients have work offered that is of very small hours – 8 will earn the provider a ‘result’- and that work is either completely or heavily subsidised. At 26 weeks (important for unfair dismissal and also as a milestone in the Disability Employment Service program) employment is terminated
3. Education is a directly linked to employment prospects and wages earned. Quite rightly, the funding body (DEEWR) made a provision for educational outcomes to count towards programs ‘Star Ratings’ the recognition system that purports to inform job seekers how good the program they are considering is.
How could you possibly cheat with this measure?
Works like this: DES provider attends local High School and spends time with a candidate who is registered, receives ‘counselling’ and offered suggestions for adjustments in the way in which they study.
They are then returned to their classroom.
Notch up an ‘educational outcome’.
To DEEWR’s credit this rort was ended on the 12th of October 2012. Nevertheless, such behaviour fed directly into ‘Star Rating’ results.
4. Job Splitting. For the funding body (and I suspect their political masters) ‘a job is a job is a job’ In other words, full employment and escape from welfare dependency is good, but so is an 8 hour a week job.
There is no doubt that for some persons 8 hours a week would a capacity contribution – such a person might lack the health or physical capacity to do more. These individuals are in a very small minority.
When I challenged the then Minister for disability Employment (2005) on the suggested model for what are now DES programs, suggesting it would encourage service providers to job split in order to maximise financial returns (the Government were about to open up business to ‘for profit’ programs), and achieve higher ‘Star’ ratings, I was told, ‘I think we can rely on the integrity of service providers’!
Well Australia and people with disability can’t, and both should never should have been made to – it’s a simple fact that the casualization of our work force has been spurred on by policy decision that reward providers for part time participation.
5. Creaming. The Disability Services Act was written (I believe) to support the folk with the highest level of disability to achieve the highest level of participation. Modern interpretation is that it was designed to help the highest number of people achieve participation.
If numerical results are good for profit, they are also good for statistics – ‘’500 people participated’ beats out ‘250 people escaped welfare’. The emphasis on numerical results with little real interest on the level of disability experienced by those people entering the program has seen a strong move toward service for people with lower barriers to entering employment.
The ‘Star Ratings’ are supposed to adjust for level of disability but the simple truth is that they do not, never have and actually never could do better than an ‘average’ result.
The pressure for numerical outcomes (remember job splitting is rife) pushes programs toward those with the least impairment resulting in those with higher levels of disability going to the back of the queue (especially so in for profit operations).
These are the practices that informed the Star Ratings and upon which business has been handed out for 2013- 2018.
The result:
The purpose of the Disability Services Act (1986) was to assist the most disadvantaged Australian to fully participate in the life defining experience of employment. Results were judged by the degree of participation achieved by each person – Hours worked X dollars earned X length of tenure was the measure of ‘success’.
The ultimate goal of each person’s program was to empower the person with a disability to achieve the greatest possible level of independence they could reach and preferably an end to government benefits.
Australian Disability Services thrived and were recognised internationally as first class.
That’s no longer the case. In fact, Australia has slipped to ‘motherless last’ in international measures of participation and employment for our most disadvantaged citizens.
It didn’t have to be this way and it doesn’t need to remain so.
The solution does not lie with government imposed quotas for business not legislatively imposed direction to employ a diverse workforce. The answer lies in beliefs and either ensuring that only ‘true believers’, organisations with a demonstrated interest in social justice and inclusion get a contract or (and I prefer this option) linking funding to reduction in welfare dependency.
If that happened you could forget tenders, bids and associated rubbish (and that’s all they are) and having licenced employment services, allow these to operate in a market designed to reward meaningful results.
Would you like a face-to-face meeting with Martin via Skype? Click the button below to make an appointment
Subscribe to this Blog - blog.novaemployment.com.au Copy the link above and paste it into your favourite Reader to subscribe to an RSS feed of this blog. To watch a short video explanation of RSS and how it helps you save time reading the web click here
Your Comments John from Parramatta wrote on 29 Oct 2012 12:40:02 PM I was given an 8 hour job and pretty much forced to take it - then, after I had been there for a short time I found out all my wages were being paid by ***** (removed-editor). The other workers all knew and they made me feel worthless. After 6 months my job was apparently no longer needed but I found out another person replaced me almost straight away.
Previous Posts
They Don't Count Gaining or holding formal qualifications can set a person up for a lifetime career. Holding appropriate qualifications that can lead to lifelong careers, tradespeople generally make a good income and enjoy well deserved respect....
Benchmarks To access NOVA Employment or any Disability Employment Service (DES), almost everyone is required to be assessed by the Services Australia Services (Centrelink) to determine their "Benchmark" hours: Benchmark hours are the pay point for service providers; being the minimum working hours required for the DES provider to bill the Government and the assessed maximum hours a person is deemed capable of working with DES support....
International Day of People with a Disability
International Day of People with a Disability
It's IDPwD and we have a 1 hour 'special' screening on SBS from 4.30 this afternoon.
Our Ryan Goodwin has done a great job of selecting some of the great entries from NOVA's 'Focusonability' short film festival - we love the Festival and hope that you'll love these films, gathered from around the world....
2020 - the first half When the going gets tough, the tough get going
Good! - Now they've left us, let's look at reality - when the going gets tough, many people suffer and dis-proportionally, people with disability suffer more....
Countdown Clock II
What's the countdown clock all about?
It's our closing time and a countdown to the end of a truly remarkable month of extraordinary effort by my staff....
Countdown Clock Regular viewers will have noticed a countdown clock ticking away (above)
What's that all about?
Can't say - you have to wait till 4.30pm (a little earlier for staff)
...
Just the best 3 One thing we all love is a winner which is why there's a smile on my face it will be pretty hard to shift.
There's a nightmare pandemic sweeping the world (carried off my mum), the economy has tanked in a never before seen disaster that's left more than a million Aussies unemployed and the only news seems to be bad news....
More than Money!
If asked, most of us would say we went to work for the money, to pay our bills or support our family.
All true, and yet work means so much more:
Prior to finding a job with NOVA employment Glenn* struggled to keep jobs for more than a few months and was generally working as a dishwasher in restaurants which he found to be quite unsatisfying work....
Life Changers II
How are you in the mornings (or evenings, or nights)? NOVA is an 'old school' Disability Employment Service - we find work in the general community with identical pay and conditions as those enjoyed by people who dont have a disability....
Life Changers Required! Received yesterday:
I was unemployed for 24 years because of my disability. I was looking for a job for the last 2 and half years. With the help of (NOVA Staff) I found suitable job and working in the law company for last one year....
Try us!
Don't know about you but I have felt pretty bruised from all the horrible stuff brought upon us by this damn virus - seeing so many folk losing their jobs is particularly awful and the uncertainty generated for everyone, particularly for workers who have a disability is dreadful to see....
Best Ever II
Following from last post:
NOVA Employment has operated for 30 years. Comparing all results from previous years, February 2020 has been our most successful to date - Following on from January that's 2 in a row and every indication March will also be a record breaker....
Best Ever
NOVA Employment posted another 'best ever' result for the first month of 2020.
Despite the most dreadful natural disasters and with many businesses closed for the holidays, the NOVA team delivered more new workers than in any previous January results, beating past 5 years average by 25% and previous (2017) 'best ever' numbers by 5%....
Depressing cracked record!
A good friend will occasionally pull me up with the reminder that I have a tendency to rant, 'rave on slop jaw' if I remember correctly....
Big Win! Saturday night saw a big win for the NOVA team and for people with disability when our Podcast partners NOVA Entertainment- no relationship other than mates - received the following:
BEST ORIGINAL PODCAST - BRANDED
Focus On Ability; Nova Employment & the Nova Entertainment Podcast Team , NOVA Entertainment
BEST ORIGINAL PODCAST - UNBRANDED
Hamish & Andy; Hamish Blake & Andy Lee, PodcastOne Australi
Taken from the web: https://www....
Good Result!
Received the following yesterday morning:
Hi Nova, just wanted to give my feedback in regards to my mother getting a job through you guys and the amazing impact it has had!! The job that mum has received has changed her outlook on everything! She is now much more confident in her self and her abilities....
Welfare Benefits and Health
It is said that power corrupts, but actually it's truer that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power: David Brin
DES providers don't need nor should they have been given the authority to suspend welfare benefits (see above)....
Disgusting!
Disgusting!: https://probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2019/07/ndis-data-drop-reveals-severe-employment-gaps/
I have spoken previously on, to quote former President Bush, 'the soft bigotry of low expectations' - if you are a member of a marginalised group the public don't expect much and are surprised when anything much is achieved!
I've been in this game for more than 30 years and have been privileged to see literally thousands of terrific men and women leave NOVA To gain (and retain) great jobs....
Goodness me!
Goodness me!
Read this article: https://www.smh.com.au/national/no-lights-no-linen-how-alex-survived-for-six-years-on-newstart-20190717-p5284q....
Changing Attitudes
One of the hardest things to do is change a person's attitude - if they are favourably disposed to you, all's well and good - if someone holds a contrary view it's an uphill battle to change a mindset....
Subscribe to this Blog