Budget 2008-09 > Budget Fact Sheets > Business Services Wage Assessment Tool - continuation
Business Services Wage Assessment Tool - continuation
Key elements
This measure continues funding for Business Services Wage Assessment Tool (BSWAT) assessments to determine the level of wages paid to people with disability working in disability business services.Background
Disability business services funded under the Commonwealth Disability Services Act 1986 must comply with 12 Disability Service Standards. Standard 9 requires that each service recipient enjoys working conditions comparable to other Australians, including being paid full Award wages or if the person is not fully productive because of their disability, pro-rata wages based on a transparent assessment tool.Since 2004 the BSWAT has been used by around 90 businesses to determine the wage levels of around 9,000 supported workers.
The availability of the BSWAT and associated Australian Government funding ensures that those businesses, lacking the necessary financial and human resource infrastructure to conduct internal wage assessments, are able to maintain compliance with Standard 9 and so support improved wage outcomes.