Issue 37 | 29 March 2005
The A.C.E. National Network (ACE) is pleased to announce that the launch of the Australian Government Department of Family and Community Services (FaCS) funded "Industry Development" project will be in Perth in late March 2005. The Industry Development project aims to assist open employment agencies to explore management systems, which will assist them after the transition to the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) is completed. The project will be rolled out in a number of stages.
For further information about this project, please contact ACE at info@acenational.org.au
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FaCS provides yearly funding to support national and international disability conferences held within Australia. Applications are now open for conferences to be held between 1 July 2005 and 30 June 2006. Applications must be received by Tuesday, 26 April 2005.
For more information, copies of the Guidelines for Applicants and the application form, please visit the Disability Conference Funding Program information page on the FaCS website.
Alternatively, please contact Natalie Mallia in the FaCS Disability and Carers Branch:
Tel: 02 6244 1405
TTY: 1800 672 682
Fax: 02 6244 7976
Email: office-disability@facsia.gov.au
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Services that have recently completed DMIs on the Interim Disability Maintenance Instrument System (IDMIS) will have received a lump sum DMI reimbursement payment in March. Services have been paid $160 for all DMIs authorised on IDMIS between 1 December 2004 and 28 February 2005. The next quarterly reimbursement payment is due in June 2005.
DMI reimbursement payments are paid to services that complete and authorise DMIs on IDMIS for eligible block grant workers. Services are not paid for the same worker more than once. This means DMI reassessments are not eligible for reimbursement when they have already been reimbursed for that worker.
If you have any questions regarding the DMI reimbursement payment please contact your Contract Manager.
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Certification bodies are required to conduct annual surveillance audits of certified disability employment services. The date of the first surveillance audit following initial certification must be within 12 months of the completion of the initial assessment.
The surveillance audit checks the ongoing effectiveness and improvement of the service's management system. The priority standards examined are two, seven, eight and nine.
As with certification assessments, a sample of consumers is involved in the audit.
It is a legislative requirement that services hold a current certificate of compliance with the standards, so it is important that surveillance audits are conducted on time to verify continued compliance. If your surveillance audit date has passed, please contact your certification body to arrange an alternative date urgently and advise your local state/territory office of FaCS. The Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand (JAS-ANZ) requires and checks that certification bodies meet these timeframes.
For further information please contact Sharon Floyd on (08) 8400 2103 or Mark Heywood on (07) 3005 6094.
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Yes. From 4 April 2005 you will be paid:
At the beginning of each month FaCS will look at all the funds paid to your outlet during the previous month. If the amount your outlet received is less than the amount you would have received under block grant funding, an extra payment called the 'Funding Subsidy' will be paid to you.
Example 1
Before the move to CBF, Outlet A had a Block Grant Outlet Capacity of 100. Each place was funded at $5000, giving the outlet a total block grant funding level of $500 000 a year ($41 666.67 a month).
On 1 January 2005, Outlet A moved 25 workers to CBF. Of these workers:
Since 1 January 2005 the outlet has been receiving the following funds:
Funding Price |
Price |
Monthly amount |
Number of Clients |
Payment per Month |
ABGP |
$5 000 |
$416.67 |
75 |
$31 250.25 |
Funding level 1 |
$3 500 |
$291.67 |
2 |
$583.34 |
Funding level 2 |
$6 000 |
$500.00 |
10 |
$5 000.00 |
Funding level 3 |
$9 000 |
$750.00 |
10 |
$7 500.00 |
Funding level 4 |
$12 000 |
$1 000.00 |
3 |
$3 000.00 |
Total due per month: |
$47 333.59 |
Prior to transition the outlet received $41 666.67 a month (the block grant funding amount). Outlet A is receiving more funding under CBF than under block funding and is therefore not eligible for a funding subsidy.
Example 2
In this example, Outlet A had exited 13 clients and at 4 April 2005, it had not backfilled any of these vacant Outlet Capacity places. Ten of these vacancies are in Block Grant Funding, so Outlet A will only be able to select 65 clients as 'within BGC' on IDMIS prior to 23 March. A further three vacancies are in CBF and one new jobseeker commenced in April. Funding is therefore calculated as follows:
Funding Price |
Price |
Monthly amount |
Number of Clients |
Payment per Month |
ABGP |
$5 000 |
$416.67 |
65 (-10)* |
$27 083.55 |
Funding level 1 |
$3 500 |
$291.67 |
1 (-1)* |
$291.67 |
Funding level 2 |
$6 000 |
$500.00 |
10 |
$5 000.00 |
Funding level 3 |
$9 000 |
$750.00 |
9 (-1)* |
$6 750.00 |
Funding level 4 |
$12 000 |
$1 000.00 |
2 (-1)* |
$2 000.00 |
New Jobseeker |
$500 |
$500.00 |
1 (+1)# |
$500.00 |
Total due per month |
$41 625.22 |
At the beginning of May, FaCS determines that Outlet A has received less funding during April than it would have received had it remained funded under Block Grant funding, that is $41 625.22 compared to $41 666.67.
In May, Outlet A will therefore receive an additional $41.45 in the form of a funding subsidy.
In January, Outlet A received $47 333.59 because it had no vacant places in its Outlet Capacity. In April, however, Outlet A received approximately $5 500 less than it did in January because it had 13 vacancies.
If a suspended client returns and you have already backfilled that place, then your Disability Employment Assistance (DEA) Funding Agreement allows you to 'stretch' your capacity by at least 10 per cent until a vacancy occurs which allows the returned client to take a place.
Remember: managing your Outlet Capacity appropriately will help you improve your cash flow.
FaCS wants to provide the best possible support to as many clients as possible. The best way to do this is to make sure that places are allocated to areas and outlets with the greatest need.
FaCS is monitoring the utilisation of Outlet Capacity on a monthly basis to identify which outlets are not using all their places, and is developing a policy for the re-allocation of unused places to areas and outlets with a greater need.
If you do not use your places they may be reallocated to areas and outlets with a greater need.[ top ]
Services please note, the shutdown of IDMIS will only impact Business Services and not Open Employment. Open Employment Services will still be able to access IDMIS from 23 March to 4 April and beyond, until they are migrated onto the new DEWR system in July 2005.
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A request for tender to operate the CRRS and "Hotline" is advertised on the Australian Government's website for tenders, AusTender. A package of information for organisations interested in tendering to operate the CRRS and the "Hotline" is available by contacting Mark Heywood on: (07) 3005 6094.
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