Issue 66 | 12 June 2006
Organisations should have now received Variations to their Funding Agreements for the 2006-07 funding period.
It is important that organisations carefully read the Variation as it is legally binding once you have accepted it. If the Variation to your Agreement is acceptable, please sign and date the Acceptance (at the end of Attachment A) on both copies of the letter and return both complete sets by 23 June 2006 to the following address:
Linda Young
National Disability Operations
Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs
GPO Box 9820
BRISBANE QLD 4001
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The transition from Block Grant Funding to Case Based Funding is now complete. Since early 2004 we have had four transition points and moved approximately 14,000 cases to the new funding model. A big thank you to all business services for their effort and commitment through the transition to Case Based Funding.
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In November 2005, the new Rural and Remote Service Supplement funding was announced for disability business services. The new Rural and Remote Service Supplement focuses funding where it is most needed and has tripled the amount that flows to rural and remote business services –from $700,000 to $2.4m in 2005-06. The first payment of the new Rural and Remote Service Supplement was made in December 2005 for the 2005-06 financial year.
From 1 July 2006 the Rural and Remote Service Supplement will be paid monthly in arrears at the end of each month, in line with all other Case Based Funding payments. The 2006-07 monthly Rural and Remote Service Supplement payments will be included in the calculation of the Business Service Funding Subsidy.
For example, if a business service has a Business Service Subsidy Reference Amount of $10,000, and receives $8,000 in Case Based Funding payments and $1,000 in Rural and Remote Service Supplement, the business service would receive a $1,000 Business Service Funding Subsidy payment.
If you have any questions about your Rural and Remote Service Supplement please contact you local FaCSIA State and Territory contract manager.[ top ]
By the time Case Based Funding is fully phased in on 1 July 2006, funding to disability business services will be 15 per cent higher than it would have been under the old Block Grant model. While many business services have already seen payments increase, some business services will have funding reduced under the new model.
Business services that receive less government funding under the Case Based Funding model than they received under the Block Grant arrangements currently receive a special subsidy payment to make up any shortfall between their current funding and the Block Grant Funding they were receiving at July 2004. For example, if a service previously received $150,000 per annum in Block Grant Funding ($12,500 a month) and was currently receiving $8,000 a month under Case Based Funding, then a $4,500 monthly funding subsidy is paid to make up the difference.
From 1 July 2006, the funding subsidy will reduce to 75 per cent of the Block Grant Funding level that applied in July 2004. The same service would be guaranteed $9,375 a month in assistance, so if this service now receives $8,000 a month under Case Based Funding, they will also get $1,375 per month in Funding Subsidy, rather than $4,500 a month.
Services that currently receive this funding subsidy to help them with the transition to Case Based Funding should already be planning for the pending change to their monthly funding levels. If you have any questions or would like to discuss the impact of this change on your service, contact your local FaCSIA Contract Manager.[ top ]
Consultations on the review of the National Disability Advocacy Programme are now complete. Face-to-face discussions have been held with consumers both of advocacy services and broader disability services, their carers, representatives from state and territory governments, service providers and FaCSIA staff who are involved in the programme. National peak bodies such as ACROD, Carers Australia and the Australian Federation of Disability Organisations have also had the opportunity to provide feedback from the groups they represent.
A reference group consisting of service providers, representatives of national peaks, state governments and FaCSIA staff will be meeting to discuss and progress the findings and recommendations of the review. The Reference Group will be meeting before the end of June 2006.
The review will point to the most effective service delivery arrangements for delivering advocacy. Current service providers will have their contracts extended until 31 December 2006 while work is underway to improve the programme.[ top ]
We recently contacted all business services by email to seek information about the use of wage tools in their organisation.
Changes to industrial laws means that the setting of disability wages in business services will now be determined by the new Australian Fair Pay Commission.
Industry representatives such as ACROD will be expected to make submissions on this matter to the Commission. In order to ensure that the interest of all business services are addressed in their Submission, ACROD and the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs are working together to establish the extent of coverage by individual wage assessment tools across the sector.
It is important that we have this information to ensure that no business service is overlooked in this exercise.
A number of organisations have not yet responded to the survey - we will contact these organisations separately but if you know you have not responded please email christopher.chapple@facsia.gov.au with answers to the following questions:
Does your business service have coverage of a current Enterprise Bargaining Agreement, Certified Agreement or AWA? Please provide details including date of expiry of current industrial arrangements.
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FOFMS will be unavailable from Wednesday 28 June until Monday 3 July 2006 to allow FaCSIA to complete our end of financial year processing. As part of the end of financial year processing we will pay your Case Based Funding payments early. Any Case Based Funding payment due on the 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th, 28th, 29th and/or 30 June 2006 will be processed on Friday 23 June and deposited into your bank account within three working days.
If you have any questions about the early payment processing please contact the CBF Service desk on 1800 034 887 or Helpdesk.CBF@facsia.gov.au[ top ]
The Victorian Transport Accident Commission (TAC) supports people to return to work after a transport accident. Many of the TAC’s severely injured clients require ongoing support to allow them return to the workforce in some capacity. TAC is currently assisting interested clients to access Business Services across metro and regional Victoria.
It is anticipated that the number of TAC clients accessing these services will be relatively low (approximately 10 per annum across Victoria). If a TAC client receives a referral from Centrelink to your Business Service, a TAC representative will contact you to discuss a potential employment arrangement with the TAC client. As the process is already underway, some of you may hear from TAC in the near future. Any further enquiries can be directed to Maria Avgeropoulos on 03 9664 6172.
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The 2005 and 2006 Federal Budgets provided for the progressive expansion of the disability Workplace Modifications Scheme (WMS) and Supported Wage System (SWS) to address expected demand over the next 3 to 4 years. These programmes aim to better support employers and workers with disabilities in obtaining and keeping employment.
The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) is looking for suitably qualified individuals and organisations with suitably qualified staff to provide assessment services.
This forthcoming Request for Tender (RFT) will establish a national:
Prospective tenderers can tender to become a member of either or both Panels.
DEWR expects to release the Request for Tender (Tender Reference 2006/10) documentation through Austender over the next week. Interested parties are encouraged to monitor the Austender website.
Calling all suppliers of products and services for people with disabilities
Do you supply a product or service that has the potential to assist people with disabilities in the workplace?
Would you like your business details featured on a new website free of charge?
DEWR is looking for Australian suppliers of quality products and services for people with disabilities to appear on our new website, JobAccess.
JobAccess will replace JobAble from 3 July 2006. It will be a one-stop information shop for employers of people with disabilities, job seekers and workers with disabilities, employment service providers and co-workers. Included in the website will be a workplace adjustment and advice tool that will let you explore ideas and solutions for enabling or supporting employees as they perform different activities at work. The search tool will then link users to the various suppliers in their state or territory.
If you are interested in nominating to appear on our website please print and complete the attached Supplier Nomination form and fax it to 02 6275 3923 or post it to:-
Department of Employment and Workplace Relations[ top ]
Email disAbility e-news if you'd like more information on a particular issue or program or to let us know what you think of this e-newsletter.
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Your contributions to disAbility e-news are welcome. Do you want to let others know about your successes? Or how you engage with local businesses to create employment opportunities for people with disabilities? Email your story idea to disAbility e-news.
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