Issue 68 | 10 July 2006
You may have recently received a Disability Maintenance Instrument (DMI) reimbursement payment from FaCSIA. The DMI reimbursement payment has been made in respect of DMI assessments that you authorised between 1 March 2006 and 5 June 2006 for Block Grant Funded clients preparing to transition to Case Based Funding at the 1 July 2006 transition point. New clients who are funded under Case Based Funding are not eligible for the reimbursement. Only clients who are transitioning to Case Based Funding from Block Grant Funding are eligible.
Business Services are entitled to $160 for each DMI assessment authorised for Block Grant Funded clients transitioning to Case Based Funding. Please note: the DMI reimbursement is paid only once—subsequent DMI re-assessments do not attract the reimbursement.
As the transition from Block Grant Funding to Case Based Funding is now complete this is the final DMI reimbursement payment Business Services will receive. If you have any questions about your DMI reimbursement payment please contact your local State or Territory Office Contract Manager.
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FOFMS has reports available to help you identify and reconcile your FaCSIA payments. These reports allow service providers to view:
For all reports, you can select a specific period that you're interested in, ie one month or quarterly. The Agreement Schedule and Case report will also include the first name and surname of individual clients for whom payments have been made. All reports will have subtotals and totals, will be printable and can also be exported to Excel for further manipulation.
A further development that will also help you reconcile your payments is a new screen called 'Consolidated Payment Request Line Items'. This view will be available under the existing Payment Request view. From this new screen view, you will be able to query FOFMS for payment details using the IMPACT Clearing Number (the reference number which is provided on your bank statement with each deposit from FaCSIA) as well as the IMPACT Invoice Number (the document number contained on your Recipient Created Tax Invoice).
An information pack to help you in using the new functions is available on the FOFMS Literature site. Copies were also emailed directly to FOFMS users on 15 March, and hard copies posted to the mailing address recorded for your organisation in FOFMS. If you have not received your information pack please contact the FOFMS helpdesk on 1800 020 283. Organisations that receive mail on behalf of their outlets should ensure the information provided on FOFMS is passed on to each of their outlets as quickly as possible.
A new user guide, consolidating all the information and user guide updates which you have received since FOFMS was introduced, will be available soon.[ top ]
Wodonga TAFE (in partnership with Aware Industries) recently conducted national consultations which gathered data that will guide the design and development of training resources and information materials for the sector. The report to FaCSIA from the consultation process is available at: http://wish.wodonga.tafe.edu.au/wiottd/
Thank you to all who assisted by offering advice, assistance and the benefits of their knowledge and experience in the sector. The first three draft products, Work Talk, Working Safely and Work Safety are currently being finalised. The products will be distributed by FaCSIA to all disability employment and advocacy services in August.
Again, thank you to those who have offered feedback. Further queries about the development of the products should be directed to Wodonga TAFE, ph 02 6055 6600.[ top ]
Disability employment organisations are reminded they must have a current contract with a certification body at all times. If organisations are considering changing certification bodies, it is highly recommended that negotiations with the new certification body are almost finalised before cancelling the relationship with the former certification body. This will ensure that your organisation's certification remains current. Both FaCSIA and DEWR are unable to fund any organisation without a current certificate of compliance as legislated in the Commonwealth Disability Services Act (1986).
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Organisations currently considering mergers with other disability employment organisations should factor synchronisation of quality assurance audits as part of the merger process. Both organisations should discuss their planned merger with their respective certification bodies to ensure that additional sites can be added to the acquiring organisation's existing certificate in a process consistent with the previous certification regime. Additional sites can be added to an existing certificate of compliance as the result of surveillance or reassessment audits. For more detailed advice, please contact your certification body.
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The Australian Government Disability Services Census provides the most detailed information available on Australian Government funded employment disability services and their consumers.
In previous years service providers have been required to complete a census comprising around 30 questions on their service and consumers.
This year most of the required information will be obtained from the Department’s online funding system (FOFMS) which means that services will not need to complete a detailed census report.
However, there are a small number of required items on which the system does not contain information. To obtain this information services will need to complete a short questionnaire in a spreadsheet format and also verify the provided data.
The required information is for the period from 1 July 2005 to 30 June 2006. A letter is being sent to service providers and the questionnaire and instructions will be distributed around 17 July 2006. Completed information is due for return by 31 July 2006.
If services need to notify changes to contact details or require further information please send an email to disability.census@facsia.gov.au or contact the Disability Census Helpdesk on 1800 550 244.[ top ]
As part of the Welfare to Work initiative commencing on 1 July 2006, Job Capacity Assessors will be available to assess a person's ability to work and any barriers they may face in to getting a job. People with a disability applying for the Disability Support Pension (DSP) after 1 July 2006, or who are applying for other income support payments and have barriers to employment, will be referred for a Job Capacity Assessment.
Job Capacity Assessments will be undertaken by a variety of providers – 80 per cent will be undertaken by Government providers including Centrelink, CRS Australia and Health Services Australia. The remaining 20 per cent have been chosen from a competitive tender process. The Job Capacity Assessors will refer to the service best able to assist the jobseeker.
Local relationships are critical in the Job Capacity Assessment process and business service providers are encouraged to make contact with their Job Capacity Assessors to market their service. More information about Job Capacity Assessors and their locations is available on the Job Capacity Assessor website: http://www.jca.gov.au/ More information on Welfare to Work is available at the Moving Into Work website: http://www.movingintowork.gov.au/movingintowork/Overview/[ top ]
The review of the National Disability Advocacy Program is continuing. No decisions have yet been made about the future of the program.
The reference group for the review met at the end of June 2006 to discuss the draft report and recommendations of the consultants conducting the review. Based on the information discussed at the reference group meeting, the consultants are currently refining the report.
Once a final report is received from the consultants the department will be using it and other sources of information to develop options for the future of the program. It is expected that the department will conduct a small-scale consultation process in late August about the options.
Funding agreements to advocacy organisations have been extended until 31 December 2006 and the department will be ensuring that services continue to meet their funding agreement requirements for the funding agreement period.[ top ]
31 July and 1 August 2006
Hilton on the Park – Melbourne
Disability Employment Services operate in an increasingly competitive environment. Their challenge is to hold fast to the values that underpin disability services while succeeding in a world that demands business-like and performance-driven behaviour . Understanding this environment is crucial to succeeding in it.
Disability Open Employment Services will compete in a world of Star Ratings, performance audits and RFTs – with staff expected to maintain cash flow and meet new compliance requirements, while providing a high quality service to clients.
The business environment in which Disability Business Services compete is increasingly international. They are under pressure to increase their commercial income and navigate through complex IR and OH&S regulations, while retaining their commitment to maximize employment for people with disabilities.
At the 2006 Employment Forum, decision-makers in Government and experts from the non-government and private sectors will provide advice on how service providers can position themselves in these competitive environments. This national conference will provide conceptual understanding and skill development for both management and support staff. Separate streams will operate for Open Employment Services and Business Services. Key sessions will cover the latest policy developments and key directions in Government.
Other topics will include:
Watch the ACROD website for updates www.acrod.org.au
For information on any ACROD National event, contact Karen Moyers, Conference Manager. Ph: (02) 6283 3204 or email kmoyers@acrod.org.au[ 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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