News

Advocacy Review

Last week Minister Cobb proposed a series of changes to the National Disability Advocacy Program which would provide better geographic coverage and result in a more efficient and effective advocacy programme.  Minister Cobb released a consultation paper about the proposed changes.  The consultation paper can be found on the FaCSIA website. Written submission to the consultation paper are welcome and are due by 27 October 2006.

Minister Cobb also released a report by Social Options Australia about the National Disability Advocacy Program which can also be found on the FaCSIA website.

A series of face to face consultations will be held in a number of capital cities about the proposed changes to the National Disability Advocacy Program over the coming weeks.  Relevant stakeholders in those states will be invited to attend.

Current advocacy service providers could have their funding agreements extended for 18 months while the changes are being implemented.

If you have questions about the proposed changes to the National Disability Advocacy Program you can email anthony.bartolo@facsia.gov.au

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Continuity of funding when DMI reassessments are overdue

There are currently a large number of clients who are overdue to have a DMI reassessment completed.  Reassessments are due on the two-year anniversary of when they were first completed.  If the DMI reassessment is not completed, authorised payments will be suspended and the case will ultimately be exited. The following rules are automated in FOFMS:

• Payments will be suspended if a DMI assessment is not completed after 3 months of the DMI reassessment date
• Cases are exited if a DMI reassessment is not completed after 4 months of the DMI reassessment date.

It is your responsibility to monitor DMI assessment and DMI reassessment dates. If your clients have their payments suspended or their cases exited as a result of DMI assessment or DMI reassessment dates not being met, you will not be back-paid.

You can monitor when your service’s clients are due for a DMI assessment and DMI reassessment by simply using the predefined queries that are built into FOFMS. To access the predefined queries you will need to be in the ‘Cases’ view. Then, from the ‘Queries’ drop down menu you can select either:

• ‘DMI Reassessment due in 3 months’ - this query will provide you a list of clients whose DMI reassessment date is within the next three months from the current date.  For example if you ran this query on 30 August 2006 it would provide a list of clients whose DMI reassessment is due between 30 August 2006 and 30 November 2006.
• ‘Case <3 months past reassessment due date’ - this query will give you a list of clients whose DMI reassessment date is within the previous three months from the current date.  For example if you ran this query on 30 August 2006 it would provide a list of clients whose DMI reassessment was due between 1 June 2006 and 30 August 2006.  These clients will soon have their payments suspended or be exited if a DMI reassessment is not completed and authorised.

You should run these queries each month to help you monitor and plan your services DMI reassessment workload.

If your clients are exited because a DMI assessment or DMI reassessment was not completed and authorised within the due dates, you will need to contact the FOFMS Helpdesk to request that the case status be reset to 'Return from Suspension'. Once the case status is reset you will have one month to complete and authorise the required assessment. If the required assessment is not completed within that one-month period the case will be exited again and you will need to create a new case. You will also need to complete and authorise an Intake Assessment to receive payments for supporting this client.

To help you monitor DMI assessment and reassessment dates, FOFMS also auto-generates an activity to notify case workers that a DMI reassessment is due.  You need to ensure that you keep the case worker name current in FOFMS otherwise the notifying activity will be sent to the wrong person.

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Business Service Acquittal Reports for 2005-06

Acquittal Reports for business services for the 2005-06 financial year were due on 30 September 2006.

Business services must acquit all Block Grant funds received during 2005-06 as set out in Clause 4.5 (Some reports that You must give Us) of the Standard Terms and Conditions of Funding of your current Funding Agreement. This includes Case Management and Targeted Support Funding as well as funding provided under the Business Services Assistance Package if applicable.

An audited financial statement that reflects all Block Grant and Case Based Funding income and expenditure, with an accompanying signed statement that all Block Grant income has been accounted for, will be accepted.

Even though case based funding is now fully in place, and there is no more Block Grant funding to acquit from 2006-07, we may still request copies of your 2006-07 audited financial statements and/or other reports (if required) in accordance with clause 4 of the Standard Terms and Conditions of Funding.

If you have any queries about acquittals, please contact your local FaCSIA Contract Manager.

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Evidence Guidelines Review

The recently released Evaluation of the Quality Strategy for Disability Employment Services and Rehabilitation Services recommended that FaCSIA, in consultation with JAS-ANZ, certification bodies and service providers, should review the Evidence Guidelines for the Disability Services Standards.  The aims of the review will be:

• to provide a broader range of examples and possibly separate examples for open employment services, business services and vocational rehabilitation services

• recognising the needs of consumers from diverse cultural and language backgrounds and those from remote and Indigenous communities in the Evidence Guidelines

• strengthening the Evidence Guidelines for the Service Management Standard (Standard 8) to encourage service providers to incorporate quality management into their general management systems.

Key stakeholders have been contacted, requesting their feedback on the Evidence Guidelines. Providers wishing to give input into the review should approach their peak body in the first instance. For further information on the review of the Evidence Guidelines, please contact Fran Cole on 02 8255 1022.

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Quality Assurance and Continuous Improvement Handbook Update

The Quality Strategy Evaluation also recommended that the Quality Assurance and Continuous Improvement Handbooks be updated, revised and combined. FaCSIA is keen to seek the views of providers, certification bodies, auditors, consumer technical experts and other interested parties in the development of the new Quality Improvement Handbook. A survey has been developed to allow stakeholders to give feedback, and is available on the FaCSIA website.

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Issues to Consider if Changing your Certification Body

There is a range of important issues to bear in mind when considering moving to another certification body. It is critical to ensure that the transition does not leave your organisation without a certificate of compliance - the Commonwealth Disability Services Act (1986) does not allow the Australian Government to fund a disability employment service not holding a current certificate of compliance. Organisations should discuss implications for their certificate of compliance with their existing certification body before moving to another certification body.

To minimise the risk to your organisation:

• ensure your negotiations are close to final with your new certification body before cancelling your relationship with your former certification body
• give yourself plenty of lead-in time before your next audit. The more time you allow yourself, the more time you allow for the Transfer of Certification process (including the transfer of relevant certification information) to take place between the certification bodies
• if you are choosing a certification body which is undergoing the accreditation process, you should be aware that there are risks if your organisation's certification lapses or your certificate is withdrawn by your previous certification body. Only accredited certification bodies can issue a certificate of compliance, and your organisation may be left without a certificate for a period of time (which in turn may have an impact on your organisation's eligibility to receive Australian Government funding). A list of all the accredited certification bodies, and their contact details, are listed on the FaCSIA website.

Organisations should also note that FaCSIA will hold over reimbursing organisations for the costs of their certification and surveillance audits until any unaccredited certification body has had their accreditation finalised.

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