Issue 80 | 29 January 2007
From 1 July 2007 all Consumer Technical Experts (CTEs) and auditors must be certified by RABQSA International through the Disability Services Audit Personnel Scheme to be able to undertake Quality Assurance audits in disability employment services.
On 4 December 2006, the Minister for Community Services The Hon John Cobb MP announced Australian Government funding to assist CTEs with the costs of attaining personnel certification. CTE eligibility for reimbursement of costs associated with achieving certification will be determined by FACSIA. The department will not necessarily reimburse everyone, or all costs incurred. Current CTEs will be contacted shortly by FaCSIA outlining the process for reimbursement. For queries about CTE reimbursement, please contact Mark Heywood on 07 3005 6094.
The Disability Services Audit Personnel Scheme is administered by RABQSA International. To receive further information regarding the certification scheme and for further information about training and examination providers, auditors and CTEs should contact RABQSA directly.
Email: info@rabqsa.com
Website: www.rabqsa.com
Telephone: 02 4728 4600
Fax: 02 4731 6466
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Work Based Personal Assistance (WBPA) is available to supported employment services to help meet the recurrent costs associated with the provision of personal care services to workers with very high support needs. This includes assistance with personal care tasks such as personal hygiene, feeding by mouth, or assistance from a Registered Nurse to administer medical interventions. An Allied Health Professional assessment and written report is required to confirm the high support needs of individual service users. Section 30 of the DEA Program Procedures outlines the conditions to qualify for WBPA.
WBPA is paid to providers in arrears upon receipt of a claim. Providers have three months in which to make a claim from the time services have been provided to the individual. WBPA can be claimed for a maximum of 40 hours over a four week period. Two rates of payment apply:
If you have a worker who qualifies for WBPA and you wish to make a claim, WBPA Claim Forms are available under the ’Literature’ Tab on FOFMS. These should be completed and sent to:
The CBF Helpdesk
GPO Box 9820
Brisbane, 4001
or faxed to the CBF Helpdesk on 07 3005 6097.
In order to assist with processing of WBPA Claim Forms you should ensure that:
If you require any further information on WBPA please contact your Contract Manager or the CBF Helpdesk on 1800 034 887 or email Helpdesk.CBF@facsia.gov.au.
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It is important that Service Providers with access to FOFMS keep their personal login information secure and private as the system contains sensitive information. FOFMS access is provided to users with the understanding that they alone use it to access records on the system and they will be held personally responsible for any work conducted under their login ID. It is also best practice to change your password approximately once a month and avoid writing it down to prevent unauthorised persons from accessing the system using your login information.
It should also be noted that it is the responsibility of the service provider to notify the FOFMS Helpdesk (1800 020 283) of staff members who have left the organisation and no longer require access to FOFMS.
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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 be exited. The following rules are automated in FOFMS:
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:
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 re-assessment 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 current in FOFMS to ensure the notifying activity is sent to the right person.
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The reference group has been selected to assist with the development of the proposed changes to the National Disability Advocacy Program. Eight reference group members were selected, based upon the scope of their individual knowledge of, interest in and experience with, disability and within the disability advocacy sector.
The reference group has also been chosen for their representation of the wide range of stakeholders in the program. As such, the participants include representatives from several specialist services (both on the basis of disability types and cultural background), different types of advocacy providers (citizen, individual, systemic), a peak body, a disability service provider, a state government, a parent of a person with disability, and a person with disability.
The reference group members include:
The first meeting for the reference group has been scheduled for 9 February 2007. This meeting will address the proposed Key Performance Indicators, the standardisation of disability advocacy services policies and procedures, and the role of the free call telephone service for the National Disability Advocacy Program. The reference group will meet at least three times during the first half of 2007.
There has been an overwhelming response to the request for nominations to participate in the reference group. Therefore a consultation committee has been formed to provide further input on ideas to the reference group. Eight members were selected to participate, and several teleconferences have been tentatively scheduled for the first half of 2007.
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A number of advocacy services have requested further clarification regarding the financial reporting requirements for the recently executed 18 month National Disability Advocacy Program Funding Agreements.
Under the current Funding Agreement, disability advocacy services receiving funding under the National Disability Advocacy Program are required to prepare and submit Final Acquittal Reports and a full set of audited financial statements each year. The acquittal process allows FACSIA to verify that the funding recipient has used the money for the intended purpose, according to the agreement with the department.
The format for the provision of these reports under FaCSIA requirements is as follows:
Audited Financial Statements
This includes a set of accounting statements that provide specific information about a company's financial position. For the purposes of the National Disability Advocacy Program we will require you to submit a Profit and Loss Statement, also known as the Income Statement, a Balance Sheet, and a Statement of Cash Flows for your disability advocacy service for the previous financial year. These financial statements are required to be audited by a suitably qualified professional such as a Certified Practising Accountant. The Department does not have any specific requirements for the format of these statements and they can be submitted to the department in accordance with the standard format of your specific accounting firm.
Audited Final Acquittal Reports
For the purposes of the National Disability Advocacy Program Funding Agreement, the Audited Final Acquittal Report includes an Income and Expenditure Statement and a Statement of Auditor Certification. The Statement of Auditor Certification is a document produced by a suitably qualified professional, such as Certified Practising Accountant, that verifies that the disability advocacy service is spending funds as required under the funding agreement. The department does not have any specific requirements for the format of a Statement of Auditor Certification and it can be submitted to the department in accordance with the standard format of your specific accounting firm.
The due dates for the submission of these reports to the department are as follows:
Audited Financial Statements:
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During the Business Service audit and compliance pilot it was identified that a number of exit and suspension reasons recorded in FOFMS were incorrect. It is vital for business services to record the correct reasons in FOFMS when a client is no longer, or temporarily unable to, receive ‘Services’ under Disability Employment Assistance. Feedback received from Business Services indicated that support officers were unclear on when to use the various ‘status change’ reasons defined in FOFMS.
FOFMS was recently updated to include revised status change reasons, to be used when a client’s case is either suspended, exited or returned from suspension. The new list of available exit, suspension and return from suspension change reasons is located under the Literature tab on FOFMS and is titled Case Change Status Reasons Tip Sheet. The list provides more relevant choices for a Status Change and a description of when to use each of the new reasons that will help with more accurate reporting and analysis.
If you require more information regarding Status Change to a Case record please contact the CBF Helpdesk on 1800 034 887 or email Helpdesk.CBF@facsia.gov.au.
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