Issue 93 | 30 July 2007
This is a reminder that you need to provide us with the following documents to assure us that you have used your funding in accordance with your Disability Employment Assistance (DEA) Agreement for the 2006-07 financial year:
This requirement is outlined in clause 4.5 of the Standard Terms and Conditions of Funding and is required by 30 September 2007 unless otherwise arranged with your local FaCSIA Contract Manager. If you received funding under the Business Services Assistance Package during 2006-07, you need to acquit it in accordance with the requirements outlined in the variations made to your existing DEA Agreement for that funding.
As case based funding is an outcomes based funding model, you do not have to acquit it down to the last dollar like you had to with block grant funding. However, you must assure us that you have used your case based funding in accordance with the Agreement – the above documents give FaCSIA this assurance. This approach is the same under the new DEA Agreements at sub-Item E2 of the Schedule.
Please contact your local FaCSIA Contract Manager if you have any queries about these requirements.
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In one of our recent issues of e-news the department announced that Cinden Lester Communications had been contracted to develop a DIY marketing kit for business services.
The Kit is now at the draft stage, with release expected later this year.
Those of you attending the NDS Employment forum in Sydney will be able to preview some of the draft content of the Kit at the ‘Towards a Marketing Strategy’ session on Tuesday 31 July 2007.
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The JAS-ANZ Technical Committee met in Brisbane last month to discuss changes and updates to be made to Procedure 18.
Representation on the Committee includes JAS-ANZ, FaCSIA, DEWR, auditors, Consumer Technical Experts, the Complaints Resolution and Referral Service, Australian Federation of Disability Organisations, RABQSA training providers, business service providers, and open employment providers.
Procedure 18 version 3 is in the final stages of redraft and is expected to become available at the end of August 2007.[ top ]
The Quality Strategy evaluation recommended the review, combination and update of the Quality Assurance and Continuous Improvement handbooks. ARTD Pty Ltd has been contracted by the department to undertake the consultation and drafting of the new Quality Improvement Handbook.
ARTD Pty Ltd have consulted with industry representatives and service providers as part of their brief as well as people with disability, auditors and consumer technical experts. The new handbook is expected to be available in Spring 2007.[ top ]
Colmar Brunton Social Research (CBSR) met with business services in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth earlier this month, to discuss how business services were perceived and the key messages required to increase the profile of the sector.
At the consultations, representatives from a wide range of business ventures and the disability sector provided the consultants with useful insight into the issues discussed.
Those services that were unable to attend the sessions and were interested in providing feedback were asked to complete a written survey. This information in conjunction with the consultation sessions is extremely important in developing a new marketing strategy for the business services sector.
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Most Disability Employment Assistance payments are paid in arrears. The following information is provided to help clarify what these payments are for and when they are made.
Intake Fee – A one-off fee paid when a Client’s Intake Assessment is completed and authorised on FOFMS. More information is in Paragraph 20 of the Disability Employment Assistance Services Programme Procedures.
Employment Assistance Fee (EA) – EA or Pre-DMI fees start one month after the Intake Assessment is authorised and are payable for up to twelve months. Payments are made on the anniversary date of when the Client’s Intake Assessment is authorised. For more information please see Paragraph 21 of the Programme Procedures.
Employment Maintenance Fee (Maintenance Payment) – The Employment Maintenance Fee, or Maintenance Payment, is paid one month after a DMI is authorised. Payments are made monthly thereafter on the Client’s anniversary date. For more information please refer to Paragraph 23 of the Programme Procedures.
Work Based Personal Assistance - This payment is made when we receive a completed eligible claim and is for Work Based Personal Assistance services provided to a Client, either directly or purchased from another Service. For more information please refer to Paragraph 30 of the Programme Procedures.
New Apprenticeship - This payment is an incentive payment for Services who have placed a Client in a New Apprenticeship and is made when we receive a completed claim form. For more information please see Paragraph 31 of the Programme Procedures.
High Cost Worker Payments (HCW) - The High Cost Worker payment is a ‘grandfathering’ type payment, paid in arrears and is only available to eligible Clients identified as being a high cost worker. The HCW is payed for as long as these Clients continue to remain employed with their current Business Service.
Business Service Funding Subsidy – This is paid to Services to help them with the transition from BGF to CBF. This is an ‘in arrears’ payment made at the beginning of a month. For more information please see Paragraph 39 of the Programme Procedures.
Please allow up to three days from the time a payment is shown as being made on FOFMS for it to reach your bank account.
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The FOFMS Service Provider User Guide can now be accessed through the FOFMS Literature Portal. The Service Provider User Guide provides FOFMS users with clear instructions, help and support in FOFMS functionality. The user guide will help you to access the system, navigate, search and run queries, view the status of your agreements and agreement schedules, create and view client and case records, and generate reports on payments to your organisation.
If you require further information on FOFMS functionality or any of the content contained in the user guide please contact the FOFMS Helpdesk: 1800 020 283 or fofms@facsia.gov.au[ top ]
Stretch Capacity is a 10 per cent allowance on top of your Outlet Capacity. Stretch Capacity places are used when your organisation has no vacancies and an employee who has previously been suspended or exited from your service wishes to return to work. To access Stretch Capacity you must return the cases from suspension or exit within 12 months of the initial suspension or exit.
Stretch Capacity places cannot be used for new clients who have not previously been supported by your service.
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The Australian Fair Pay Commission has announced the new minimum amount for people being paid pro-rata wages under the Supported Wage System (SWS). The baseline is now $66.00 a week.
Further information regarding the ruling is available on the Fair Pay Commission website http://www.fairpay.gov.au/fairpay/MinWageDecisionJul2007[ top ]
Sub-Items P1 to P6 in the Schedule of the new Disability Employment Assistance Funding Agreements is a standard clause included in all new FaCSIA funding agreements. It requires police checks to be performed for current and prospective employees that work with ‘vulnerable persons’, which are defined at sub-Item P6. It also reminds organisations to comply with relevant state/territory legislation in this area.
For business services, ‘vulnerable persons’ may include Supported Employees, or Clients receiving Case Management/Targeted Support services. Organisations are best placed to determine if their Supported Employees/Clients meet the definition of ‘vulnerable persons’ for the purposes of meeting this requirement in the new DEA Agreement.
Please contact your local FaCSIA Contract Manager if you have any queries about this.
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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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