Issue 103
25 March 2008
Nominations for the 2008 Awards are now open!
If you have made, or know someone who has made, a significant contribution to their community, at a local, regional, state or national level, tell us about it by nominating for the National Disability Awards 2008.
There are five award categories:
Nominate today!
Hurry, entries close on Friday 9 May.
Guidelines and Application Forms
For more information, download the National Disability Awards Guidelines 2008 and Nomination Form below, or call 1800 440 385 to order a hard copy version of the form.
National Disability Awards Nomination Forms:
If you need the guidelines or nomination form in an alternative format, please call 1800 440 385.
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The new Quality Strategy Toolkit includes tools and resources such as step-by-step guides, worksheets, case studies, examples and suggestions to help disability employment services apply the Quality Strategy across their organisations.
The toolkit underwent focus testing with disability employment service providers and further refinements during December 2007 and January 2008. It is expected to be published and released in April 2008. The toolkit will also be available to download from the FaHCSIA website.
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In his usual fortnightly column, Michael answers some of the most frequently asked questions from the CBF Helpdesk.
If you have a DEA or FOFMS question for Michael, please contact the CBF Helpdesk by calling 1800 034 887, or by emailing helpdesk.cbf@facsia.gov.au
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Work Based Personal Assistance (WBPA) is available to business services to help meet the recurrent costs associated with providing personal care services to workers with very high support needs. This includes assistance with personal care tasks such as hygiene, feeding by mouth, or assistance from a Registered Nurse to administer medical interventions. Section 30 of the
DEA Program Procedures outlines what is required to qualify for WBPA.
An assessment and written report is required to confirm the high support needs of individual service users and a Work Based Personal Assistance Requirements form (available on the FOFMS literature site) must be completed prior to any claim being lodged with FaHCSIA. Business services must ensure that the person performing the assessment is:
WBPA is paid to providers in arrears when a claim is received. Providers have three months 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 Qld 4001, or faxed to the CBF Helpdesk on
(07) 3004 4688.
In order to assist with processing of WBPA Claim forms please ensure that:
If you need any further information on WBPA please contact your Contract Manager or the CBF Helpdesk on 1800 034 887 or helpdesk.cbf@facsia.gov.au
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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 a supported employee who has previously been suspended or exited from your service wishes to return to work.
To access Stretch Capacity your business service outlet must be at full capacity and you must return a supported employee’s case from suspended or exited status within 12 months from when the supported employee was suspended or exited. Stretch Capacity places cannot be used for new supported employees who have not previously been supported by your service.
If you have any further queries regarding your outlet’s stretch capacity please contact the CBF Helpdesk on 1800 034 887.
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When updating an address in a client record in FOFMS, please follow these steps to ensure it is entered and saved correctly.
If you have any further queries about updating client records please contact the Case Based Funding Helpdesk on 1800 034 887.
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If a supported employee is unable to meet the eight hours per week employment requirement for more than one calendar month due to behavioural issues, poor attendance, and recreational or long service leave, you must suspend the supported employee on FOFMS.
This requirement period is increased to two calendar months in instances of involuntary leave such as sick leave, maternity leave and workers compensation. It is not necessary to suspend supported employees over a Christmas shutdown period.
For example:
Please note: Suspension must be for a minimum period of one calendar month to avoid the possibility of overpayments.
If you have any further queries regarding suspensions please contact the Case Based Funding Helpdesk on 1800 034 887.
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The Case Based Funding Helpdesk has a new fax number. Please fax all Work Based Personal Assistance and New Apprenticeship claims to (07) 3004 4688. Claims sent by mail can still be forwarded to GPO Box 9820, Brisbane QLD 4001.
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To avoid an overpayment, it is important that services providing Targeted Support activities inform their FaHCSIA Contract Manager as soon as they identify a need to temporarily suspend services to a client.
A client may be suspended from the program for a number of reasons.
The service provider must suspend a client from the program by taking the following steps:
For more information, refer to the Targeted Support Funding Agreement or contact your FaHCSIA Contract Manager.
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Yarra View Nursery (YVN) has just finished a very exciting year, with a major ongoing site redevelopment in Mt Evelyn and a boosted marketing and sales department. Success has come from two major objectives – the caring support of their workers and excellence in customer service and all business activities.
Commercially, YVN has based its services on quality production and delivery to order on time every time. This has caused sales to increase more than 20% over the last year. The drought has severely hit the nursery retail industry (the customer base), so this increase is seen as an increase in market share.
YVN, employing 86 supported employees, is the major supported employment arm of Knoxbrooke Inc, an organisation that began in 1968 as a service to children with an intellectual disability in the outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne. It moved into adult services around 1990 and now has a day service for 108 participants, accommodation services for 23 people and more than 110 supported employees. These supported workers are employed both in the nursery and at Knoxbrooke Industries, which prides itself on being a respected service organisation specialising in assembly, packaging and reworking.
In 2004, with the support of FaHCSIA, Knoxbrooke Inc decided to formulate a marketing and business plan for all business services. The nursery plan merged two growing sites into one at Mt Evelyn, a site that was used less than 50%. This consolidated operations and eliminated duplication of facilities, staff support and the cost of transport between the two sites. Changes in the management structure and work processes, investment in an environmentally sustainable water management system, increased infrastructure and the development of new marketing strategies expanded the business. The aim was to continually improve the quality of services and to provide opportunities for as many people with a disability as possible.
Included in this was an upgrade and renewal of the retail nursery and landscaping and garden maintenance divisions. Work is still being completed on the retail upgrade and after construction is finished a larger contribution is anticipated in this area.
The landscaping and garden maintenance division has been successful in winning some major contracts, including large landscaping works at Prime Life Retirement Village in Mt Evelyn. This division won a Gold award in the Gardening Australia Live show in 2005 and a Silver award at the Melbourne International Garden Show in 2006. At the 2007 Melbourne International Garden Show, the division participated in the design and construction of the Savewater Group stand that won the Premier of Victoria’s Best Water Saving Award.
The fast growing Training Organisation supports all of the above services. This division backs up the personal development programs for supported employees, focusing on complementing the diverse employment choices that are available. The ABC television program Gardening Australia featured the nursery and training organisation during June 2007 and this feature was repeated this year in the ‘best of’ programs.
YVN wholesale nursery aims to become the premier ‘one stop shop’, supplying major outlets in southern Australia.
The Home of Garden Lovers is the retail nursery and Yarra View Horticultural Services specialise in domestic and commercial garden design, planting schedules, all paving types and garden and lawn maintenance.
For more information on any of the above services please contact:
136 York Road, Mt Evelyn, VIC 3796
Phone: (03) 9737 0400
Fax: (03) 9737 1995
Web: www.yvn.com.au
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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