Issue 117
6 October 2008
As part of the new promotions strategy for the business services sector, the Department is currently working on the re-development and re-branding of the BizAbility website. The new website will provide potential purchasers with an overview of the sector, as well as detailed information about the products and services available from business services.
Under a proposed revision of the Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines, potential purchasers will include a range of Australian Government agencies. The Department will then work to promote the new website to government departments and large corporations, to encourage them to purchase from business services. To optimise the value each business service will receive from the new website in generating new business, the information on the new website must be as accurate and detailed as possible. Potential purchasers, including government departments, need to be able to easily identify what services and/or products your organisation provides.
In May this year, the Department contacted organisations to seek their assistance in the collection of current and accurate information on the operations of their business services. Information sought included contact details, the web address for the products and services of the business service (i.e. not the web address of the business service’s parent organisation, charity or auspicing body), a logo or photo relating to the products and services and a detailed description of the business lines offered by the business.
To complete this data collection exercise, the Department will soon be contacting organisations again to fill in the gaps in the data and to obtain information from those organisations which have not yet responded. Assistance from business service organisations is critical to ensure the new website is a valuable tool to generate new business for business services. Without detailed information about your products and services, you may miss out on an opportunity to generate new business.
For further information on the new website and the associated data collection exercise, please call Mark Heywood on:
(07) 3004 4604.
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The funding agreement held between the Department and business service organisations contains a clause at Section 5 that states:
5. You must acknowledge Our support
(a) You must acknowledge in a positive manner Our financial and other support in all publications, promotional Material and activities relating to this agreement.
This means that when printing or reprinting promotional or other material that relates to the provision of supported employment, the support of the Australian Government should be acknowledged. The schedule of the funding agreement identifies at item 5 that ‘The form of acknowledgement of Our support is as follows:
The provision of employment assistance services to people with disabilities is funded by the Australian Government under the Disability Employment Assistance Program’
For any questions about acknowledging Australian Government support, please contact your local state or territory contract manager.
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In July the Parliamentary Secretary the Hon Bill Shorten launched the Do It Yourself Marketing Kit, which is available to all Business Services through FOFMS. During one of the recent marketing workshops being offered by the Department to support the Kit, it was realised that some attendees do not have access to FOFMS. If this is the case, someone in your organisation who has access to FOFMS can download the program onto the PC of your marketing person.
The DIY Marketing Kit can then be accessed through the Literature tab on FOFMS. To access the file please take the following steps:
The steps may change slightly depending on the operating system you use. For further information refer to the instructions on FOFMS.
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Thank you to all those services that completed the Social Policy Research Centre questionnaire about retirement of supported employees. Thank you also to the services in New South Wales and South Australia that met with the Centre’s researcher face to face. The research is progressing well and a report is due with the Department in early 2009.
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The 2007/08 Budget measure included the introduction of a Quality Improvement strategy for the National Disability Advocacy Program (NDAP). Since then, the NDAP sector has worked closely with the department on development of the Quality Assurance component of that strategy.
On 30 May 2008, Community and Disability Services Ministers made a commitment to bring about improvements to disability advocacy through reform. Disability Ministers have now agreed to a national reform of the disability service system. This includes development of the National Disability Services’ Quality Strategy which will provide national consistency in quality assurance processes and the continuous improvement of disability services, including disability advocacy agencies.
To better support this broader reform agenda, and to ensure that disability advocacy is truly represented in the progress towards this national quality improvement strategy, the decision has been made to delay the NDAP quality assurance trial scheduled to commence in October 2008. The timing of the NDAP Quality Assurance trial will be reconsidered in line with progress made on the national quality improvement strategy.
The department has greatly appreciated the feedback from the NDAP sector in shaping the NDAP quality assurance system to date. A report summarising feedback from the NDAP Quality Assurance consultations held in February/March 2008 will be available soon on the FaHCSIA website for information. We will let you know when it is available.
The quality assurance work undertaken to date, as well as the continuous improvement and sector development activities will have a critical role in informing the development of a national approach to ensure it takes into account the unique needs of the NDAP sector. This also means that the NDAP will be in a better position to meet the requirements of any new national quality improvement system, and the priorities under a new National Disability Agreement.
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Suspension on FOFMS is only required for absences of more than one calendar month. Under paragraph 18.2 of the Additional Procedures and Information it states:
‘You must Suspend a Supported Employee under paragraph 18.1 for a minimum period of 1 month to a maximum period of 12 months.’
If you are aware that an employee is going to be absent from your service for less than one calendar month, there is no requirement to suspend the case. However, should the employee subsequently advise that they are to be absent for more than one calendar month, you must suspend the case record on FOFMS immediately.
If a suspended employee returns to work before the end of the calendar month, it is important that the case is not restarted until one (1) calendar month has elapsed from the initial Suspension date.
When a supported employee is suspended on FOFMS you will receive an additional Case Based Funding payment on the supported employee’s next payment anniversary date. Therefore, if an employee does return early you will not miss any eligible payment.
It is also not necessary to suspend supported employees over a Christmas shutdown period or who are on workers’ compensation, sick leave or maternity leave for less than two months.
Please contact the CBF Helpdesk on 1800 034 887 or by email to helpdesk.cbf@fahcsia.gov.au if you require further information.
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You can monitor when your Supported Employees are due for a DMI Reassessment by simply using the pre-defined queries that are built into FOFMS. To access these pre-defined queries you will need to be in the ‘Cases’ view. Then, from the ‘Queries’ drop down menu you can select either:
You should run the above queries each month to help you monitor and plan your DMI Reassessment workload.
DMI Reassessments can be completed 2 months prior to and 3 months after the due date.
If your Supported Employee is exited because a DMI Reassessment was not completed and authorised within the due time frame, you will need to contact the Case Based Funding Helpdesk on 1800 034 887 to request that the case be returned from suspension.
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The Case Based Funding Helpdesk now has a step-by-step guide on how to update these new fields in FOFMS.
If you would like a copy of this document please send a request to helpdesk.cbf@fahcsia.gov.au or phone 1800 034 887.
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With a work force of more than 140, Ability Works Australia is now more equipped than ever to further its reputation for raising the standards across service provision and commercial pursuits.
Ability Works Australia is a multi-service organisation, that prides itself on the level of consultation and involvement that exists amongst all members of the team. Employees with disability form a dynamic Employee Representative Committee that provides impetus and feedback to management on a range of organisational issues. Coupled with this is an active and fully integrated Occupational Health and Safety Committee. Team members throughout every part of the organisation contribute to its ongoing success.
The brand new Goodie Bag division specialises in the creation and supply of promotional and customer loyalty type ‘show bags’ that are used extensively in retail and service sectors.
Ability Works Australia, located in Melbourne’s inner eastern suburb of Kew, operates in a number of diverse commercial areas including:
Professional Warehousing and Despatch Services
Boutique Packaging and Assembly
Since 1963, Ability Works Australia Limited (formerly known as Roytal) has a proud history of providing both high quality employment options for people with disability and services to the local, national and international business communities.
The message from Ability Works Australia is clear: Supported Employment - it works!
For further information, contact:
Business Opportunities
Alexander Black - National Business Development Manager – ablack@abilityworks.com.au (03) 9853 7080.
Employment and Related Matters
Shane Daniel – General Manager – Employment, Workplace Training and Support – sdaniel@abilityworks.com.au(03) 9853 7080.
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