Good morning.
I begin by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the lands on which we meet, the Kaurna people, and pay my respects to elders past and present.
I extend that acknowledgement to all First Nations peoples joining us today.
I’m pleased to have the opportunity to be part of the National Disability Services Executive Leaders Conference and to speak to you today about the work our Government is doing to improve disability services and inclusion in Australia.
And also about the important role that all of you here today play in supporting people with disability to engage in all aspects of community life - particularly employment - and to reach their full potential.
The conference theme The Path Forward, is a great opportunity to take stock of the immense amount of work undertaken over the past two and a half years and look toward the future, as we track a course through reform to a thriving, inclusive disability employment landscape.
As leaders in disability services, I know we all are here with a shared commitment to creating better outcomes for Australians with disability.
While we are all working hard to put the programs and policy in place to improve the lives of people with disability people with disability still experience poorer life outcomes than people without disability in Australia across a range of domains – like health, education and employment.
And that is why, as Minister for Social Services I have been working hard since day one to look at the levers to break down barriers for people with disability, to create more opportunities and build a more inclusive society.
And I am not doing this alone.
I am working alongside my colleagues across the Albanese Labor Government and in partnership with states and territories to create a more accessible and inclusive society under the framework of Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021-2031.
Since coming into this role, I have been focused on bringing the Strategy from words on a page to life – through tangible actions that will improve life outcomes for people with disability.
And one of the particular aspects of the Strategy I have been focused on is improving outcomes in disability employment.
My focus on supporting people with disability to have the employment opportunities they seek was central our Government’s clear vision laid out by the Employment White Paper to create a dynamic and inclusive labour market where everybody has the opportunity for secure, fairly paid work.
Because everyone deserves the dignity of work – and this should not change because you have a disability.
Because having a secure job not only creates financial security – it provides opportunities to meet and connect with people, and can improve your overall health and wellbeing.
And it’s not only a good thing for individuals, it’s also good for employers.
Having an inclusive workplace provides a competitive advantage.
Hiring people with disability means businesses can improve customer experience and increase innovation through diversity. We also know that diverse businesses have better retention and report higher profits.
And of course, my mission to break down barriers and create more opportunities in employment is not just about getting people with disability into any job – its about supporting them to find a job that where they can reach their goals and aspirations, so they can build careers in their industry of choice.
To achieve this vision, we need to be tackling the barriers experienced by people with disability from multiple angles.
One of the angles we have been focusing on is building employer confidence and capability to hire and support people with disability in the workplace – and of course working with business to create more inclusive workplaces.
One of the ways we have done this is through changes to supports available to employers through JobAccess. We have doubled funding available for workplace modifications and Auslan Interpreting through the Employment Assistance Fund and continue to support the National Disability Recruitment Co-Ordinator function which has supported 420 employers to improve their hiring practices and disability inclusion.
Of course it’s also about supporting individuals to build skills and improve their work readiness.
This requires taking a person-centred approach to providing supports through the NDIS, supported employment services and Disability Employment Services. These help individuals build the right skills and equip them with the tools that help them to prepare for and find work – and importantly reach their careers goals.
And its also about connecting and bridging the gap between individuals and employers – to match the skills and aspirations of people with disability to employers.
And NDIS and Disability Employment providers play such a critical role in all of these elements. You all have the ability to build the confidence of employers to hire more people with disability and place people with disability into the right roles where they can succeed.
We know that inclusive workplaces are crucial, but its also so important that individuals are supported and empowered whether they are pursuing employment goals through the NDIS, supported employment or Disability Employment Services.
That is why reform to the Disability Employment Services program commencing next year is so critical.
Thank you to those of you that participated in our consultations for our new specialist program. Providers like yourselves, alongside people with disability and the broader disability employment sector played a pivotal role in developing our national approach to disability employment.
The new program has a strong focus on providing more tailored support to employers and participants.
<> But the most important feature of these reforms is putting the person and their employment goals at the centre of providing supports.
It is about empowering people to develop their own individualised employment plans that align with their goals and aspirations, importantly ensuring that Disability Employment Services support them to achieve their goals.
We want providers to work with each client to provide high-quality services that meet their individual needs, whether they are transitioning from school or a supported employment workplace; returning to the workforce; needing help to stay in their current job; or wanting to progress their career.
The new program will shift the culture around disability employment to focus on providing quality services, building trusted relationships between providers, participants and employers - and ensure that services go beyond just finding people any job – but one that enables them to build a career.
Putting the needs of people at the centre and meeting their individual needs, along with meeting the requirements of their employers, requires adaptive service delivery – and I know that you are all up for the challenge.
Under the new program, providers will need to:
- engage participants and employers to design their service, and to listen and incorporate their feedback to make improvements
- ensure that their staff and leadership have a variety of skills and experience that is representative of the communities they are working with
- be leaders in employing people with disability, to bring this expertise to the table when they engage with other employers.
The new program is about striving for excellence and delivering for people with disability.
For providers, the increased flexibility in the new person-centred model has been designed to reduce administrative burden, so you can spend more time supporting people with disability and engaging with employers.
Because I want to see a shift from a compliance-based program to one that is focused on quality and meaningfully engaging with participants.
Even before the new program has begun we have already taken steps to improve the quality of services people with disability receive.
From July last year I introduced a new Quality Framework as a first step, focussing on what Disability Employment Services participants told us a quality service means to them, so providers could hear and respond to those needs.
And I wanted to acknowledge all of you here today who have embraced the Quality Framework and its underpinning assessments as a way to improve the services you deliver.
Clear quality service expectations will ensure the Disability Employment Services sector improves as a whole, providing better outcomes for people with disability.
Transparency will ensure people with disability can have confidence in their providers to give them tailored and meaningful support.
Provider performance is assessed across three Key Performance Indicators: Quality, Effectiveness, and Efficiency.
And importantly, performance ratings are now calculated against individual benchmarks rather than against each other.
This is a deliberate design feature to encourage all providers to strive for excellence and to work in collaboration with each other to achieve the best possible outcomes for participants.
Building on our goal of transparency, we have developed new scorecards which will be made public each quarter.
I am pleased to share that the first scorecards are now released on my department’s website.
The performance measures are outcomes-focused, measuring not only quality of services but how successfully providers support participants to find and stay in employment or complete training and education that help them be job-ready.
And we know things change, so over time the framework may need to be improved through the inclusion of additional measures identified through ongoing consultations and feedback – and of course in order to effectively measure performance under the new program.
I will continue to work with you, people with disability and the broader sector to get this right.
Evolution of the supported employment sector
Many of you here today are connected to the supported employment sector.
I am committed to keeping this dialogue open as we evolve this sector, including supporting additional pathways for people currently working in the supported employment sector to transition to open employment.
It’s great to see organisations changing the way they operate, creating new social enterprises and finding innovative ways to connect with the community and create opportunities for open employment.
I am proud to see the Structural Adjustment Fund is providing important financial support to many of these organisations.
We know how important supported employment services can be in providing highly valued employment opportunities for people who might otherwise miss out.
But we also need to keep evolving, to ensure people with disability continue to have high-quality and well-paid jobs, as well as choice and control in their employment.
And the new specialist disability employment program commencing next year will be a key part of this. It will open up eligibility to people with disability with a work capacity of less than eight hours a week. This will mean that people with high support needs will no longer be locked out of mainstream employment services, an important step in our journey towards inclusion.
Striving for excellence is something I, as I’m sure many in this room are committed to.
To deliver high quality and high performing services our Government is establishing the Disability Employment Centre of Excellence as an enduring feature of our disability employment ecosystem, to drive best practice and adopt innovation in supporting people with disability to secure employment.
The Centre of Excellence will be a partner for our new disability employment service providers.
The Centre will be an evidence-informed, best practice hub that will help providers continue to break down barriers to employment for people with disability.
The tools and training that will be available will continue the focus on delivering high quality employment services and supports to participants and employers.
This is key to us seeing out our vision of people with disability not only getting into the workforce, but being supported to thrive within their career of choice.
The Centre is expected to be operational by March 2025, with resources available from mid-next year, and a dedicated online hub available by September.
As we continue implementation of disability employment reform and evolution of the sector we will see changes in the market and the way that services and supports are delivered.
Disability and employment service providers like you are integral to the success of these reforms and we are committed to working closely with you and the disability community to implement and strengthen support for people with disability.
We have a clear path forward for disability employment reform.
All of you here today, along with employers and people with disability are important partners in driving real and meaningful change in disability employment.
And all of you here today know how important it is to get this right.
Because people with disability want to have the same opportunities as everyone else.
They want the opportunity to work and build meaningful careers.
It remains my ambition to see inclusive workplaces where people with disability can thrive in their careers as the standard across Australia.
That’s what my reform agenda is all about.
Because I know that everyone in Australia will benefit, and the Australian economy will benefit too.
And you are all key players to make this a reality.
Thank you.