E&OE TRANSCRIPT
Topics: New Scorecards for Disability Employment Services; World Down Syndrome Congress in Brisbane
CRAIG ZONCA, HOST: Let’s go to the Federal Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth who is going to be in town today talking at the World Down Syndrome Congress. But the focus for the Federal Government is announcing on this Wednesday, Scorecards for Disability Employment Services. What difference is that going to make? Let’s find out. Amanda Rishworth, good morning to you.
AMANDA RISHWORTH, MINISTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES: Good morning, great to be with you.
CRAIG ZONCA: So, Scorecards for Disability Employment Services in a practical sense, what will this do?
AMANDA RISHWORTH: What this is going to mean is that there is transparent, understandable information for people with disability about how a Disability Employment Service rates on quality, effectiveness and efficiency. These are really key ingredients that mean whether or not a Disability Employment Service provider is good. At the moment, it is very hard to work out which Disability Employment Service provider to go to. People have choice, but if you don’t have the actual information on how they are performing, it is very hard to exercise that choice as a person with disability. So we would like to make this information public, but we are also hoping it will drive improvement in Disability Employment Services. When the information is out there, they will actually strive to do better.
LORETTA RYAN, HOST: Because what have you been hearing from people about how difficult it is for them up until now?
AMANDA RISHWORTH: What I have heard is that Disability Employment Services and the experience of people with disability can be a really mixed bag. Some employment services do a really wonderful job of individualising and supporting a person into work, while in others, people feel like they're just a number. They don't get the individualised service and support. The taxpayer puts close to $1.2 billion into this every year and so it's not good enough that people aren't getting a quality service. Because the other thing I'm hearing all the time is that too many people with disability want to work but are just not getting the opportunity. And disability services play such an important role and they should all be performing really well.
LORETTA RYAN: And is the problem just there with the employment services, or is there also a problem with the employers?
AMANDA RISHWORTH: Look, employment services is only one of the key ingredients. You're absolutely right. I speak with a lot of employers, and the Business Council of Australia actually did a survey that suggested a lot of businesses were open to employing someone with a disability, but didn't actually have the confidence to do that. And so, one of the big pieces of the puzzle here is supporting employers to get the confidence to employ someone with a disability. And employment service providers play a big role in that, along with a number of other programs we're running to try and work with, particularly at a time when we've got workforce shortages right around the country. A really important message to employers is give it a go. There are supports out there, there is job access, which gives you a whole lot of support because people with disability can often prove to be the most valuable employee and provide some of the best skills.
LORETTA RYAN: It's 7:21. Amanda Rishworth is the Federal Minister for Social Services. You're also in town today for the World Down Syndrome Congress. What else will you be speaking about there?
AMANDA RISHWORTH: Well, this is really exciting for Brisbane. There's close 900 delegates coming from Australia and around the world. People with Down Syndrome, their carers and advocates all coming together to network, to share information and talk about the strengths that people with Down Syndrome bring, along with some of the barriers they're still facing. I'm really looking forward to opening the Congress. I'm going to be speaking a lot about that disability employment base, of how we're working to improve it, but also how do we ensure that people with Down Syndrome are listened to, that their advocacy is taken seriously and importantly, how they have a voice in the health system and other systems as well.
CRAIG ZONCA: Minister, really appreciate your time, thanks so much.
AMANDA RISHWORTH: Thank you.