Disability Support Pension Recipients
The then Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) funded a pilot that provided eligible Disability Support Pension (DSP) recipients with access to a range of employment services under Job Network. This pilot targeted DSP recipients who are able to be assisted by Job Network – primarily those who did not have significant ongoing support needs – who were not already participating in a form of Commonwealth assistance.
The objectives of the pilot aligned with the Government’s policy of improving labour market participation for people with a disability.
The pilot objectives were to:
- actively engage DSP recipients at a local level and support their participation in the labour market, especially Job Network
- develop transferable initiatives to be promoted as best practice to Job Network members nationally
- develop processes to enable all employment service providers to service this client group effectively.
The expected outcomes of this pilot included:
- increased participation in Job Network by DSP recipients
- increased awareness by DSP recipients, disability and community groups of the benefits of labour market participation and Job Network services
- identification of best practice and appropriate servicing options to assist people with a disability
- identification of best practice to connect non activity tested job seekers to Job Network.
To produce these outcomes and achieve the objectives, the pilot involved:
- specialist disability Job Network members developing tailored marketing, promotion, networking, outreach and engagement strategies to attract eligible DSP recipients to Job Network.
- eligible DSP recipients being actively engaged and supported by specialist disability Job Network members at a local level and provided with access to a range of specialist and employment services.
- job seekers being serviced in line with the Active Participation Model, including identifying servicing strategies to ensure these job seekers remain connected to Job Network for the period of their unemployment or are referred to more appropriate services, where necessary. The pilot will further test the flexibilities available under the APM to service voluntary job seekers.
The pilot commenced in December 2003, and concluded in June 2004, with ongoing monitoring being conducted during and the after completion of the pilot to evaluate its success.
See also then Minister Brough's media release of 13 January 2004 - Proven Track Record on Assisting Job Seekers with Disabilities, at the Portfolio Media Centre.
A list of the providers (PDF 84KB) involved in the pilot is available.
The Hon. Peter Dutton MP, the Minister for Workforce Participation, released the Interim Evaluation Report of the Job Network Disability Support Pension (DSP) Pilot (PDF 311KB) in October 2004.
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