What you need to know

• NDS has produced a Good Practice Guide that provides comprehensive instructions for employers on how to use the Supported Wage System to determine the wages of their employees with disability.
• Prepared with the input of three members of the national Panel of Assessors, the guide covers all aspects of the SWS Assessment Process, with additional attachments, templates, evidence examples and other resources.
• The guide complements the suite of NDS resources on the extensive changes to the SES Award that came in on 1 July.
• In other supported employment news, the Social Enterprise Development Initiative will be launched soon and a new research paper examines international models for disability employment.

NDS has produced a Good Practice Guide [PDF] on the application of the Supported Wage System (SWS) under the Supported Employment Services (SES) Award.

The guide has comprehensive instructions for employers on how to apply for, prepare for and participate in SWS assessments for their employees with disability. It was prepared with the valuable input of three experienced members of the national Panel of Assessors, the body that accredits SWS assessors. NDS also acknowledges the assistance of the Department of Social Services.

The guide does not deal with the new classification structure in the SES Award or other recent changes to the award. NDS has a companion guide for members that covers the new classification structure in the SES Award [PDF].

The guide covers:

• The SWS Assessment Process including:
  • submitting SWS applications to JobAccess
  • developing performance standards for job tasks
  • establishing benchmarks
  • internal collection of employee productivity data
  • preparation for and participation in the SWS Assessment
  • process for validating the assessment result
  • finalising the SWS Wage Assessment Agreement
• Employee right of review and dispute resolution process
• SWS Assessment Review provisions.

There are five attachments, including an SWS assessment flowchart, a task analysis and performance standards template, benchmark validation examples, a glossary of terms, and links to additional SWS resources.

As well as the guide, NDS has a comprehensive question and answer document on SES Award Classification and other resources on our BuyAbility Vision Webinars webpage.

NDS members can forward any queries about SWS assessments to Paul Musso: submit enquiry/feedback

Research Paper on International Models of Supported Employment released

In other Supported Employment news, NDS, in partnership with Social Scaffolding, have released a research paper on InternationalModels of Supported Employment [pdf|doc], examining the types of active labour market programs operating overseas, including case studies from ten countries.

After examining a wide range of international labour market programs and disability employment support models, it asks if these provide lessons for Australian supported employment provider.

The paper also identifies types of government policies (both national and provincial) that aim to increase the rate of jobseekers and employees with disability within a wide range of sustainable, quality employment opportunities and settings.

Social Enterprise Development Initiative expected to be launched shortly

The Commonwealth Government’s Social Enterprise Development Initiative, which was announced in the May Budget, is expected to be released soon. Social Enterprise Australia has been engaged by the Commonwealth to seek public feedback on the design of the initiative.

The government allocated $11.6 million to the initiative to support for-purpose organisations, such as social enterprises and charities, to build their capability to access capital and support improved social outcomes. There are two main components, capability-building grants and online education and mentoring.

We will have more to tell members when the Social Enterprise Development Initiative grant round is announced.

Reminder – please support the Our Voice Australia video campaign

It's not too late if you’d like to support the video campaign by Our Voice Australia (OVA) to tell Australia why supported employment matters to people with significant disability, their families and our economy.

In our 7 September update we asked providers to gather video messages from employees and family members and send in their contributions.

If you are still able to make a short video on your phone we are accepting contributions for a few more days, for more information and tips on what to do go to Defend Choice in Disability Employment - Support Our Voice Australia