<p>Although disability doesn't feature in tonight's Federal Budget, it does contain a few notable gains and some pain.</p><p>A relatively inexpensive but welcome measure will allow supported employees (in Australian Disability Enterprises) to engage with a Disability Employment Service, for up to two years. At present a supported employee must first resign from their ADE before registering with a DES. Young people in Transition to Work programs will also be able to engage concurrently with a DES for up to six months. NDS has long sought these changes and congratulates the Government on announcing them.</p><p>Australian Disability Enterprises will benefit from $17 M over four years for business advice and assistance to be financially viable and prepare for the NDIS. This is in addition to $173 M over four years to develop and implement a new wage assessment method. $17 M over four years is not enough (and none will be available for capital equipment) but - as the NSW Industry Development Fund has shown - it will help if invested strategically. NDS understands that the indexation rate for ADEs will continue at 2% for the year ahead.</p><p>Improved employment support will be provided to young people with mental health conditions. $55.2 M over five years will go to non-government organisations to implement 40 trials to assist disadvantaged youth who have multiple barriers to employment. In addition, $19.4 M over four years will be used to establish two employment support trials to help improve employment outcomes for people up to the age of 25 years who have a mental illness. One pilot will see Headspace trial an individual support model through 15 outlets.&nbsp; In the other, $1.8 M will be used to trial a 'rapid connection' to employment model for 200 DES participants.&nbsp; A select tender will be conducted, with the date to be determined.</p><p>The Government continues to put its faith in gateways to improve access to information and services. In addition to the new My Aged Care gateway, it will provide $25.2 M over four years to establish the JobAccess gateway, a central entry point for disability employment information and services, available to people with disability, employers, carers and advocates. The National Disability Recruitment Coordinator will be merged into the Gateway. At a cost of $33.7 M, the Government will also establish a national gateway for carers to improve their access to information, support and referral to carer-specific supports and services. This gateway will assist carers across aged care, community, mental health and disability.</p><p>Of concern to NDS is the indication that the JobAccess gateway will be "funded from savings achieved by tightening arrangements for outcome based fees to employment services providers to better align the employment outcomes achieved with the job seeker's actual work capacity". This will make it tougher for Disability Employment Services to receive full employment outcome payments during a time when DES providers are struggling financially with the Government's failure over several years to index fees.</p><p>Currently the DES guidelines state that people with a future work capacity of 15-22 hours or 23 -29 hours per week need to work for a minimum of 15 hours per week for a Full Outcome to be payable.&nbsp; As of 1 July, people with an assessed work capacity of 23-29 hours per week will need to work a minimum of 23 hours per week over a 13 week period or a 26 week period for a Full Outcome to be payable.</p><p>The employment measures in the Budget are less than might be expected given the release in February of the McClure Welfare Reform Review report. The Budget claims 'first steps' in responding to the McClure Review and refers to $20.7 M over four years for 'an investment approach'. Unfortunately this funding will only develop a detailed annual actuarial valuation of the lifetime liability of Australia's welfare system from 2015. While this may be an important research initiative, it will not help secure employment for people with disability.</p><p>Minister Mitch Fifield announced at the end of April that the Government would conduct a wide-ranging review into the design of disability employment support - an announcement which NDS supported.&nbsp; We will now need to wait for the conclusion of this review for the substantial and strategic investment in employment support that is needed to boost the employment rate of people with disability.</p><p>There is less pain in this year's Budget than last year's, but one measure which will affect many disability service organisations is the decision to cap the Meal and Entertainment Allowance at $5000 grossed up value, commencing 1 April 2016. At present, this Allowance is uncapped and sits outside the FBT exemption cap.&nbsp;</p><p>Also concerning are changes to the method of calculating work-related car expense deductions. From July, the only method to be used is 'cents per kilometre' and the new rate is set at just 66 cents per kilometre (regardless of engine size). The logbook method of calculating expenses will be retained. NDS will provide further information on relevant tax measures in coming days.</p><p>There are substantial savings (of $1.7 b over 4 years) to be achieved by the Department of Human Services (which administers Centrelink) through compliance measures targeting fraud prevention and debt recovery and improved assessment processes.</p><p>The Budget contains no real surprises relating to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). NDS is pleased to see that $143 M over four years has been committed to develop a new Information and Communication Technology (ICT) system for the NDIS. The ICT system being used in the trial sites is not suitable for the full implementation of the scheme. This will be partially funded by redirecting $50.3 M of NDIA funds that had been provided for the interim ICT system.</p><p>The transfer of responsibility for the Sector Development Fund (SDF) from the NDIA to the Department of Social Services was confirmed. It appears that over the next two years $1.3 M of the remaining funds will be transferred to the Department of Human Services to support the delivery of NDIS trials and $2.6 M will support the delivery of the MyWay trial in Western Australia. These uses seem inconsistent with the purpose of the SDF, which is to prepare the disability community for the NDIS.</p><p>Funding for the implementation of the NDIS in the Blue Mountains area of NSW from July 2015 is included; $15.7 M will be provided by the Federal Government in 2015-16.</p><p>The Federal Government began collecting revenue from the increased Medicare levy in July 2014. The first funds from this levy (held in the DisabilityCare Australia Fund) will begin to flow to states and territories over the coming year: NSW will receive $27.5 M; Victoria $21.3 M; SA $6.3 M; Tasmania $2.0M; ACT $1.4 M; and NT $0.8 M. This funding is made available to states when they meet key conditions (agreement to fully roll out the NDIS and milestones relating to the number of participants in the scheme).</p><p>The Commonwealth continues to provide funding to the states under the National Disability Agreement to support disability services. The growth factor for 2015-16 for this funding is estimated to be 3.5 per cent.</p><p>At the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nds.org.au/events/1420517984">Disability at Work conference</a>, delegates will have the opportunity to hear Minister Fifield and senior DSS officials explain the budget measures affecting employment services.&nbsp; Registrations have been extended until COB Friday 15 May 2018. </p>