EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Disability Services (Disability Employment and Rehabilitation Program) Standards 2002

Summary

This instrument is made under section 5A of the Disability Services Act 1986 (the Act).

The purpose of this instrument is to set out disability employment standards to be observed in the provision of employment services and rehabilitation program standards to be observed in the provision of rehabilitation programs to people with a disability.  The instrument also specifies key performance indicators relevant to each standard to be applied in assessing whether the standard has been observed in the provision of those services.

This instrument commences on 1 July 2002.

Background

The Disability Services Amendment (Improved Quality Assurance) Act 2002 (the Quality Assurance Act) made amendments to the Act that introduced, from 1 July 2002, a new industry-based quality assurance system for the provision of specialist employment services and rehabilitation programs to people with a disability.

The new quality assurance system is based on the certification, by accredited certification bodies, of the services against the relevant standards.

The new system links the funding under the Act to the certification.  After a transitional period ending in December 2004, only those existing employment services that fully meet the disability employment standards will be funded under the Act, and only the provision of rehabilitation programs that fully meet the rehabilitation program standards will be approved under the Act for funding.

During the transitional period, one of the conditions of funding of existing employment services is that they notify the Minister of their intention to seek certification by a particular day determined by the Minister, not later than 31 December 2004. New services will have up to 12 months to obtain the certificate of compliance with the disability employment standards.

Subsection 5A(1) of the DSA authorises the Minister to determine disability employment standards for employment services and the rehabilitation program standards for rehabilitation programs. Subsection 5A(2) authorises the Minister to approve key performance indicators to be applied by accredited certification bodies in assessing whether the standards have been observed.  The standards and key performance indicators can only be approved after consultation with the disability sector.

“Employment services” and “rehabilitation programs” are defined in the Act in sections 7 and 17, respectively:

“employment service” means a service for persons with disabilities that either:

• provides, or facilitates access to, wage generating employment for the majority of its clients; or
• has as its primary goal the achievement of paid employment for its clients.

“rehabilitation programs” means a rehabilitation program under this part, and, except in section 20, includes a follow up program under this Part.

Standards

To a large extend the Standards reflect the Disability Services Standards that came into effect in March 1993 (the 1993 Disability Services Standards) and will continue to apply to the provision of eligible services, such as, advocacy, information and print disability.

A Working Party with representatives from State/Territory Government, CRS Australia, the National Disability Advisory Council, ACROD, National Caucus of Disability Consumer Organisations (Caucus), Association for Competitive employment (ACE) and the Disability Standards Review Panel, commissioned an independent study of the continuing appropriateness of the 1993 Disability Services Standards.  This study canvassed the views of nearly a quarter of service users and providers.

Informed by the findings of this report, the Working Party concluded that the 1993 Disability Services Standards should be retained to provide the core values for the new quality assurance system with a few significant changes.

One of these changes involved the amalgamation of two existing standards (Standard 10 on support and Standard 11 on training) to become a new Standard 10, which addresses both training and support.

Also, the Working Party recommended the addition of two new standards concerning:

• staff recruitment, employment and training; and
• protection of human rights and freedom from abuse and neglect.

In addition there have been minor wording changes to clarify the intent of the Standards or for grammatical corrections.

The Disability Services Standards were revised in line with these changes (now known as the Standards) and circulated widely throughout the sector along with the proposed quality assurance model.

The standards, like the 1993 Disability Services Standards, put the Objects, and the Principles and Objectives of the Act into operation.  These standards are a clear statement of what it means to meet the Objects, Principles and Objectives.

Key Performance Indicators

Twenty-six key performance indicators measure the twelve standards.  These performance indicators have been designed to provide simpler, more sensitive, more outcome based measurements than the hundred and one supporting standards that they replace.

The key performance indicators have been developed in close collaboration with members of a Working Party (representing the disability sector) over a number of years.  They were refined in light of findings from a six-month trial and widely discussed during national consultations.   It is expected that these performance indicators will continue to be reviewed and refined in line with changing practice and expectations.

Explanation of the Provisions

Name of instrument

Section 1 states the name of this instrument.

Commencement

Section 2 states that this instrument commences on 1 July 2002, that is on the day of commencement of the Quality Assurance Act.

Definitions

Section 3 defines the terms used in this instrument.   The Schedule frequently uses the terms " service", " service provider" and "service recipient" that have been defined as follows:

“service” means support or assistance;

“service provider” means:

(a)  in relation to the provision of a service in respect of which financial assistance has been granted to a State or eligible organisation — the management and operational units of the State or eligible organisation responsible for the service, and

(b)  in relation to the provision of a rehabilitation program — CRS Australia, and;

“service recipient”:

(a) means a person with a disability who has applied for, is receiving, or has received, an employment service, or for whom the provision of a rehabilitation program is sought or for whom a rehabilitation program is being, or has been, provided; and

(b) includes a family member, an unpaid primary carer, or an advocate, of the person.

Standards

Section 4 states that standards set out in Schedule 1 to this instrument are the disability employment standards under paragraph 5A(1)(b) of the Act to be observed in the provision of an employment service and the rehabilitation employment standards under paragraph 5A(1)(c) to be observed in the provision of a rehabilitation program.

Key performance indicators

Section 5 states that the indicators set out in Schedule 1 in the item specifying a standard and identified by the initials ‘KPI’ are the key performance indicators under subsection 5A(2) of the Act.

Explanation of the items in Schedule 1

Schedule 1 Disability Employment Standards, Rehabilitation Program Standards and Key Performance Indicators

This Schedule contains 12 disability employment and rehabilitation program standards (standards).  Each standard has one or more key performance indicators (KPI).

Standard 1:Service access

Item 1 includes standard 1 and two key performance indicators.

Standard 1 requires a service provider to ensure that each person with a disability who is seeking a service has access to a service on the basis of relative need.

This standard is essentially the same as Standard 1 of the 1993 Disability Services Standards apart from substituting the word ‘consumer’ with ‘a person with a disability’.

The key performance indicator seeks evidence of a service’s non‑discriminatory practices in relation to their entry and exit procedures.

Standard 2: Individual needs

Item 2 includes standard 2 and three key performance indicators.

Standard 2 requires a service provider to ensure that each person with a disability receives a service that is tailored to his/her individual needs and personal goals.

This standard is the same as Standard 2 of the 1993 Disability Services Standards.

The key performance indicators seek evidence that:

• individual employment goals are established objectively to reflect needs and personal goals;

• employment plans are used as a basis for customised service provision and that the plans are regularly reviewed and updated; and

• individuals’ goals and plans do not have any unnecessary restrictions or constraints.

Standard 3: Decision Making & Choice

Item 3 includes standard 3 and two key performance indicators.

Standard 3 requires a service provider to ensure that each person with a disability has the opportunity to make decisions and choices.

This standard is the same as Standard 3 of the 1993 Disability Services Standards.

Key performance indicators seek evidence of meaningful and effective consumer participation in a range of decisions and choices in relation to pre-employment and employment planning, extending to broader planning for the service.

Privacy, Dignity and Confidentiality

Item 4 includes standard 4 and two key performance indicators.

Standard 4 requires a service provider to ensure that each individual within the service has the same level of privacy, dignity and confidentiality as expected by the rest of the community.

This standard is essentially the same as Standard 4 of the 1993 Disability Services Standards apart from substituting the word  ‘consumer’ for ‘service recipient’, which was considered more appropriate in the context of service delivery.

The key performance indicators seek evidence that a culture of tolerance and respect is promoted in the service, including the appropriate handling of personal information.

Standard 5: Participation and Integration

Item 5 includes standard 5 and one key performance indicator.

Standard 5 requires a service provider to ensure that each individual within that service is supported and encouraged to be involved in the community.

This standard is essentially the same as Standard 5 of the 1993 Disability Services Standards.  The only difference is that ‘life of’ has been removed from ‘life of the community’ as it provided no additional meaning.

The key performance indicator seeks evidence of the service’s success in progressively building opportunities for the meaningful involvement of individuals in the community through employment.

Standard 6: Valued Status

Item 6 includes standard 6 and three key performance indicators.

Standard 6 requires a service provider to deliver services in a way that enables a person with a disability to live and work in ways that are valued by the community.

This standard is the same as Standard 6 of the 1993 Disability Services Standards.

The key performance indicators seek evidence of the service’s success in achieving for people with disabilities ‘valued status’ in the community.

Standard 7: Complaints and Disputes

Item 7 includes standard 7 and one key performance indicator.

Standard 7 requires a service provider to ensure that each individual within that service has access to fair procedures for dealing with complaints and disputes.

Note that this standard is the same as Standard 7 of the 1993 Disability Services Standards.

The key performance indicators seek evidence of the service’s procedures and processes that result in accessible and effective complaint resolution.

Standard 8: Service Management

Item 8 includes standard 8 and one key performance indicator.

Standard 8 requires effective and efficient operation of a service.

The wording for this standard is slightly different to that of Standard 8 of the 1993 Disability Services Standards. ‘Sound management practices’ has been changed to ‘quality management systems and practices’ and ‘maximises’ has been changed to ‘optimises’.  These changes reflect current quality assurance terminology and ideas.

The key performance indicator seeks evidence of the service’s quality management practices that enable the service to achieve ‘optimal’ outcomes for individuals, such as, job placements, job durability and satisfaction.

Standard 9: Employment Conditions

Item 9 includes standard 9 and three key performance indicators.

Standard 9 requires a service provider to ensure that each individual within that service has access to wages and conditions comparable to the Australian workforce.

This standard is essentially the same as Standard 9 of the 1993 Disability Services Standards.  The only difference is that the words ‘expected and enjoyed’ have been removed as they provide little additional meaning.

The key performance indicators seek evidence that all individuals in a service that are fully productive, are being paid wages that are no less than that required under the relevant award.  Where a person is to unable work at full productive capacity because of their disability, a fair and transparent process must be used to determine the pro-rata award wage.

The service must also ensure that when people with a disability are placed in employment their conditions of employment are consistent with general workplace norms. These workplace norms include providing:

• safe and comfortable working environment;
• security of tenure in line with industry standard;
• a workplace free from harassment and discrimination; and
• ongoing performance feedback and appraisal.

Standard 10: Service Recipient Training and Support

Item 10 includes standard 10 and one key performance indicator.

Standard 10 requires a service provider to ensure that each individual within that service has access to relevant training and support.

This standard is a result of the direct amalgamation of two standards (standard 10 and standard 11) from the 1993 Disability Services Standards.  While this has reduced duplication, it has not resulted in any change in the meaning.

The key performance indicator seeks evidence that the service has provided appropriate training and support to every individual, in terms of their employment goals and opportunities.

Standard 11: Staff recruitment, employment and training

Item 11 includes standard 11 and three key performance indicators.

Standard 11 requires that all staff members employed to provide services for people with disabilities have the appropriate skills and competencies.

This is a new standard.

The key performance indicators require the service provider to demonstrate that all employed staff members have skills and competencies appropriate to their position.

Standard 12: Protection of human rights and freedom from abuse.

Item 12 includes standard 12 and two key performance indicators.

Standard 12 requires a service provider to actively prevent neglect and abuse and uphold the legal and human rights of every individual within that service.

This is a new standard.

The key performance indicators requires the service provider to provide evidence that all practical and appropriate steps have been taken to prevent abuse and neglect of individuals within that service.   Also they are to provide evidence as to how the legal and human rights of these individuals have been upheld.

The basic legal and human rights to be upheld include:

• respect for human dignity and freedom;
• equality before the law;
• privacy;
• protection against discrimination; and
• equal opportunity in employment.