Explanatory Statement
Disability Services (Rehabilitation Services) Guidelines 2007
Background
Subsection 5(1) of the Disability Services Act 1986 (the Act) requires the Minister, to formulate by legislative instrument, Guidelines to be complied with in the administration of the Act. This instrument provides Guidelines to be complied with in the administration of Part III of the Act.
Summary
Recent changes were made to the Act by the Employment and Workplace Relations Legislation Amendment (Welfare to Work and Vocational Rehabilitation Services) Act 2007 which facilitate the Secretary entering into arrangements with services providers for the provision of vocational rehabilitation services. This means that as of 1 July 2007, a percentage of vocational rehabilitation services will be open to market contestability and no longer be solely provided by the Commonwealth Rehabilitation Service (CRS). It was considered necessary to revoke the Disability Services (Rehabilitation Services) Guidelines 2006 and replace these with the Disability Services (Rehabilitation Services) Guidelines 2007 in order to ensure that the Guidelines reflect the changes in the administration of vocational rehabilitation services.
Explanation of Provisions
Part 1
Section 1 of the Guidelines states the name of the Guidelines being the Disability Services (Rehabilitation Services) Guidelines 2007.
Section 2 states the Guidelines are to commence on 1 July 2007. The Guidelines are to commence on this date as this is the date from which vocational rehabilitation arrangements with service providers will commence. The Employment and Workplace Relations Legislation Amendment (Welfare to Work and Vocational Rehabilitation Services) Act 2007 provides that in relation to the Guidelines relating to Part III, subsections 5(2), (3) and (4) of the Act do not apply to Guidelines that are formulated under subsection 5(1), on or after the day on which the Employment and Workplace Relations Legislation Amendment (Welfare to Work and Vocational Rehabilitation Services) Act 2007 receives Royal Assent and before 1 July 2007. The Legislative Instruments Act 2003 applies to these Guidelines.
Section 3 contains interpretation provisions.
Section 4 states the purposes of the Guidelines, in particular the purposes of the Guidelines are to promote fair and accountable decision making and promote efficient and effective administration of Part III of the Act.
Section 5 provides that the Minister may make standards under paragraph 5A(1)(c) of the Act and approve key performance indicators under subsection 5A(2) of the Act. In doing this, the Minister must consult with certain stakeholders as set out in subsection 5(2).
Part 2
Section 6 states when a person is taken to be holding a current certificate of compliance. This is when the accredited certification body has, under subsection 6E(3) of the Act, notified the Secretary the certificate has been given and the Secretary has not been notified that the certificate has been revoked. The ‘Note’ to section 6 provides that for the purposes of the Guidelines, ‘person’ is to taken to include a provider of rehabilitation programs who provides services on behalf of the Department under a contract made between the provider and the Commonwealth for the provision of rehabilitation services under Part III of the Act.
Section 7 states the factors which the Secretary must have regard to when taking measures or entering arrangements for the provision of rehabilitation services under subsection 20(1) of the Act. The factors listed are not intended to be an exhaustive list of considerations the Secretary may have regard to when entering into arrangements for the provision of rehabilitation services but all factors must be considered by the Secretary prior to entering an arrangement with a service provider.
In particular, the Secretary must consider the ability of the provider to effectively and efficiently provide high quality and value for money vocational rehabilitation services and the extent to which the vocational rehabilitation services offered by the provider will achieve the purposes of the Act. The Secretary must also consider the experience of the provider in providing vocational rehabilitation services, the skills, experience and professional qualifications of the provider’s employees and evidence of the provider’s successful past performance in providing rehabilitation services or similar services.
The Secretary must consider the ability of the provider to provide services that will enable people with an injury, disability or other health condition to achieve sustainable employment to maximise use of their capabilities and that will promote the capabilities of the target group. Also, the Secretary must consider the ability of the provider to provide services that promote the capabilities of the target group, leading to improved employment opportunities for them, and have a demonstrated commitment to continuous improvement in the provision of employment services to the target group.
The Secretary must consider the accessibility by people with disabilities to the provider’s premises and any other factor the Secretary considers relevant.
Section 8 specifies the considerations the Secretary must have if an arrangement for the provision of rehabilitation services is entered into with a service provider who does not hold a certificate of compliance as required by subsection 19(3). Subsection 19(3) provides that, the Secretary may enter an arrangement for the provision of rehabilitation programs with a provider who does not hold a current certificate of compliance if the arrangement is for the provision of rehabilitation services for a period of less than 12 months or the Secretary is satisfied the provider is likely to hold such a certificate at the end of the period 12 months after the day on which the arrangement commences. When entering arrangements with a provider who does not hold a certificate of compliance, the significant consideration is that the Secretary must be satisfied that the provider intends to obtain a certificate of compliance within 12 months of commencing providing rehabilitation services under the arrangement. Additionally, the Secretary must consider the matters listed in section 7 and must assess the capacity of the provider to comply with the disability services standards during the period which the provider does not hold a certificate of compliance.
Part 3
Section 9 provides that an officer of the Department, as defined in section 3 of the Guidelines, must upon request, provide a member of the public a copy of the guidelines, the principles and objectives formulated under section 5 of the Act, the rehabilitation program standards and the key performance indicators approved by the Minister. This provision is to assist facilitating information that relates to the administration of Part III of the Act to members of the public.
Consultation
The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations consulted with key disability interest groups in preparation of this instrument. Public consultation was undertaken to establish the broad views of people with a disability, the families and advocates of people with a disability and other appropriately interested persons. The views of interested people were considered in the formulation of these Guidelines.
Consultation took place with the following organisations:
- National Disability Services;
- Association of Competitive Employment (ACE);
- National Employment Services Association (NESA);
- Welfare Rights;
- Australian Rehabilitation Providers Association (ARPA); and
- Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU).
Written response to the proposed changes was received from the Australian Federation of Disability Organisations (AFDO).
The following organisations were unable to attend consultations but were invited to provide written or verbal comment:
- Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS);
- Mental Health Council of Australia (MHCA); and
- National Association of Community Based Children’s Services (NACBS).
Business Cost Calculator Figure
Nil.
A Best Practice Regulation - Preliminary Assessment has been completed in regard to the Guidelines. The Guidelines in themselves do not have any impact on businesses costs related to the conduct of vocational rehabilitation services.