Employment opportunities increased for disabled people in Australia 

Australia has introduced a new Disability Employment Services (DES) scheme centred around the first-hand experience and opinions of disabled people.

The DES Quality Framework is designed to provide a high-quality service for people with disability through service providers focused on driving meaningful and quality improvement in serving the disabled community.

Service providers will be assessed against four categories which focus on the quality of service being provided to people with disability and employers in the achievement of participant employment outcomes.

Of the four million Australians with disability, 2.1 million are of working age. However, the unemployment rate for disabled people has plateaued for more than two decades and they face a rate of unemployment three times that of the public.

Improving employment for the community has been a key focus of the Australian government, with Amanda Risworth, Minister for Social Services, calling the Framework key to the continuous improvement of the quality and effectiveness of the DES programme.

She said, “Under this new Framework, the rights, goals, and support needs of people with disability who are supported by the DES programme are paramount as they should be. The Framework places the participant first and recognises DES providers that are committed to collaboration, innovation, and high-quality service delivery.”

READ MORE: Australia increases funding for disability employment support

The DES Quality Framework was developed in consultation with the disability employment sector and participant representative organisations and will continue throughout the implementation process in the latter half of 2023, ensuring the feedback of those involved in the programme is embedded into the Framework and its supporting tools.