Disability Employment Services Out for Tender

The Federal Government is opening up the tender process for the first time to full competition for the delivery of the Disability Employment Services – Disability Management Services (DES-DMS).

DES-DMS provide specialist help for people with disability, illness or injury to find and keep a job.

The Government, which has released an Industry Information Paper on the purchasing approach, said it was seeking comment from stakeholders on the draft selection criteria contained in the Paper before the Request for Tender was released in the coming months.

It said the decision was part of the recent Federal Budget.

“The Government will tender the 47 per cent of DES-DMS that is currently delivered by

CRS Australia, a division of the Department of Human Services. The non-government sector has shown that it can effectively deliver the service,” Assistant Social Services Minister Mitch Fifield said.

“This is good news for people with disability and non-government employment service providers.

“Competition drives efficiency and innovation in service delivery, resulting in increased benefits and better employment outcomes for people with disability.

“Full competition for DES-DMS tenders will enable more participants to receive quality support and sustainable employment outcomes by promoting high performance and continuous improvement in employment services providers.

“The Government is very serious about improving opportunities for people with disability.

“This measure is all about giving job-seekers with disability confidence that their DES-DMS provider has demonstrated their ability to achieve high quality employment outcomes and that they therefore have the best chance possible of finding and keeping a job.”

The Government said that a newly published report had found that the Australian Government’s Disability Employment Services (DES) is helping to find jobs for an increasing number of people with disability.

The evaluation of the DES program notes a substantial increase in demand, now 8,000 participants per month.

The report also highlighted encouraging improvements in moves to help people with disability find work, and found that DES has been particularly successful at finding work for people with temporary disabilities through the DES – Disability Management Service.

The Industry Information Paper will be available on AusTender at www.tenders.gov.au and at www.dss.gov.au/DES/DMStender.

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