NDS calls on interested parties, especially employment service providers and other professional employment specialists, to help shape this exciting event.
This year’s NDS employment conference will be a one day in person event examining innovative ways to inspire and engage people with disability in employment opportunities in an ever evolving labour market. It is aimed at employment service providers (open, supported and social enterprises) and professionals interested in the design and promotion of a broad range of employment opportunities for people with disability in a globally transformed economy.
We invite the submission of presentation abstracts that will help shape an all-encompassing Vision for the delivery of employment supports for people with disability. The focus will be on articulating the value proposition of disability employment, case studies and workable solutions as well as in depth analysis of the drivers of ongoing reforms to open, supported and transition to employment service models.
What we know
Employment provides vitally important social and economic benefits for people with disability. These benefits include increased health and wellbeing, reduced reliance on welfare, greater financial security, a greater sense of self-worth and a positive role within the community. Reforms to open and supported employment models will allow service providers to assist more people with disability into a wider range of employment opportunities that suit their strengths, skills and aspirations.
Reflecting this, the theme for this year’s Disability at Work Conference is “Creating a Vision for Disability Employment”. The employment and participation rate of people with disability remains unacceptably low. The new Australian Government has committed to improving the employment rate of people with disability through specific initiatives and broader policy strategies.
NDS is proactively driving the achievement of improved outcomes through the creation of an overarching Vision for disability employment in Australia. This Vision will emphasise the delivery of a comprehensive range of quality service and support options that respond to the individual strengths, skills and aspirations of jobseekers and employees with disability.
Employment service providers are now operating in a nominally buoyant but still challenging labour market, in an increasingly uncertain global economic environment.
The current Disability Employment Services (DES) contract has been extended until mid-2025, allowing a more thorough reform consultation process. Initial reforms to the DES Quality Framework should ensure a more comprehensive approach to employment service delivery that directly considers the perspectives and experiences of participants and employers.
Social Enterprises are starting to realise the increased flexibility of the Supports in Employment pricing through the provision of a wider range of quality employment opportunities for people with disability. Wage setting arrangements in the sector will undergo significant change from 1 July 2023 with the introduction of the Fair Work Commission’s new wage structure for the Supported Employment Services (SES) Award. Meanwhile, NDS’s Industry Vision for Supported Employment continues to identify and inspire quality employment options across the sector.
Transition to Work Supports under the NDIS have undergone further reform, including possible changes to pricing arrangements. Innovative transition support models for a wider cohort of young people with disability increasingly utilise targeted, individualised supports that maximise outcomes for both jobseekers and employers.
The Disability Royal Commission (DRC) will conclude its detailed study of the experiences of people with disability working in open and supported employment settings. It is likely that additional reform of disability employment service delivery will be recommended by the DRC in its final report, delivered around September 2023.
In addition, the conference will highlight international trends and service models that seek to address the challenge of finding sustainable quality employment options for people with disability.
Abstract topic areas
- Enhancing access to employment
- New approaches to supporting people with disability in employment
- Measuring the quality of employment outcomes
- Stories from employees who are achieving their employment goals
- Stories from employers that are making a difference
- New approaches to upskilling jobseekers and employees
- Developing career pathways and enhancing career choice
- Utilising technology to remove barriers to employment
- Business and management
- Engaging employers
- Building a diverse and strong governance structure
- The benefits of diversifying income streams
- Business models that enhance financial viability
- Being competitive without rejecting cooperation
- Exploring the benefits and pitfalls of mergers
- Utilising management information systems that enhance efficiency
- Harnessing the power of procurement opportunities and partnerships
- Marketing and promotion
- Promoting the benefits of employing people with disability
- Marketing Supported Employment Enterprises and their products
- Marketing Disability Employment Services
- Effective employer, customer and partner engagement
- Maximising social media opportunities
Submission of abstracts and enquiries
Abstracts, no more than 300 words in length, should be submitted by 9 June 2023.
Abstracts will be assessed for suitability for inclusion by a peer review panel. It is anticipated that presentations will generally be 30 or 45 minutes in length. Include your name, organisation, contact details and a brief presenter profile of no more than 150 words.
For any queries, please contact Colin Entwistle at colin.entwistle@nds.org.au.
Additional information
Presenters will be able to attend the conference as our guest. The event organisers reserve the right to edit the abstract and/or presenter profile for use during the conference.
National Disability Services (NDS) is Australia's peak body for non-government disability service organisations, representing over 1,000 non-government service providers. Collectively, NDS members operate several thousand services for Australians with all types of disability.