Media Release by The Hon Jenny Macklin MP

Supporting disability services making the move to DisabilityCare Australia

Joint Media Release with:

  • Jenny Macklin MP
    Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs
    Minister for Disability Reform

  • Amanda Rishworth MP
    Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Carers

The Gillard Government has announced it will give more than $2 million to National Disability Services as part of our Sector Development Fund to help disability organisations take part in the launch of DisabilityCare Australia.

The Government established the $122.6 million Sector Development Fund to help the disability and community sector prepare for the launch of DisabilityCare Australia.

The funding for National Disability Services will allow the organisation to expand its successful CareCareers program and NGO Readiness Assessment Tool across all four of the DisabilityCare launch sites that start on 1 July 2013.

These two programs were originally a collaboration between National Disability Services and the New South Wales Government. The Australian Government’s investment means we can expand that effort into launch sites in the other States and Territories to support service providers making the move towards DisabilityCare Australia.

CareCareers will help recruit and retain workers in the disability workforce through a range of career advice and training activities, jobsearch tools and promotional activities to raise the profile of care sector careers.

CareCareers also aims to inspire young people to consider a career in the disability sector by running workshops in high schools and providing work experience opportunities, as well as being a high-profile presence at expos and public forums.

The introduction of CareCareers across all the launch sites will assist service providers to continue meeting the demand for their services as DisabilityCare rolls out.

The NGO Readiness Assessment Tool will help DisabilityCare service providers in the launch sites assess what they need to do as they make the transition to DisabilityCare.

The NGO Readiness Assessment Tool supports disability service organisations to put strong foundations in place so they remain resilient, viable and responsive as they move into the new DisabilityCare environment.

National Disability Services will provide coaching and business support in launch locations to assist organisations to complete their readiness assessment, and help them create business development plans based on the results of their assessment.

National Disability Services will also keep working closely with service providers in the launch sites to help with their specific staffing and business transition requirements.

From 1 July this year, DisabilityCare Australia will be a reality for thousands of people with disability, their families and carers in four launch sites across the country-the Hunter region in New South Wales, the Barwon area in Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia.

The scheme will launch in the Australian Capital Territory and the Barkly region in the Northern Territory in July 2014.

When the full scheme is rolled out nationally by July 2019, around 460,000 Australians with disability will get the support they need.

The Gillard Government has invested an additional $14.3 billion over seven years in this year’s budget to roll out DisabilityCare Australia across the country.

This unprecedented long-term funding will provide people with significant and permanent disability, their families and carers the certainty they deserve.