JobsRUs

JobsRUs registered with the NDIA to provide employment supports specifically. The registration process was very extensive. There has been a recent change with the NDIS where as a providers we no longer are required to have employment specialist but the same basic qualifications as a support worker to provide employment supports. This subsequently means the hourly rate we bill has significantly reduced. As a small business that was built on the idea of helping people with a disability access and maintain employment, we now are faced with the reality of having over qualified staff.

In addition, to find new staff with the skills to build someone’s capacity to find and keep a job is difficult, once the realisation of the role being classified the same as a support worker sets in our employees quickly become demotivated and therefore are more likely to seek opportunities with a DES Provider. Maintaining our supports that has helped multiple individuals find and keep a job becomes very difficult when the systems change to penalise small businesses like ours that are so passionate about disability employment.

The relationships between DES providers and NDIS is one that urgently needs to be changed. We are seeing more and more DES offices also get registered for the NDIS and want nothing to do with us smaller NDIS only providers.
To have them working together is a conflict, however due to their policies and procedures being changed they are able to override this conflict. This still sees individuals with a disability put into courses they do not want and receive supports they don’t need when really all they would like is someone to actively work with them to address their employment needs.