New Disability Employment Support Model

This consultation has now closed.

The Australian Government is committed to assisting more people with disability into jobs so they can enjoy the social and economic benefits that work brings. People with disability and employers need a system that meets their needs and provides the appropriate supports to find and keep a job. The current Disability Employment Services (DES) program concludes 30 June 2023, and will be replaced by the new disability employment support model.

The Government is actively working to ensure that the new disability employment support model is designed with people with disability at the centre. We want your help to create a model that best supports people with disability to find and maintain employment, and supports employers to employ people with disability and ensure their employment is successful.

The Government has already heard from many people about what is important to them through the consultations for Australia’s Disability Strategy, Disability Employment Strategy and the Disability Royal Commission. However, it is important to ensure that people with disability, their families and carers are involved in these important reforms to disability employment services.

The Department of Social Services (DSS) has been engaging with disability employment organisations, DES providers and many other stakeholders through a series of working group meetings designed to work through issues for a range of disability cohorts. PricewaterhouseCoopers has also been engaged to run a series of workshops with people with disability and carers across Australia to assist in designing the new model.

As the next step in the engagement process, DSS is undertaking public consultation to give more people a chance to have a say on what the new disability employment support model should look like. We want your feedback and ideas on how we can achieve meaningful change and help more people with disability prepare for work, get a job, keep working and progress their careers. The New Disability Employment Support Model Consultation Paper sets out what we know and what we think could help.