Tammy
DES
Service provider
Having worked in Employment Services for over 7 years. I believe that the government needs to stop running DES like it’s mainstream counter part. There needs to more focus on assisting into long term sustainable employment, but it’s hard to educate employers when there are so many pressures : targets to place place place.
It ends in a ‘dump n run’ scenario that does not benefit the client or the employer, as providers are so worried about getting the runs on the board that the person misses out.
Providers need to be held responsible for their actions and held accountable to deliver a service that they tender and say they will deliver.
The government need to spend more time on educating employers, they don’t really care about Wage Subsidies so much. Money does not fix everything there is so much discrimination out there against people with disabilities but also DES providers. It is hard for a provider to talk to employers as they have been burned so many times and given promises of support that nothing is delivered and they are gun shy and don’t want anything to do with providers.
New Start client should stay with New Start Providers (Job Active) unless there is a New Start- with Disability flag, where a client does not qualify for DSP. To many providers (Job Active) are placing their ‘to hard clients’ in DES as an easy out.
Disability Employment Services, should be just that. Drug and Alcohol should stay with JobActive where they have an Employment Fund to fund these services to be addressed.