Job Capacity Assessment program overview

The Job Capacity Assessment (JCA) program provides comprehensive work capacity assessment, combining referral to employment and related support services (such as literacy and numeracy training) with assessment of work capacity for income support purposes (such as for Disability Support Pension, partial capacity to work and exemptions from activity-testing due to medical conditions lasting more than 13 weeks). 

How the Job Capacity Assessment program works

• The JCA program is administered by the Department of Human Services (DHS), which sets the requirements for service delivery in service provider contracts and guidelines.
• DHS does not control referrals for assessment.  The Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) is responsible for Welfare to Work arrangements and for the programme policy settings under which Job Capacity Assessments operate, such as requirements around referral, work capacity and eligibility for income support and employment services.
• Eighty per cent of Job Capacity Assessments are provided by Centrelink, CRS Australia and HSA Group, which are human services portfolio agencies. They are provided under agreements with DHS.
• The remaining 20 per cent of assessments are provided under contract by private providers selected by tender in 2006. The private providers are a mix of for-profit and not-for-profit organisations, the two largest being Advanced Personnel Management and Mission Australia.  Most are also employment service providers.
• People are referred for assessment by Centrelink and, in around 18 per cent of cases, by employment service providers. 
• People are only referred for a JCA if they have significant barriers to work, which are determined by Centrelink using the Jobseeker Classification Instrument.
• Most people applying for Newstart Allowance are referred directly to Job Network by Centrelink, without a JCA.

How Job Capacity Assessments work diagram

People are referred for a JCA if:

• they are applying for Disability Support Pension or undergoing a medical review of Disability Support Pension;
• they are on Newstart or Youth Allowance and applying for an activity test exemption of more than 13 weeks due to illness;
• they register directly with an employment service provider;
• they inform Centrelink or their employment service provider of a medical condition or disability that affects their work capacity and/or employment service needs;
• they have a significant change of circumstances, such as new medical evidence; and/or
• the Jobseeker Classification Instrument administered by Centrelink shows that they have significant barriers to work.
• DEEWR policy and program settings determine referrals and eligibility criteria for income support, activity test exemptions and referral to DEEWR funded employment services.

DEEWR funded Employment Services

DEEWR funded Employment Services include:

Job Network – a national network of organisations dedicated to helping job seekers find and keep a job.

Disability Employment Network – specialised employment assistance for people with a disability, injury or illness.

Vocational Rehabilitation Services – comprehensive interventions combining vocational rehabilitation with employment assistance.  They assist people who have an injury, disability or health condition to work independently in the open labour market.

Personal Support Programme – helps people tackle barriers and issues that are preventing them from looking for work, getting a job, benefiting from employment assistance, studying, or participating in the community.

Job Placement, Employment and Training – helps people aged between 15 and 21 who face personal and social barriers to employment, education or community participation.

Currently 83.1 percent of people who have a JCA are referred to a DEEWR employment service.

Fig. 1 is the recommended referrals made to DEEWR Funded Employment Services, it includes the percentage against the total referrals for the period 1 July 2007 to 2 Feb 2008.

JCA Recommended Referrals to Employment Services as a % of total referrals (1 July 2007 to 2 February 2008)

Referrals

Around 50 per cent of cases need Centrelink decisions.  Centrelink then determines eligibility for Disability Support Pension, partial capacity to work or temporary exemption from activity testing.  Referral to employment services is not always appropriate for these clients.

Assessments

There are 1,557 Assessors across 18 service providers with 1,070 sites to meet mobility access requirements and the audit are completed with HREOC. 

Job Capacity Account

Job Capacity Assessors can use Job Capacity Account funding to purchase short term allied health professional services, such as counselling and pain management, for Job Network clients who need these services to prepare for work.  About 28 percent of JCA clients referral to Job Network are also referral to a Job Capacity Account service.

DHS has approved the following items of Job Capacity Account Services:

Physical Support	Social Support	Psychological Support
Pain Management	Social Casework and Support	Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
Work Conditioning	Counselling Programmes	Behaviour Management and modification
Other Physical Support Programmes	Other Social Support Programmes	Other Psychological Support Programmes

Sources:

• Centrelink
• Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations
• Department of Human Services

Acronyms
CRS	Commonwealth Rehabilitation Service
DEEWR	Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations
DHS	Department of Human Services
HSA	Health Services Australia
HREOC	Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission
JCA	Job Capacity Assessment
JSCI	Jobseeker Classification Instrument

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