Media Release
$320 million for the jobless
10 March 2006
The Minister for Human Services, The Hon. Joe Hockey, MP today launched a new $320 million program over three years to assist over a million Australians to connect to support services as part of the Government's Welfare to Work package.
"It is about helping people get ready for work by quickly connecting them to a range of services, like the Personal Support Program, rehabilitation or Job Network. The key is linking people to the right service quickly," said Minister Hockey.
"We know from the experience of rehabilitation specialists like CRS Australia, that early intervention increases a person's opportunity to find work that suits their abilities," he said.
"Most people want to work or contribute to their community but some have genuine barriers," said Minister Hockey. "The Job Capacity Assessment is designed to help people with those barriers improve their opportunities in finding work."
"From the 1st of July 2006, people who apply for a Disability Support Pension, or receive a Centrelink payment with activity test requirements and have reasons preventing them from working, such as illness or injury, or with those with other barriers to work, will now have their work capacity assessed by the Job Capacity Assessment."
Skilled staff will consult with the person, taking into account their personal circumstances and medical conditions to assess their capacity for work.
Where people have been referred to the Job Network, but may need a short term program to help them become job ready, their assessors will have access to the new Job Capacity Account .
The Job Capacity Account will fund short course programs such as pain management or counselling to help with a job seeker's motivation.
About 80 per cent of the expected assessments will be done by one of three experienced government providers: Centrelink, CRS Australia and Health Services Australia. The remaining 20 per cent of assessments will be done by private providers selected through a competitive tender process, to be announced in April.
A Job Capacity Assessment can inform Centrelink's decision about eligibility for Newstart or the Disability Support Pension, but assessors will not make income support decisions - Centrelink will remain solely responsible for all income support eligibility decisions.
Notes
- To recieve this information in a different format please email jca.feedback@humanservices.gov.au.