United Nations Public Service Awards Case Studies

Recruitment in Australia is changing. Labour shortages of around 195 000 people are forecast to hit all major industries in Australia over the next five years. Despite this trend, people with disability, who represent
16.6 per cent of Australia’s working age population, still find it difficult to find and maintain employment. (Source: Australian Human Rights an Equal Opportunity Commission 2005, Workability II: Solutions, Final report of the National Inquiry into Employment and Disability, Australian Human Rights an Equal Opportunity Commission, Sydney).

In 2005, the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission conducted a National Inquiry into Employment and Disability. The objective of the Inquiry was to identify the reasons for low participation and employment rates among people with disability and to work toward practical, achievable solutions.

The results of the Inquiry indicated that people with disability face higher barriers to participation and employment than many other groups in Australian society. Three sets of obstacles affecting the employment of people with disability in the open labour market were identified:

1. Information—the absence of easily accessible and comprehensive information to assist in decision making and to support ongoing needs, including information about the full range of supports and services offered by the Australian Government
2. Cost—concern about the cost of participation for people with disability and the possible cost to their employers
3. Risk—concern about possible financial and personal impacts of disability on employment. (Source: Australian Human Rights an Equal Opportunity Commission 2005, Workability II: Solutions, Final report of the National Inquiry into Employment and Disability, Australian Human Rights an Equal Opportunity Commission, Sydney).

The lack of clear information appears to have added impetus to several myths about the cost and risk of employing people with disability including that they cost more than other employees to recruit and that the risks to the employer are higher for this group than for other employees.

As a result, employers in Australia do not have a great awareness of the business benefits of employing people with disability including that the cost of hiring people with disability can be up to 13 per cent lower than the cost associated with hiring other employees . (Source: Graffam J, Shinkfield K & Polzon U 2002. ‘Employer benefits and costs of employing people with a disability’, Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, vol. 17, pp. 251-263). Employers were also discouraged from accessing and using some of the free services and supports available to them because of lengthy application processes and government red tape.

The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Employment and Disability recommended that the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (previously the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations) develop and promote a service for employers and people with disability, offering them all the information they need in one place, including a map of the full range of services and supports across all levels of government.

The Report also called for easier access to employer incentives such as the Workplace Modifications Scheme which pays for the costs involved in modifying the workplace for eligible employees with disability.

JobAccess responds to the Report’s recommendations, providing a comprehensive and coordinated resource dedicated to improving the employment of people with disability and providing easier access to employer incentives.

[440 words]

What is the initiative about? (the solution)
JobAccess is a comprehensive resource for employers, people with disability, their co-workers and employment service providers. It is comprised on an information-rich web site (www.jobaccess.gov.au) including online application forms, a unique database of workplace adjustments and solutions and free expert telephone advice (1800 464 800). The key benefit of JobAccess is that it removes the information barrier that prevents many people with disability from getting a job. JobAccess is a one-stop information shop. Content on the web site has been authored specifically for each target audience. The ‘Employers’ section of the site focuses on the business benefits of employing people with disability, dispelling common misunderstandings and myths. Employers can find statistics demonstrating that people with disability can have fewer accidents, lower absenteeism and lower recruitment costs than other employees. Employers can also find practical guides enabling them to become ‘disability confident’ organisations, including access to free copies of a Mental Health First Aid in the Workplace e-learning CD. The JobAccess Advice service is contracted to WorkFocus Australia, an organisation with 17 years experience in the sector. The JobAccess Advisers organise free workplace assessments and modifications as part of the Workplace Modifications Scheme and facilitate access to Australian Sign Language (Auslan) interpreting and training through the Auslan For Employment Programme. Applications for assistance, including applications for productivity-based wage assessments, are made online. The benefits of JobAccess have been measured both qualitatively through user satisfaction surveys and quantitatively through data analysis. The team at JobAccess are very helpful and are very prompt with assessing workplace modifications applications. The website is also very user friendly, especially the workplace modifications application form. (Ranmali Ratnachandra, Senior Employment Coordinator, Vision Australia) The number of pages viewed on the web site for July 2007 has increased by one third since the site was released. The number of enquiries to JobAccess at the start of this financial year doubled compared to averages for last financial year. JobAccess currently receives more than 1000 enquiries per month. To date, nearly 70 000 copies of the Mental Health First Aid in the Workplace CD have been distributed. Perhaps the most notable achievement of JobAccess has been encouraging access to employer incentives. Previously the Workplace Modifications Scheme required three paper-based forms with an average turnaround time of 11 calendar days. The JobAccess model ensures that applications for assistance for less than $AU 10 000 are answered within four business hours. For applications over $AU 10 000, a workplace assessment is organised within two business days. JobAccess has met these requirements for 100 per cent of applications. Once a workplace assessment report is lodged, in 94 per cent of cases, the JobAccess Advisers review and approve the report within two business days. The number of people who have received reimbursement under the Scheme has increased from 408 in 2005-06 to 684 in 2006-07 and indications are that this will increase even more significantly in 2007-08. From July to October 2007, 421 people have already been granted reimbursement under the Scheme. [497 words]

Who proposed the solution, who implemented it and who were the stakeholders?
As part of the Inquiry into Employment and Disability, the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission recommended that the Department develop and implement a one-stop information shop and expert advice service for the employment of people with disability. The Commission also recommended that the Department improve access to the Workplace Modifications Scheme. The Commission’s recommendations were based on intensive consultation with people within the disability community, employment service industry, the private sector and government. The Department commissioned a scoping study to examine the feasibility of developing such a service in Australia. Associate Professor Nicholas Buys (Griffith University) completed the study, consulting with key stakeholders in Australia and seeking input from the United States Department of Labor (who fund the Job Accommodation Network in the United States). The Job Accommodation Network project team, who provide advice about workplace adjustments and solutions to employers in the United States, made themselves available to discuss their experience in detail. Following completion of the scoping study, the Department conducted further targeted consultations in Australia with employers and potential employers of people with disability, job seekers and employees with disability, their co-workers, employment service providers, disability peak bodies, consumer organisations and other government departments and agencies. Employers, industry and peak body representatives also provided advice to the Department on increasing labour force participation and employment opportunities for people with disability in Australia. These stakeholders recommended how to best engage with business, how to target web site content to meet employer needs and also participated in user testing of the site before its release. To ensure that the web site covered the full range of services and supports available, three Commonwealth departments and two Commonwealth agencies were invited to submit content relevant to the site. Commonwealth departments were also encouraged to seek input from their relevant state and territory counterparts. As a result, JobAccess contains information about services and supports regardless of which department or level of government is providing the service or support. The project team within the Department included staff from five branches including staff with IT, legal, communications, programme and policy expertise. An internal steering committee, including a project owner and sponsor from senior management, tracked the project’s success After a year of consultation, planning and development, the Department released JobAccess on 3 July 2006. The site and service was officially launched by the Minister for Workforce Participation in Melbourne in August 2006 and continues to be enhanced. [405 words]

Describe how and when the initiative was implemented by answering these questions
a. What were the strategies used to implement the initiative? In no more than 500 words, provide a summary of the main objectives and strategies of the initiative, how they were established and by whom.
The Department used a phased implementation strategy to progressively release JobAccess. Given that JobAccess was the first service of its kind in Australia, the objective of a phased implementation was to gauge stakeholder satisfaction with the service and to respond to demand for the service as it became known. It allowed the Department to manage the risk that the service would greatly exceed anticipated demand and available funding. The first release of JobAccess included a fully functional web site with approximately 700 pages of content and another 1000 pages of content in the online database of workplace adjustments and solutions (the Workplace Adjustment Tool). The JobAccess Advisers, a team of approximately eight personnel, were also fully operational upon the release date. A pre launch took place initially to ensure that the web site and service were ready to cope with further demand. The official publicity launch took place a month later when the Department was confident that the service was operating as planned. Four subsequent releases of JobAccess in 2006-07 responded to feedback received through post-implementation user testing and accessibility testing which was carried out among members of each of the target audiences. These four releases also allowed additional online forms and content to be added to the site once the demand for JobAccess became fully apparent. Complementing each release of the web site was a phased and targeted communication strategy which was designed to respond to over or under demand for the service as required. This strategy was developed and implemented by the Department’s communications team. The first two phases of the communication strategy targeted disability peak bodies and government-funded employment service providers who work with both employers and job seekers/employees with disability. These phases were designed to prepare the way for the new service and promote its use among employment service providers. The final phase of the communication strategy was targeted directly at the employers themselves. This phase included direct mail outs to employers, online marketing and print media advertising. It focused on the business benefits of employing people. Promotion and advertising highlighted the free practical advice and financial assistance available to employers, either online or by telephone through JobAccess. A ‘Need Staff?’ kit was distributed to employers in the industries most likely to be affected by skills shortages. The kit contained a DVD of employer experiences. Employers discussed the tangible benefits that employing people with disability had on their organisation and encouraged other employers to look beyond their traditional recruitment channels and give people with disability an opportunity. [421 words]

b. What were the key development and implementation steps and the chronology? No more than 500 words
A formal project management approach was adopted to deliver JobAccess on time, within budget and according to the high standards required by the Minister for Workforce Participation and other key stakeholders. Scoping for the project commenced in May 2005, immediately after the first Budget announcement. The formal scoping study to assess the feasibility of establishing the service was completed by July 2005. A project manager was appointed in August 2005 and the start-up phase began. During this stage, governance arrangements were established and a formal project management plan completed. During September 2005, detailed planning was complete. The parameters for the project’s scope, informed by intensive input from the project steering committee and working group, were set. Procurement plans were developed to ensure that purchasing was undertaken in accordance with Australia’s Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines. The project team was drawn together from five branches across the Department, ready to tackle the challenge that lay ahead. By October 2005, development was underway. Further targeted consultations were held to refine the project requirements. Two tenders were released to seek proposals from experts to provide the advice component of the service and to write content for the Workplace Adjustment Tool. Intensive IT development ensued. Sessions were held four times a week to establish the detailed business requirements for the web site and online forms. Content requirements were scoped and the project team began gathering the 700 pages of content required to meet the scope. IT development was complete on the 31 March 2006 and a month later an internal (non-public) version of the site was available to the Department’s web authoring team who began to load the content. User testing took place, preparing the site for its official release. A contract was signed with WorkFocus Australia in June 2006, in time for the release of the site on Monday 3 July 2006. The JobAccess Advisers began to take calls that day and the new online form for the Workplace Modifications Scheme replaced the old paper-based forms. Following implementation, initial monitoring of the service began. The communications team undertook post-implementation user testing, gathering qualitative feedback to inform communication activities and improvements to the service. The JobAccess Advisers also sought feedback through customer satisfaction surveys. On the 11 August 2006, JobAccess was publicly launched by the Minister for Workforce Participation at an Internet-café style morning tea in Melbourne. The JobAccess Advisers demonstrated the features of the site and Departmental staff with vision impairment demonstrated the accessibility of the site using assistive technology products such as Magic and Jaws. The next four releases of JobAccess followed a similar development and implementation pattern throughout 2006-07. The same project team was used for the subsequent releases of JobAccess and by 30 June 2007, the final release of JobAccess was complete. JobAccess now boasts over 1000 pages of general content, three online forms, a highly accessible user interface and a growing team of JobAccess Advisers who have a proven track record in the provision of fast, friendly and expert advice. [499 words]

c. What were the main obstacles encountered? How were they overcome? No more than 500 words
Given that JobAccess was the first service of its kind in Australia, there was no precedence upon which to base demand for the service. While funding provided for the project in the original 2005-06 Budget announcement was capped, potential demand for the service was relatively unknown. To manage this complexity, a communication strategy was developed to respond to either over or under demand for the service during its first year of activity. Service usage was carefully monitored on a month by month basis and communication activities were rolled out based on the demand trends during that month. The initial phases on the communication strategy were designed to prepare the way for the service by targeting disability peak bodies and Australian Government funded employment service providers. When the Department was confident that the funding available for the service was sufficient to cope with higher demand (and this included securing additional funding through subsequent Budget announcements) communication activities were ramped up and targeted directly at employers through a mixture of print, online and direct advertising. One of the aims of the project team was to make the JobAccess web site an example of best practice in accessible web design. Due to funding constraints, the web site was developed entirely in house by the Department. An obstacle posed during implementation of the project was the lack of staff within the Department who had experience and expertise is developing a web site that would meet the high accessibility standards established by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). To overcome this challenge, all the IT project staff attended web accessibility training and the Department purchased commonly used assistive technology such as Magic and JAWS. Ongoing accessibility advice was purchased from Vision Australia’s Web Accessibility Solutions, including rigorous testing of the web site prior to release. Users of assistive technology within the Department were invited to contribute to the project and offered valuable feedback about the user friendliness and accessibility of the site throughout its development. The result was a fresh approach to accessibility for government web sites. The IT team came up with unique authoring templates that, in addition to the use of Style Sheets, enforce consistency and a higher level of accessibility across the entire site. The templates prevent web authoring actions that reduce accessibility from taking place or provide warnings to web authors to ensure that certain accessibility standards are met. The new expertise gained by the JobAccess IT team has produced a chain reaction within the Department, prompting several other departmental web teams to replicate the style of JobAccess and strive for greater accessibility for all users. [435 words]

d. What resources were used for the initiative and what were its key benefits? In no more than 500 words, specify what were the financial, technical and human resources’ costs associated with this initiative. Describe how resources were mobilized
Financial resources for the initial development and implementation of JobAccess were made available through the 2005-06 Budget. As part of the Budget’s Employer Demand Strategy, $AU 1.4 million was provided over three years to establish an advice service to support the employment of people with disability. WorkFocus Australia was engaged through a competitive tender process to provide the advice component of the service. Additional services have since been added to the contract including the administration of the Auslan for Employment programme. (The final value of the contract is commercial in confidence.) The Department provided the resources for project management, web site and content development. Staff from across five branches contributed to the project’s success. The first release of the JobAccess web site, including the online database of workplace adjustments and modifications and the online application forms, required approximately 10 800 hours of work by the Department’s in-house IT team. The team was comprised of a project team leader, a business analyst, several developers and a tester. Accessibility expertise was sought from an external consultant (the cost of this consultancy service is commercial in confidence). While the content for the online database was procured through a competitive tender process (commercial in confidence), the remaining web site content (over 700 pages) was developed through the combined contribution of Departmental staff, staff from other government departments and agencies, and stakeholders with particular subject matter expertise. State and territory worker’s compensation authorities, for example, were happy to contribute facts to dispel myths about worker’s compensation premiums for employers who employ people with disability. The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission provided information about disclosure of disability and the rights and responsibilities of job seekers and employees and their employers under Australia’s Disability Discrimination Act. The Department of Education, Science and Training provided information regarding traineeships and apprentices for people with disability. Editing of the content was completed by Departmental staff who undertook training in writing accessibly for the web and took care to respond to consultation feedback which called for clear, simple language, avoiding ‘government-speak’. An Easy English translator was contracted to translate some of the content into Easy English. The Easy English pages feature illustrative cartoons to reinforce key messages. Additional funding for JobAccess was provided in the 2006-07 Budget. This allowed enhancements to the web site including new content, multi media and the creation of online application forms for another two employer incentives, the Auslan For Employment Programme (which provides financial assistance for the cost of Australian sign language interpreting and training in the workplace) and the Supported Wage System (which provides access to free productivity-based wage assessments for eligible employees with disability) The JobAccess website now requires minimal on-going maintenance by Departmental staff. [452 words]

Is the initiative sustainable and transferable?
JobAccess was initially allocated funding for three years, after which time the results of formal evaluation activities will inform decisions about ongoing operation. Demand for the service to date creates a strong argument for retaining JobAccess as Australia’s single point of contact for all matters relating to the employment of people with disability well into the future. The JobAccess Advisers are contracted to regularly review and update the content of the JobAccess web site to ensure that it remains relevant. As they review the results of workplace assessments and approve applications for the Workplace Modifications Scheme, they develop new case studies for the site, providing practical examples of how the barriers to employment have been successfully removed for many people with disability. Users of JobAccess are invited to provide feedback to ensure that the service continues to meet their needs. Disability peak bodies and the Minister’s Disability Advisory Group continue to monitor the web site and provide advice to the Department about its ongoing relevance and quality. Word of mouth communication is now well-entrenched among government-funded employment service providers who provide JobAccess material to their clients. Disability peak bodies, Centrelink staff, training providers and consumer organisations are all equipped with posters and advertising material to recommend the service to others. The unique web authoring templates ensure that the accessibility of the web site is sustained. This has prompted interest from other web teams within the Department and from other departments in the public service. It is hoped that the accessibility standards established and promoted by JobAccess will influence all Australian Government web sites. JobAccess is highly replicable. A scoping study is currently being undertaken by Australia’s National Vocational Education and Training Disability Taskforce to see how the concept of JobAccess might be used in educational settings to assist students with disability and their teachers. The Taskforce will liaise closely with the JobAccess Advisers, the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, the Department of Education, Science and Training (now the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations), disability liaison officers in universities and colleges, training authorities in each state and territory, students with disability and their teachers to complete the study in early 2008. Options include expanding the current service to embrace the needs of students with disability and their teachers; adding new content to the web site and sharing the site with a separate team of education experts; or modelling an entire new site and service on JobAccess. Whatever the outcome, the lessons learned from the JobAccess experience will be invaluable for the Taskforce. The Global Applied Research and Information Network (GLADNET) have been granted permission to use the concept and content on JobAccess to help other countries and non-government organisations implement the new United Nations Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Information about JobAccess has been sent back to the United State’s Job Accommodation Network team with the intention that the innovations developed as a result of the Australian experience can be used overseas. [497 words]

What are the impact of your initiative and the lessons learned?
The success of JobAccess can be attributed to the overwhelming input and support provided by Australia’s disability employment sector; state, territory and federal government department and agencies; and the end users of the service: job seekers and employees with disability, their co-workers and employers. Ongoing consultation allowed the project team to tailor JobAccess to meet the needs of the target audience and to respond in a very specific and practical way to the barriers identified in the Report into Employment and Disability. Thanks to the input from employers and industry groups, JobAccess speaks the language of business. Employers will not find acronyms or government jargon on the web site. Instead, they will find statistics, facts and case studies that demonstrate that the employment of people with disability makes good business sense. JobAccess provides compelling evidence to bust the myths around employing people with disability. Importantly, JobAccess reduces the red tape involved in accessing financial support from the Australian Government. The JobAccess Advisers will even fill out application forms on an employer’s behalf, saving them time and effort. Consumer organisations and job seekers and employers with disability have provided input to ensure that the service provides all the resources people with disability need to find and maintain a job in one place. JobAccess provides resume templates, information about disability confident employers, disclosure of disability and step by step guides for all stages of the employment journey. A phone call to the JobAccess Advisers can connect job seekers and employees to the service that best meets their individual needs. The contribution of co-workers of people with disability has allowed the service to encourage all Australian workers to become disability confident. JobAccess provides practical guides on how to communicate with people with disability, disability awareness training, mental health first aid in the workplace and advice on how to support a colleague with disability. The input of employment service providers has allowed JobAccess to respond to the needs of professionals assisting people with disability and employers looking for staff. JobAccess Advisers are professionals and understand the issues from the perspective of the employer, the employee and the service provider. They comprise occupational therapists, a registered psychologist, exercise physiologist and customer service officers. JobAccess provides a range of tools, publications, checklists and other resources to help employment service providers bring job seekers with disability and employers together. Ongoing feedback from each of these groups will ensure the continuing success of this Australian first. [408 words]


Institution Name:		Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations ('the Department')
Institution Type:		Government Department
Contact Person:		Sharon Rose
Title:		Assistant Secretary
Telephone/ Fax:		+61 2 6121 6528
Institution's / Project's Website:		+61 2 6275 3533
E-mail:		sharon.rose@dewr.gov.au
Address:		GPO Box 9879
Postal Code:		2601
City:		Canberra
State/Province:		ACT
Country:		Australia

The Problem

Solution and Key Benefits

Actors and Stakeholders

(a) Strategies

(b) Implementation

(c) Overcoming Obstacles

(d) Use of Resources

Sustainability and Transferability

Lessons Learned

Contact Information