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Australia’s Disability Employment Services Program: Participant Perspectives on Factors Influencing Access to Work

Author

Listed:
  • Alexandra Devine

    (Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne 3010, Australia
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Marissa Shields

    (Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne 3010, Australia
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Stefanie Dimov

    (Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne 3010, Australia)

  • Helen Dickinson

    (School of Business, University of New South Wales, Canberra 2610, Australia)

  • Cathy Vaughan

    (Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne 3010, Australia)

  • Rebecca Bentley

    (Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne 3010, Australia)

  • Anthony D. LaMontagne

    (School of Health and Social Development, Deakin University, Melbourne 3125, Australia)

  • Anne Kavanagh

    (Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne 3010, Australia)

Abstract

Disability employment programs play a key role in supporting people with disability to overcome barriers to finding and maintaining work. Despite significant investment, ongoing reforms to Australia’s Disability Employment Services (DES) are yet to lead to improved outcomes. This paper presents findings from the Improving Disability Employment Study (IDES): a two-wave survey of 197 DES participants that aims to understand their perspectives on factors that influence access to paid work. Analysis of employment status by type of barrier indicates many respondents experience multiple barriers across vocational (lack of qualifications), non-vocational (inaccessible transport) and structural (limited availability of jobs, insufficient resourcing) domains. The odds of gaining work decreased as the number of barriers across all domains increased with each unit of barrier reported (OR 1.22, 95% CI 1.07, 1.38). Unemployed respondents wanted more support from employment programs to navigate the welfare system and suggest suitable work, whereas employed respondents wanted support to maintain work, indicating the need to better tailor service provision according to the needs of job-seekers. Combined with our findings from the participant perspective, improving understanding of these relationships through in-depth analysis and reporting of DES program data would provide better evidence to support current DES reform and improve models of service delivery.

Suggested Citation

  • Alexandra Devine & Marissa Shields & Stefanie Dimov & Helen Dickinson & Cathy Vaughan & Rebecca Bentley & Anthony D. LaMontagne & Anne Kavanagh, 2021. "Australia’s Disability Employment Services Program: Participant Perspectives on Factors Influencing Access to Work," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-20, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:21:p:11485-:d:669545
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Mark Considine & Phuc Nguyen & Siobhan O’Sullivan, 2018. "New public management and the rule of economic incentives: Australian welfare-to-work from job market signalling perspective," Public Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(8), pages 1186-1204, August.
    2. Kavanagh, Anne M. & Aitken, Zoe & Baker, Emma & LaMontagne, Anthony D. & Milner, Allison & Bentley, Rebecca, 2016. "Housing tenure and affordability and mental health following disability acquisition in adulthood," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 225-232.
    3. Hopper, Kim, 2007. "Rethinking social recovery in schizophrenia: What a capabilities approach might offer," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(5), pages 868-879, September.
    4. Catherine McDonald & Greg Marston, 2008. "Re-visiting the Quasi-Market in Employment Services: Australia's Job Network," Asia Pacific Journal of Public Administration, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(2), pages 101-117, December.
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