Better employment services for Australians with disabilities start on Monday. The Albanese Labor Government’s new employment program, Inclusive Employment Australia (IEA) is now live, revitalising job opportunities for people with disabilities across the community.
81 providers across Australia are providing services to around 245,000 people per year with disability, illness or injury, helping them find and maintain meaningful work.
Changes jobseekers in the new program will benefit from include:
- More people: an additional 15,000 people are expected to use employment services every year under IEA. Changes to eligibility will remove the previous rules that participants must be receiving a social security payment or be able to work over 8 hours per week to receive support.
- More responsive to the needs of people with disabilities: new and stronger requirements have been introduced to ensure:
- comprehensive staff training,
- ongoing feedback from participants and employers is heard and acted on,
- people with lived experience of disability will be embedded in services’ leadership teams.
- More diverse services and opportunities: there will be more specialist providers than the previous scheme. This will enable the program to better cater to the needs of individuals, recognising that the kind of support required to boost long-term employment for someone with autism will not be the same as someone recovering from a physical injury, for example.
- More best practice: $22.1 million to create the Centre for Inclusive Employment, launched in March 2025, to share best practice through resources and training across the sector.
- More accountability: contracts include mechanisms to hold any providers who underperform on expectations to account, with funding redirected towards those who get better outcomes.
- More simplicity for employers of people with disability: reduced red tape and streamlined wage subsidies, with a consistent maximum rate of $10,000. This subsidy boost will help employers cover upfront costs and encourage them to create sustainable positions for people with disabilities.
To support Inclusive Employment Australia, a network of providers funded through the National Panel of Assessors program will conduct assessments to ensure workplaces are accessible and people with disability have the support they need at work.
This new program replaces the Disability Employment Services (DES) program.
More information on Inclusive Employment Australia, including transition resources, can be found on the Department of Social Services website.
