Employment Service Assessments

Presentation by Melinda Hatton,Branch Manager, Job Seeker Assessments and Mature Age Programs 13 August 2013

Agenda• What is an ESAt?• Overview of ESAts to date• Volumes• Recommended Program Referrals• Medical Conditions• Barriers

• Recent changes• Opportunities for Improvement• Job seeker preparation• Barrier Management Tool (BMT)• ESAts and Ongoing Provider Servicing• NBN Trial of Video Assessments• DHS Youtube Videos

Employment Services Assessment (ESAt)

• Identifies barriers to employment, work capacity and support needs

• Recommends interventions to address barriers

• Conducted by a DHS Assessor

ESAts Submitted by Month

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

ESAt Referral Result Chart

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

DES - Disability Management Service

DES - Employment Support Service

Stream 4

Stream Services

ESAt Medical ConditionsD

epre

ssio

n

Spin

al D

isor

der -

Oth

er

Psyc

hol/

Psyc

hiat

ric D

isor

d...

Ost

eoar

thriti

s

Hyp

erte

nsio

n

Low

er L

imb

Defi

cien

cies

Shou

lder

and

Upp

er A

rm D

...

Circ

ulat

ory

Syst

em -

Oth

er ..

.

Anx

iety

Dia

bete

s - N

on In

sulin

De.

..

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

ESAt Barriers – Top 10N

o or

lim

ited

empl

oym

ent.

..

No

or li

mite

d w

ork

skill

s

Psyc

holo

gica

l/ps

ychi

atric

...

No

or li

mite

d jo

b se

ekin

g s.

..

Phys

ical

lim

itatio

ns re

stri.

..

Endu

ranc

e lim

itatio

ns

Tran

spor

t iss

ues

No

or li

mite

d fo

rmal

edu

c...

Moo

d D

isor

der

Chro

nic

pain

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Barrier Management Tool (BMT)• Just under 2.6 million barriers imported from ESAts and JCAs• 24.5% of imported barriers have a status of ‘being addressed’

or ‘finalised’

22.5%

2.0%

72.3% 3.1%

Being Addressed

Finalised

New

No Action Required

Recent changes• Assessment process and ESAt report reviewed at

Newcastle JSA and DES provider forum.

• Escalation procedures introduced when a provider refers a job seeker for an ESAt and they cannot see any appointments.

• Introduced provider only diary appointments to remove competition between providers and DHS for available appointments.

• Assessors are now able to view EPP and BMT to see what servicing has been undertaken.

Future IT Changes

Interventions• Review of interventions identified redundancy• Over 70 interventions suggested for removal• Interventions will be more relevant

Opportunities for Improvement• Preparing the Job Seeker for an ESAt

• Advise job seekers that the ESAt is to:• Barriers to employment• Capacity for work• Help the provider to determine the most

suitable work• Medical evidence

• Explain to the job seeker that the assessment itself will not effect their income support.

Opportunities for ImprovementRecommended Interventions• Consider identified interventions when

developing EPP

Barrier Management Tool• Tool to assist with view of Job Seekers’ barriers

and interventions• Provides a comprehensive list of all identified

barriers• Providers can add barriers • Can be linked to the EPP

National Broadband Network Trial• Commenced May 2013

• The trial involved job seekers in a digital hub in Canberra being connected with an assessor at a digital hub in Kiama.

• The purpose of the trial is to:

• Test and demonstrate the use of High Definition Video

• Align assessor resources with ESAt demand

• Test as an alternative to phone assessments

DHS Youtube VideosVideos titles for providers include:• Medical evidence for an ESAt• Change of circumstances facility in ESS

Videos titles for customers include:• Employment Services Assessment (ESAt) • ESAt outcomes• Are you eligible for DSP• How do I claim DSP• Providing medical evidence for DSP

Questions