Section 40 of the DRCA [2] (in conjunction with subsection 146(3)) and sections 60 – 62 of the MRCA [3], place an onus on the Rehabilitation Authority to assist a person who is incapacitated as a result of a service injury or disease to find suitable employment. Suitable employment or suitable work is defined in this manual in section 2.4.2 [4] (MRCA) and section 2.3.1 [5] (DRCA).
It is important to note that a suitable employment outcome for any rehabilitation client may not necessarily be the best or only job to which a client may aspire. The intention is that it involves work that the client can sustain in the long-term and which is not likely to worsen their health.
Note: Research has demonstrated that clients ineffectively placed in poorly matched or career limiting employment will fail long-term and will require additional support services. As the complexity of their circumstances increases, so does the projected costs for managing these clients.
An important part of the rehabilitation process is to prepare the client for the job search process. This reflects the need to ensure all efforts are taken to address any barriers that a client may experience in securing meaningful and sustainable employment (see also 9.4 Managing vocational rehabilitation plans [7]). An assessment of a client's individual circumstances should inform any initial and further job-seeking activities to be undertaken over the course of their vocational rehabilitation plan. These may include, but are not limited to:
If assessed as appropriate for the client, a work trial is a valuable opportunity for a person participating in a rehabilitation program to gain experience and confidence in attempting re-entry to the workforce or in a new field of employment. See 9.9 Work Trials [8] in this library for more information about the arrangements and duration of work trials.
The use of a specialist job placement agency is an additional job-seeking activity that may be considered to help the client secure paid employment. Refer to 9.12.2 Using Job Placement or Employment Agencies [9] for further information.
Amendments or additions to a client's rehabilitation plan should consider the factors outlined in 3.8.4 Changes to a rehabilitation plan [10] in this library. For example, if the timeframes to complete activities of the plan need to be adjusted or extended, and/or additional rehabilitation activities need to be included.
In the development of a rehabilitation plan, a rehabilitation service provider may recommend the use of an employment placement agency to assist a client to secure an appropriate and sustainable employment outcome.
A number of rehabilitation service provider organisations employ their own job placement specialists.
Referral to an external job placement agency should only be considered where the rehabilitation service provider does not employ their own job placement specialist, or the particular job goals of a client will benefit from specialist industry-related services. For example, where a client's job goal is to work in the mining industry, a recruitment agency which specialises in mining industry placements could be considered.
The use of such agencies can be recorded on a rehabilitation plan as a third party resource, where the client's rehabilitation service provider's organisation does not have the required skilled personnel to undertake this activity without outside assistance.
It is important to note that while some organisations offer this as a no-fee service, other agencies may invoice the employer for placing a client with them or the employment placement agency fee may be charged to the rehabilitation plan as a third party rehabilitation activity cost.
Engaging an employment placement agency should be considered in the following circumstances where:
For clients with severe or complex disabilities there are specialist employment placement agencies. For example, Scope [12] (previously known as Disability Services Australia) has a supported employment branch.
A range of other specialist employment agencies operate to assist with the placement of clients in specific types of employment and in broad industry groupings, such as health, hospitality, mining, building and construction, retailing, computing and light industry. Some of these services also assist in providing placement for entry-level training, such as apprenticeships and traineeships. The range and coverage of these type of services vary from state to state and within regions. Rehabilitation service providers should be aware of the services available in their local area.
The use of external job placement agencies should be considered as an option for MRCA, DRCA and VVRS cases.
The timeframe set for the use of job placement agencies on a rehabilitation plan should be short-term (e.g. 4-6 weeks) and closely monitored by the rehabilitation service provider and reported on to the Rehabilitation Coordinator in the normal monthly progress reporting cycle.
DVA may provide uniforms and other essential equipment where these are required to enable the person to perform their role. There are slight differences in approach where a client has secured permanent employment, compared to where a client is participating in a work trial. Refer to section 9.9.5 [13] of this library for information about uniforms and similar equipment for clients participating in work trials.
Permanent employment
If a client obtains paid permanent employment as a result of their participation in a vocational rehabilitation plan, DVA may consider funding for:
Where basic essential clothing or equipment is being requested for a person who is about to commence permanent employment, the reasonableness of the request must be taken into consideration as follows:
Where DVA purchases uniforms and/or essential equipment to enable a client to commence paid employment, then these items become the property of the client. If the client leaves their employment for a new industry or a new role which has different uniform or equipment requirements, DVA will not provide payment for these items. This is because, as they have been in paid employment, they now have the financial capacity to cover these costs themselves.
DVA may also provide ergonomic equipment and other workplace aids and appliances that the client requires to be able to safely fulfil the requirements of their role. Further information about workplace aids and appliances can be found in section 10.7.4 [14] of this library.
DVA will not provide payment for the costs of uniforms or other similar equipment associated with starting a new business. This is because these costs are regarded as part of the expected costs of establishing that business.
DVA may provide assistance with the costs of moving, where there is a reasonable requirement for the person to relocate because they have secured suitable work.
What is suitable work
Suitable work is defined in section 2.3.1 of this library [5]for DRCA and section 2.4.2 of this library [4]for MRCA. Suitable work is defined with respect to four criteria:
DVA, as rehabilitation authority, has a responsibility to assist a former ADF member to find suitable employment in a civilian work setting.
Considering whether relocation assistance should be provided
The intent of relocation assistance is to provide support for people living in areas where there are no suitable or reasonable employment options available, and they need to move to be able to secure suitable employment.
It is envisaged that relocation assistance will be provided on an irregular basis only, where a person lives in a remote area of Australia that has a very limited labour market, and needs to move to an area with higher employment prospects. Relocation assistance may also be appropriate where the person has very specialised skills, which means they need to relocate to find employment as there are no jobs available in this area in their current location
It is not intended that the Department assist people to relocate for employment that is more desirable than what is available in their existing location, or where they have a particular employment role they are keen to fulfil.
Managing expectations
It is important that a client’s expectations are managed appropriately and they understand that relocation assistance will only be considered in very specific circumstances. It is also important that ongoing discussions are taking place between the Rehabilitation Provider and the Rehabilitation Coordinator when job searching is not going according to plan, and the client is not successful in securing interviews or gaining employment. In these situations, it is expected that a variety of other options are pursued, before relocation assistance is considered. These options may include application writing skills courses, resume writing, interview skills training, retraining etc. Only once these options have been pursued can relocation assistance be considered.
When relocation assistance can be considered
The following requirements must be met before relocation assistance can be considered:
It is expected that the rehabilitation provider will have contacted the DVA Rehabilitation Coordinator to discuss the client’s circumstances, and gained approval for funding for relocation costs as an approved activity under the vocational rehabilitation plan, prior to the client actually relocating.
Approving relocation assistance
Before a request for relocation assistance can be approved, the following documentation must be provided to the Rehabilitation Coordinator:
When relocation assistance should not be provided
It is not appropriate for DVA to provide relocation assistance in the following circumstances:
What relocation costs can be considered?
Rehabilitation Coordinators have the discretion to approve reasonable relocation costs in the context of each individual client’s circumstances. Therefore, each request for relocation assistance should be considered on a case by case basis. It is however expected, that the following costs would be reasonable in most circumstances:
Where the client is eligible for household services, a “move clean” may also be approved. Further information about cleaning when moving house can be found in section 7.1.1 of this guide [16].
Relocation costs that are not considered reasonable
Costs that are not reasonable for DVA to provide assistance with, include:
The client would be responsible for meeting all of these additional costs themselves.
DVA will also not offer reimbursement of losses upon the sale of a house, household items or other similar expenses.
For a Gym/Pool membership to be considered for approval to support a vocational goal in a rehabilitation plan, a veteran needs to be actively working towards a goal of returning to employment. A gym membership can be considered as one component of assisting a veteran to develop "work readiness". Ideally, the veteran will be motivated and engaging with job preparation activities such as resume preparation, job search skills etc., and will have the medical capacity to work. In this specific circumstance, a gym program may be an approved vocational rehabilitation activity to assist the veteran to develop their physical and mental resilience, which will assist them to more successfully manage their return to work.
Otherwise, if return to work is considered to be a longer term rehabilitation goal of the veteran, any requests for gym membership should be considered under the psychosocial rehabilitation activity arrangements.
Further policy details about the circumstances where a gym/pool membership might be considered for a veteran under their rehabilitation plan (whether as a vocational activity or a psychosocial activity), can be found in 6.7.1 Short-term Gym-Pool Membership [18].
Links
[1] https://clik.dva.gov.au/user/login?destination=comment/reply/21208%23comment-form
[2] https://www.legislation.gov.au/Series/C1988A00156
[3] https://www.legislation.gov.au/Series/C2004A01285
[4] https://clik.dva.gov.au/rehabilitation-policy-library/2-legislative-provisions/24-military-rehabilitation-and-compensation-act-2004-mrca/242-rehabilitation-definitions
[5] https://clik.dva.gov.au/rehabilitation-policy-library/2-legislative-provisions/23-safety-rehabilitation-and-compensation-defence-related-claims-act-1988-drca/231-rehabilitation-definitions
[6] https://clik.dva.gov.au/user/login?destination=comment/reply/21219%23comment-form
[7] https://clik.dva.gov.au/rehabilitation-policy-library/9-vocational-rehabilitation/94-managing-vocational-rehabilitation-plans
[8] https://clik.dva.gov.au/rehabilitation-library/9-vocational-rehabilitation/99-work-trials
[9] https://clik.dva.gov.au/rehabilitation-policy-library/9-vocational-rehabilitation/912-assistance-finding-suitable-employment/9122-using-job-placement-or-employment-agencies
[10] https://clik.dva.gov.au/rehabilitation-policy-library/3-rehabilitation-process/38-dva-rehabilitation-reporting-documents/384-changes-rehabilitation-plan
[11] https://clik.dva.gov.au/user/login?destination=comment/reply/21199%23comment-form
[12] https://www.scopeaust.org.au/employment
[13] https://clik.dva.gov.au/rehabilitation-policy-library/9-vocational-rehabilitation/99-work-trials/995-dva-support-during-work-trial
[14] https://clik.dva.gov.au/rehabilitation-policy-library/10-alterations-modifications-aids-appliances-and-motor-vehicle-assistance/107-consideration-specific-aids-and-appliances/1074-ergonomic-equipment-workplace-aids-and-appliances-and-workplace-assessments
[15] https://clik.dva.gov.au/military-compensation-mrca-manuals-and-resources-library/policy-manual/ch-9-other-benefits-under-military-rehabilitation-and-compensation-act-2004/91-compensation-travel-and-accommodation-costs-reasonably-required-or-incurred-under-military-rehabilitati-1
[16] https://clik.dva.gov.au/rehabilitation-policy-library/7-household-services/71-household-services/711-what-are-household-services
[17] https://clik.dva.gov.au/rehabilitation-policy-library/7-household-services/71-household-services/712-what-tasks-are-not-considered-household-services
[18] https://clik.dva.gov.au/rehabilitation-policy-library/6-psychosocial-rehabilitation/67-equipment-psychosocial-activities/671-short-term-gym-pool-membership
[19] https://clik.dva.gov.au/tags/gymnasium
[20] https://clik.dva.gov.au/tags/pool