The intent of vocational rehabilitation provided through DVA is to assist clients to secure suitable work, as legislatively defined in the VVRS Instrument, Section 4 of the DRCA and Section 5 of the MRCA.
Detailed information about the concept of suitable work/employment is included in section 2.3.1 of this library. While this information is focused on the definition of suitable employment in Section 4 of the DRCA, it is equally applicable to the notion of suitable work/employment under the MRCA and for the VVRS.
The definitions of suitable work/employment are designed to ensure that a client undertaking a vocational rehabilitation program is able to find paid work that is suitable, taking into account the client's individual circumstances including:
- their transferrable skills from employment they undertook prior to their injury or disease;
- their general employment background including any training and other skills;
- their suitability to undertake vocational retraining;
- the labour market in the location where the person resides; and
- any restrictions or limitations imposed by any medical condition, not just those which have been accepted as service related, from which the person suffers; and
- any other barriers to the client being able to undertake employment in their chosen field, such as their ability to pass a security clearance, or working with vulnerable people check.
The points above should all be identified as part of a comprehensive vocational assessment. Refer to section 9.5 of this library for further information on vocational assessments.
Liaison with the client's treating health practitioners, particularly their treating GP or specialist, is important to inform understanding of the types of employment that may be most suitable for a client. At times, it is likely to be important to share information about the client's accepted conditions or medical restrictions with an employer. This may occur, for example, prior to commencement of a work trial, to ensure that the employer is able to confirm that the working environment is safe and suitable for the client and his/her work colleagues. It is important that the client's consent is always obtained before any medical information, including information about the client's accepted conditions, is shared with an employer. This approach ensures that the client's privacy is protected, consistent with the Australian Privacy Principles.