Direct employment: by and for people with disabilities

Direct Employment has just been formally introduced in Victoria, Australia. I was on the initial pilot program. This is a key reform with the Disability Services that many Individual Support Package (ISP) users should consider due to its numerous benefits. It is a person-centred approach to disability, being more positive in allowing one to contribute to the community, enhancing community inclusion.

For example, Cindy is a 46 year old lady with a severe intellectual disability. She is is helped through Direct Employment which is carried out by family members. As a result Cindy lives a more inclusive life. She is supported by three workers whose rosters, pay, training and other work conditions are managed by the O'Loughlin family, with sister-in-law Christine and brother Darren managing the accounts and finances. Cindy and her mother Lesley take responsibility the recruitment, training and day-to-day management of Cindy's workers. Thanks to Direct Employment, Cindy is receiving the support she needs, is happier and is living as an individual in the community the way she chooses to live. Cindy's family are the professionals involved in her support,

Direct Payments cuts out any financial middlemen, with the financial costs and messy paperwork that has been associated with disability support. It allows more control over how money from the state government's Disability Services (DHS) money is spent. It places it directly into the hands of the disability support users.

Direct Employment takes Direct Payments further, by allowing the person with disabilities, family or Trustee to be an employer and administrator of his/her own support workers (disability supports). The Department of Human Services has defined direct employment in these terms:

where a person has an Individual Support Package that is administered through direct payments and they and/or their nominated person(s) will directly employ support worker(s) using some or all of their funding.

Individual Support Packages are funds from Disability Services that allow a person to meet the disability support requirements. Direct employment is one of choices with a self directed approach of funding administration available to people with disabilities.

Previously, a person with disabilities, the person's family or trustee, if accepted, was able to apply for an Australian Business Number and, according to the rules of Direct Employment, could initiate the man agement and employment of their own disability support. However, for the 2012 statewide implementation, direct employers are not allowed to set up as a business due to changes in the rules of the Australian Taxation Office. This is because Individual Support funding will be treated as income for the business and attract tax which will reduce the amount of funding available to purchase supports. People who have an Individual Support Package and are using direct payments can apply for employment by contacting their local departmental office directly or they can apply for direct employment at the next planned review of their Individual Support Package.

Direct employment gives the flexibility in the choice of support workers, negotiation of salary, hours and work that needs to be undertaken. As hours of duty and pay rates become more flexible, this is more attractive to support workers as well. As a Direct Employer, you'll need to be familiar with a range of things, such as WorkCover and taxation laws. This can be complicated and may mean that you need to ensure you comply with legal, financial and human resource obligations as well as maintaining records about your employees.

Therefore, a large amount of money is put into the training of disability professionals. But there is little credit given to the ability of people with disabilities, who often act in management roles, for the day-to-day management of their home-based support workers or the management of disability professionals.

Direct Employment practices the belief that the people being supported are, more often than not, the best teachers regarding the support they need and how it can be delivered.

Direct Employment is to ensure that financial control of the supports being used is in the hands of person with disabilities, or the person's family or a trustee. They will have far less overhead costs and can look at increasing workplace morale by increasing wages and/or increasing the hours of work that are available. Disability Services will be asking people with disabilities, family or trustees, to take on these roles, sharing their know-how and experience when it comes to disability supports – this is something that usually takes a disability professional many years to achieve through training.

On the other hand, disability service provision is mostly made up of providers who have worked in 'not for profit' agencies. The 'not for profit' sector is supposedly made up of businesses that do not need to make a profit. That is, the 'not for profit' sector does not have to worry about meeting the demands of shareholders, those who invest in a business and anticipate receiving a dividend from the company's profits.

The disability sector plays a large role in the 'not for profit' sector. For example, many service providers are in receipt of government payments of $38.82 per hour, but the support workers they employ get approximately $20 dollars an hour. If a service provider serves, say, 200 clients in one-on-one support, paying support workers approximately $20 dollars an hour, with each client being served around twenty hours a week, by my calculations, that amounts to around a yearly income of $3,914,560. These figures are based on conservative estimates of the yearly amounts to these 'not for profit' disability service providers.

Synergy

Direct Employment's flexible approach to disability support may help sway and bring about mutually beneficial partnerships that can be created from out of the working relationship between direct support workers and people with disabilities. This is the state of affairs noted by "synergy theory", a perspective that helps people with disabilities see themselves as people with different abilities. For example, such synergy draws much needed attention to the primary objective which is to support support workers. As part of this it hopes to promote public recognition of the mutually beneficial partnerships that arise between support worker and the people supported. It is important avoid the term "disabilities" when doing so promotes a stereotypical fiction. People supported in what are called mutually beneficial partnerships (MBPs) are people with many different abilities and this highlights the fact that such people have much to give in their service to society just like any other person.

Synergy for people with different abilities and support workers is about life chances and the creation of opportunities. Therefore, the essence of synergy is to value difference by the pragmatic creation of order from what might otherwise be disordered.

The Risks to Direct Employment

There are risks in the Direct Employment of support workers.

The uncertainty related to payments to support workers is a current concern. Prospective direct employers need to consult the Direct Employment Resource Guide which advises people to think about what Award should apply to work to be performed. The Resource Guide advises that in most situations the Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award 2010 rate will apply but it is recommended that advice be obtained from Fair Work Australia.It is important that, while Awards outline the minimum rate of pay, employers can always offer above that if they think it is necessary to attract and retain the right people. This must be managed from within the Individual Support Package allocation. From an employer's perspective, paying employees at a casual rate brings about convenience to the direct employer in terms of arranging payments.

The Department does not know of, or suggest any, Occupational Health and Safety training or indeed any other training for direct employers. Individual direct employers may decide that they would like this and would need to make their own enquiries. However, there is a one-off grant of $500 for new direct employers that can be used for training to help this person establish themselves as a direct employer. Beyond that, any training would be paid for by a direct employer out of their ISP. The $500 grant is a new incentive aiming to attract more direct employers and was not available during the pilot program.

Case Studies

Peter Sember: Direct Employer

Peter Sember is a direct employer who has a physical disability related to spinal muscular atrophy. Some of his thoughts on direct employment are:

'I don't need supports to be there all the time, but thanks to Direct Employment, they are there when I need them to be there.'

When Peter Sember's elderly parents were unable to continue providing him with 24-hour support, he needed a system of supports that could work around his full-time job and busy social life.

'Until four years ago, all my support was provided by members of my family so I didn't need any external supports,' says Peter. 'When my mother passed away, my father, who is 88-years-old, was unable to provide me with the support I needed so I needed to create a system that would be responsive to my needs. Working full-time means I need personal support at 5am to get ready for work. Before I started Direct Employment, the earliest time I could get a worker was 6.30am or 7am. It just didn't work.'

While Peter says Direct Employment suits his lifestyle, he warns that a certain level of skill and coordination is required. 'Some of the basic things that need to be in place are worker insurance cover, public liability insurance and payroll,' says Peter. 'These were the biggest hurdles.'

'The skills I've acquired in my full-time job, such as computer skills and problem solving, are all used in Direct Employment. You have to be organised. It's almost like running a small business.'

Amanda Gunawardena: An Academic Support Worker

My name is Amanda Gunawardena and I am an Academic Support Worker at the University of Melbourne. I assist Direct Employers like Peter with computer based administrative tasks.

I am a keen supporter of direct employment as it offers me flexibility with type of work and working hours. I can adjust my work schedule according to the availability of other workers and also my personal commitments. This means that I can be there for work, and for my family when they need me. I also feel like it gives me a sense of dignity in my role of empowering people with disabilities.

As I help Peter perform administrative duties that are related to Direct Employment such as Taxation payments, it has also been a learning experience for me. I am now aware of many things that I didn't know before, such as the legal responsibilities of an employer. Peter's knowledge and my abilities combined together generally produces fast, efficient and improved results as can be noted in this article. Peter has a lot of intelligence and expertise in the field of his study, but his abilities to put his thoughts to words is restricted by his slow typing speed, poor speech and eyesight. However, when I am there to assist him, this means that he can get his thoughts on paper at 50 words per minute.

Therefore, Direct Employment offers flexibility, allowing people with disabilities to choose the support staff they like, and helps them lead their own lives and make decisions for themselves. Direct Employment is better suited to cater for individual needs and lifestyles: that is an important concern for people with disabilities. Hence it allows for a more personalised approach that is better suited for the individual support needs. As a person-centred approach, I believe Direct Employment is the key to our future.

Amanda's final words here in the above paragraph provides an excellent conclusion to this paper. In that regard she has indeed put into words exactly what I want to say about Direct Employment and the synergy that arises from such a positive arrangement.