Disability Coordination Officer Programme - Australia

Source: Department of Education, Science and Training

• Overview
• Objectives
• Activities
• Region to be covered
• Eligible organisations
• Selection of organisations
• Tasks of the selected organisation

Overview

The Commonwealth is committed to ensuring that all Australians have opportunity to participate in education and training. People with disabilities often face barriers to participation because they are not aware of the opportunities available or perceive too many barriers to pursuing post-school options. One of these barriers is a lack of coordination of services and supports.

As part of the Australians Working Together (AWT) package announced in the 2001-02 Commonwealth Budget, funding will be provided through the Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) over three years from July 2002 to improve service coordination for people with a disability with the aim of increasing their participation and outcomes in tertiary education and transitions to employment.

The funding establishes a Disability Coordination Officer (DCO) Programme to provide information, co-ordination and referral for people with a disability interested in or enrolled in post-school education and training. The Commonwealth is looking for proposals from suitable organisations within the specified regions described in Attachment A to undertake DCO projects. A maximum of $88,000 per year (GST inclusive) is available for projects involving a full- time DCO (or equivalent combination of part-time positions) and $44,000 per year (GST inclusive) for projects involving a part-time DCO.

Objectives

In conjunction with the Regional Disability Liaison Officer (RDLO) network of officers funded by Higher Education Division in DEST, the DCO programme seeks to assist people with a disability move between school, vocational education and training (VET) and higher education, to succeed in their chosen studies and move to suitable employment. The objectives of the programme are:

• improve transitions for people with a disability between schools, post-secondary education and training, and employment;
• increase awareness of post-school options, supports and services available for people with a disability, their families, support networks and relevant stakeholders;
• increase the successful participation of students with disabilities in post-secondary education by facilitating coordination of services for people with a disability in education and training within a region and improving linkages between schools, VET providers, higher education providers and providers of disability programmes and other assistance, such as the Commonwealth’s Career Counselling Programme, Commonwealth Rehabilitation Service and those funded by the Commonwealth Department of Family and Community Services.

Activities

The DCO will provide information, co-ordination and referral types of activities for people with disabilities interested in or enrolled in post-school education and training. The DCO is to work with education and training providers in a given area (including public VET providers (such as Technical and Further Education (TAFE) institutions), private VET providers, universities and schools) to provide a central information source on supports and services available for students and potential students with a disability to assist them to access the most appropriate post-school education and training.

The DCO should work closely with disability officers in post-school institutions (such as the Disability Liaison Officers (DLOs) who assist people with disabilities within TAFEs), career counsellors, relevant staff in secondary schools and senior colleges within the region and with district and regional education office staff.

In consultation with relevant disability support staff, career counsellors and networks, the DCOs should undertake the following activities, unless otherwise specified (see below):

The activities listed above are not intended to be exhaustive. The DCO will have flexibility to respond to local area needs for people with a disability within their regions taking into account the input of the Advisory Committee.

The Commonwealth also recognises that some of the above activities are already being provided through State and Territory funded initiatives for people with disabilities. It is not intended that the DCO duplicate or replace these initiatives.

The organisation will be required to provide a strategy on how the DCO would provide some or all of the activities outlined above. The strategy should indicate why certain activities would not be provided.

Region to be covered

The DCOs will undertake the above activities within a region specified in Attachment A. Some of the regions are very extensive and the DCO may not necessarily cover the whole region. The proposal should provide details of the areas/towns that the DCO will cover.

Eligible organisations

Organisations that are eligible to lodge a project proposal are:

Collaborative arrangements between institutions and/or community disability organisations are encouraged and joint proposals may be considered, but DEST will only enter into a contract with a nominated lead organisation.

Selection of organisations

Project proposals must address the following criteria:

1. value for money;
2. evidence that appropriate infrastructure (office space, computer etc) is available to support the DCO (the premises must be accessible to people with a disability);
3. evidence of community/cross-sectoral support across a region for the DCO Programme;
4. evidence that the organisation can fulfil legal obligations and has appropriate insurance (such as professional indemnity and workers’ compensation coverage);
5. evidence of financial viability (eg. subject to government audit, or financial statements, or adequate bank guarantee, or as an incorporated body);
6. suitability of the proposed advisory committee to support the work of the DCO;
7. any previous or relevant experience in assisting people with disabilities;
8. the organisation’s proposed strategy of how the DCO would provide some or all of the activities outlined above within the identified region. This strategy must identify any activities that the DCO would not be providing because these activities are not appropriate for the region or already being provided through other agencies; and
9. proposed area (eg. cities and towns) to be covered by the DCO within the region identified in Attachment A.

The proposal must include details of the budget, including details of major items, such as on costs, DCO salary and travel. Where collaborative and or multiple part-time positions engaged by several organisations are proposed, one organisation would need to be the lead organisation for the purposes of the contract.

The proposal must disclose any potential or actual conflict of interest that may arise in the organisation’s responsibilities to the Commonwealth and other parties in the course of undertaking the project. Where a conflict of interest is identified, applicants are required to specify how the conflict of interest will be managed and monitored and how DEST may gain assurance that the conflict of interest will not give rise to consequences inconsistent with the objectives of the Programme.

Proposals will be considered by a selection panel chaired by DEST. Proposals will be assessed against the selection criteria outlined above. DEST will make the final decisions regarding successful applicants and will notify each applicant in writing of the results of their application. DEST reserves the right to negotiate with the project proponent any aspect of the proposal, prior to making final decisions.

Tasks of the selected organisation

The organisation will recruit and engage the person to provide the DCO services in the specified region. The organisation will also be required to establish an advisory committee consisting of representatives from school, VET and higher education sectors and disability organisations in the region, to support and guide the activities of the DCO. The advisory committee should also include a representative of the organisation. The committee should aid linkages between education and training institutions and support the work of the DCO.

The successful organisation will enter into a contract for up to three years with DEST. The contract will set out the roles and responsibilities of all parties as well as a range of administrative requirements. The organisation will be required to report to DEST on performance against the activities to be provided by the DCO. A list of the major responsibilities of the contracted organisation is provided at Attachment B.

Under the contract arrangements, funding for each year will be paid to the contracted organisation in three instalments. Fifty percent of the annual funds will be paid to the contracted organisation within 30 days of both parties signing the contract, 40% after receiving a satisfactory first six monthly report, and the remaining 10% after receiving a satisfactory annual report.

Attachment A

Regions to be covered by Disability Coordination Officers

Attachment B

Responsibilities of contracted organisations

Key requirements of the contracted organisations are to:

• recruit and engage the person to provide the DCO activities;
• accept all legal and other responsibilities as employers of staff including adherence to industrial awards or agreements as they apply and the provision of a safe and healthy working environment;
• provide and maintain office space, telephone, facsimile and computer with email and internet capacity for the DCO. The office must be easily accessible to people with a disability.
• provide appropriate transport or cover transport costs, including for the DCO to attend an annual meeting in Canberra from DCO project funds;
• meet specified reporting and Commonwealth accountability requirements;
• provide the necessary insurance for all aspects of the operation of the DCO project, including professional indemnity and appropriate workers’ compensation coverage; and
• ensure that all aspects of the management and operation of the DCO project are conducted in accordance with relevant Commonwealth, State/Territory, local laws and regulations.

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