Kevin Andrews (Menzies, Liberal Party, Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

This bill will establish a payment scheme for supported employees with intellectual impairment in Australian Disability Enterprises who previously had their wages assessed under the Business Services Wage Assessment Tool.

The payment scheme will help provide ongoing employment for employees with disability following a recent court case.

Australian Disability Enterprises are commercial businesses employing people with disability who need support to stay in paid work. These supported employees are paid wages using revenue from the enterprises' business activities.

There are 193 organisations operating Australian Disability Enterprises in communities across Australia—supporting 20,000 workers with moderate to severe levels of disability.

Supported employees are paid a pro-rata wage, determined using a wage tool stipulated in the Supported Employment Services Award 2010, which is one of the 'modern awards' in the Commonwealth workplace relations system.

The Business Services Wage Assessment Tool is one of those wage tools. It was developed by the Australian government in consultation with stakeholders, and was first used in 2004.

The tool measures a worker's productivity and competence in performing a job. It is used to determine the wages of about half of all workers in Australian Disability Enterprises.

However, two supported employees were found through a recent court decision to have experienced indirect discrimination because their wages were assessed under the Business Services Wage Assessment Tool, and further representative proceedings are in train.

Acknowledging that legal proceedings may take some time to resolve, the government has decided to establish a payment scheme to give reassurance to supported employees, and their families and carers, by removing perceived liability that could impact the ability of Australian Disability Enterprises to deliver ongoing employment support.

The payment scheme provided by this bill will allow registration from 1 July 2014 for payments to former and current eligible employees in relation to work they have performed in the past.

To be eligible for the payment scheme, a person must have an intellectual impairment and have been employed by an Australian Disability Enterprise. Also, the person must have been paid a pro-rata wage determined under the Business Services Wage Assessment Tool, or a training wage paid while waiting for an assessment under the tool to be undertaken. Lastly, the person must have required daily support in the workplace from the Australian Disability Enterprise to maintain his or her employment.

The payment scheme will deliver payments to eligible workers as quickly as possible. People who consider they are eligible and would like to participate in the scheme must register their interest by 1 May 2015. People who wish to test their eligibility and receive an offer must make an application. Applications can be submitted up until 30 November 2015.

There are strict timeframes for the payment scheme. While these timeframes are generous, they do require that people wishing to access the payment scheme take certain actions before set dates. Timeframes will be made very clear in all scheme materials.

Once an application has been received, an applicant's eligibility for the payment scheme will be determined. If eligibility is established, the payment amount to be offered will be calculated, based on half of the amount the worker would have been paid had the productivity element only of the Business Services Wage Assessment Tool been applied.

If the payment amount works out to be greater than zero, the eligible applicant will receive a letter setting out, amongst other things, an offer to pay that amount and the time in which the applicant may accept the offer.

During the acceptance period, the applicant must seek independent financial counselling and legal advice. Access to a legal adviser and a financial counsellor are funded through the scheme, and certificates from the financial counsellor and the legal adviser must accompany the applicant's acceptance of the offer. Payment will be made once a valid acceptance has been lodged by an eligible applicant.

To ensure people with disability have the opportunity to provide further information or raise any concerns, the scheme will have both internal and external review processes.

It is the applicant's choice whether he or she receives a payment from the payment scheme. If the applicant accepts an offer, he or she will cease to be a group member of the representative proceedings, and will be unable to make any further claims in relation to the assessment of wages under the tool.

In the longer term, a new wage assessment process will be developed for use in Australian Disability Enterprises.

However, the government's immediate priority is to ensure minimal disruption to the employment of supported employees. The payment scheme established by this bill demonstrates our ongoing commitment to improving certainty for those involved.

I commend the bill to the House.

Debate adjourned.