To mark the announcement of Jigsaw’s selection as an IEA provider, Federal Member for Canberra Alicia Payne visits Jigsaw’s Dickson hub to see first-hand the impact of the organisation’s `prepare for work, through work’ model. Photo: Jigsaw.
Supporters for disability employment reform have embraced a new specialist employment program.
Inclusive Employment Australia (IEA) will later this year replace the Disability Employment Services (DES) scheme, which places people with disability into employment.
DES has faced widespread criticism over poor outcomes, low service quality, limited disability expertise among providers and poor integration with the NDIS.
Jigsaw general manager Valerie Richards, whose social enterprise will be an IEA program provider in Canberra, has welcomed the reform.
“The IEA offers a more flexible, person-centred employment support approach,” she said. “It has broadened eligibility criteria to include more people with higher support needs and increased specialisation of providers – both positive things.
“Ensuring specialist providers have a place in delivering the program recognises an important need to replicate models with proven outcomes, like Jigsaw’s.
“For example, Jigsaw will specialise in supporting people under the age of 25 because we know our model works best for school leavers with little to no prior work experience.”
Ms Richards said a key issue with the DES program was its focus left little room for more meaningful key performance indicators.
Jigsaw, a Fighting Chance-backed organisation, is well placed to comment, having outperformed the DES program in employment retention rates.
“DES was all about getting people with disability into employment, but retention was low,” she said. “While the DES program’s 12-month outcome rate is around 30 per cent, according to its most recent 2024 data, 63 per cent of Jigsaw’s placements into employment last at least 12 months – double the DES model.”
Ms Richards attributed this metric to Jigsaw’s greater focus on training, skill building and real workplace experience for its participants.
“We prepare people for work through work,” she said. “Jigsaw is a real workplace, where people with disability deliver on contracts for our corporate and government clients. Participants learn transferable work skills – everything from teamwork to communication and workplace presentation, what a deadline looks like, their role in team meetings and what that might feel like.
“We place them into employment and support them onsite. We work closely with employers on any barriers and provide further training required.
“We offer intensive support for up to 12 months and even beyond. That combination of sustained preparation and onsite support is what our model is about.”
The IEA program goes live on Saturday 1 November. Providers, including Jigsaw, will be initially engaged on five-year contracts.
Providers will need to meet performance indicators, but Ms Richards said these would be “less time-bound” than the restrictive DES model.
“It allows providers to aim for quality outcomes for participants as opposed to numbers and time restrictions,” she said.
“We’re coming into it with excitement. To us, success will include remaining true to our model and seeing more job outcomes sustained long term.”
For more information, visit Jigsaw.
