Access Ongoing Support (Work Assist) through Inclusive Employment Australia

Inclusive Employment Australia – Ongoing Support (Work Assist) is a program offered by the Australian Government that provides support to job seekers with disabilities, illness, injury or other barriers to employment. The program is designed to help job seekers maintain employment by providing a range of support services and assistance. 

We’ll work with you to understand your needs and provide a tailored plan, so you get the right support.

Our team of disability employment specialists can:

• advise your employer on job redesign, development and planning
• carry out a full workplace assessment to understand what supports could help you
• provide advice and support to your employer on workplace accessibility, diversity and inclusion best practice
• access funding for and coordinate workplace modifications, assistive technology and support
  services such as Auslan interpreting
• work with appropriate health and community services to help keep you in work
• connect you to funded health support, e.g. physiotherapy, occupational therapy, pain management and counselling.

This support is provided at no cost to you or your employer.

• have a verified disability, illness or health condition, this includes mental health conditions and need assistance to stay in your job
• be assessed by us as needing Ongoing Support (Work Assist) to keep your job
• be currently working and have been with your current employer for a consecutive period of at least 12 weeks, or there is an expectation that the job will last for at least 12 weeks
• have an assessed work capacity of less than 30 hours each week.

In 2018 Manoli reached out to the team at MS Queensland because the workplaces he was contracting to offered little to no assistance for his Multiple Sclerosis (MS) symptoms. For Manoli these include mobility impairments, muscular spasticity, sensory deficits, and Uthoff’s phenomenon (heat sensitivity negatively affects MSA symptoms).

Support from MS Queensland

At the start of his journey MS Queensland’s allied health knowledge enabled them to fund remedial massage to help manage Manoli’s muscular spasticity, and their local connections allowed them to source the amazing specialists at Results Physiotherapy and Move Osteopathy who ultimately helped him.

Since then, MS Queensland’s employment support service the team has also:

• helped Manoli access NDIS (the National Disability Insurance Scheme) to assist with funding for physio, occupational therapy and other therapy services
• facilitated workplace assessments and continued education through weekly debriefing phone calls
• and coordinated his application for around $9,000 worth of Job Access funding for disability specific equipment. This has helped to maintain Manoli’s self-employment status and cover the costs of:
  • air conditioning in his home office
  • a Samsung Galaxy tablet and pen
  • a desk fan
  • 2 x Ben-Q monitors
  • an Alogic dual display docking station
  • a desk monitor riser
  • dual monitor arms
  • a Jabra Evolve 65 headset
  • a high back desk chair
  • a PowerVital cooling vest and collar
  • an Ergorest arm rest desk attachment
  • a Microsoft Surface Go 3 tablet, surface pen, keyboard and pen charger
  • and Dragon professional voice recognition software.

Read the full story here