Department of Social Services (DSS)
Administers Inclusive Employment Australia, which replaced Disability Employment Services on 1 November 2025, and the Employment Assistance Fund through JobAccess.
Responsibilities
- Contract and manage Inclusive Employment Australia providers
- Administer the Employment Assistance Fund for workplace modifications
- Operate JobAccess advisory services
- Set disability employment policy
Inclusive Employment Australia replaced Disability Employment Services on 1 November 2025, with 84 organisations receiving funding offers. The changes are substantial and, on their face, go in the direction this database usually argues for: time limits on support removed, eligibility widened to people not receiving Centrelink payments and to people who can only work part-time, and a tiered service model.
Removing a time limit is an unusual reform to find. Most of what this project records is a queue being shortened or a step being moved; this is a constraint on how long help lasts being deleted, which for a person whose disability is permanent is the difference between a program that fits their life and one that does not.
What the reform did not do is reduce the number of doors. A person with disability seeking work may deal with DSS through an IEA provider, the NDIA for NDIS employment supports, Services Australia for the Disability Support Pension, and DSS again through JobAccess for the Employment Assistance Fund — four programs, three agencies, one person, no shared front door. See One front door for disability employment support.
Where this body appears in a process
Every point at which Department of Social Services can hold something up, and why.
| Process | Step | Why it waits | Clock | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person with disability from seeking work to employed with supports | Referral to an Inclusive Employment Australia provider referral | queue | — | 30 |
| Person with disability from seeking work to employed with supports | Job search, employer engagement and placement application | third party | — | 240 |
| Person with disability from seeking work to employed with supports | Workplace Modification Assessment assessment | scheduling | — | 45 |
| Person with disability from seeking work to employed with supports | Employment Assistance Fund application and reimbursement application | assessment | — | 60 |