Collaborative practices in employment services

In its final report, the House of Representatives Select Committee on Workforce Australia Employment Services(Opens in a new tab/window) noted the issue of collaboration as critical to employment services' capacity to develop and sustain a culture of learning and innovation, with service providers, employers, advocacy groups and academics calling for changes that would enable greater sharing of best practice.

While the Select Committee’s work focused on ‘mainstream’ employment services, this paper argues its discussion about collaboration is equally relevant to Disability Employment Services, now known as Inclusive Employment Australia (IEA)

This paper explores the disability employment sector focusing on collaborative practices and the drivers and barriers shaping them. It recommends initiating collaboration – or a series of collaborative projects – between service providers and the government as a starting point to reduce the transactional nature of IEA.