Business Services Wage Assessment Tool (BSWAT) Payment Scheme: registration now open

From disAbility e-news, Department of Social Services, Special edition, 12 August 2015:

Business Services Wage Assessment Tool Payment Scheme update

The Business Services Wage Assessment Tool (BSWAT) Payment Scheme (the Scheme) is now open for registration and application.

The Scheme will provide a one-off payment to eligible supported employees of Australian Disability Enterprises (ADEs) who have been paid a pro-rata wage assessed using BSWAT. The Payment Scheme is entirely voluntary, and participants are required to seek independent financial counselling and legal advice, paid for by the Government (subject to limits), to help them make an informed choice.

To be eligible for the Scheme, a person must have, for at least one day in the period starting on 1 January 2004 and ending on 28 May 2014:

• had an intellectual impairment, which includes an intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorder, dementia, or impaired intellectual function as a consequence of an acquired brain injury been employed and provided with employment support by an ADE 
• received a wage based on a BSWAT assessment, or received a training wage while waiting for a BSWAT assessment. 

Other eligibility conditions are that:

• the person required daily support in the workplace to maintain employment in the ADE; and 
• the person has not accepted an amount of money in settlement of, or the court has not ordered payment of an amount of money to the person in connection with, a claim made relating to the use of the BSWAT to assess the person’s wage. 

All eligibility criteria have to be met for individuals to access the Scheme.

You must register to take part in the Scheme. Registering for the Scheme does not guarantee that you will be eligible for the Scheme or that you will be made an offer of payment under the Scheme.

A person can register for the BSWAT Payment Scheme, or find out more information by:

Visiting the DSS website at: https://www.dss.gov.au/bswat-payment-scheme

Phoning the BSWAT Hotline on 1800 880 052

Emailing bswatpayments@dss.gov.au

More information about the the current status of other aspects of the reform of wages in Australian Disability Enterprises can be found in disAbility e-news, Department of Social Services, Issue 221, 28 July 2015:

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) held a hearing on 14 July 2015 to consider the appeal lodged by People with Disability Australia against the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) decision of 30 April 2015 to grant an interim temporary exemption for the use of the Business Services Wage Assessment Tool (BSWAT). On 28 July 2015, the AAT set aside the AHRC decision and referred the decision back to the AHRC for reconsideration. This means, from 30 April 2015, there has not been an exemption from certain provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA) for the use of the BSWAT in effect. AAT decisions are published on the following link. 

The AHRC is currently considering the Department of Social Services’ (DSS) primary application for a temporary exemption from certain provisions of the DDA. On 25 June 2015, DSS wrote to the AHRC amending its application for a further 12-month exemption for the use of the BSWAT. The amendment aligned the temporary exemption, if granted by the AHRC, to the transition timeframe set out in the consent variation to the Supported Employment Services Award 2010. The DSS application and further letter are published on the AHRC website.
Australian Disability Enterprises (ADEs) still paying wages based on BSWAT assessments should continue moving to an alternative approved wage assessment tool as soon as possible.

Fair Work Commission
A consent order varying the Supported Employment Services Award 2010 was made by the Fair Work Commission (FWC) on 5 June 2015. The consent variation removes the BSWAT as an approved wage assessment tool. The consent variation requires ADEs still paying wages based on a BSWAT assessment to have informed the FWC by 6 July 2015 of their intention to transition to another approved wage assessment tool, and the name of that tool. The consent variation requires ADEs to complete transition to another approved wage assessment tool by 31 October 2015. If an ADE is unable to complete the transition to the approved wage assessment tool it has chosen before 31 October 2015, the ADE must apply to the FWC before 31 October 2015 for approval to use the further transitional period until 29 February 2016. 

Work on developing a new productivity-based wage tool for use in the supported employment sector continues through the FWC conciliation process.