A disability employment support service will be closing its doors after 40 years of helping people in regional Western Australia.
The federal government is replacing the current Disability Employment Program with a new program called Inclusive Employment Australia from November 1.
Forrest Personnel chief executive Lynne Harwood said the new contracts offered under Inclusive Employment Australia had made ongoing operations unviable.
“The new tender has variables to it that make it non-viable and non-sustainable from our perspective,” she said.
The not-for-profit service has a head office in Bunbury, 170 kilometres south of Perth and has thousands of clients throughout South West, Great Southern, Wheatbelt, Goldfields-Esperance and south-metro areas.
‘No reduction of services’
Forrest Personnel has supported Steven Twigger with his bus cleaning job for the last 15 years. (ABC South West WA: Pip Waller)
At the heart of Forrest Personnel’s decision is the introduction of market share percentage caps as part of the Inclusive Employment Australia program, according to Ms Harwood.
Market share caps limit the proportion of the market a single provider can control to encourage competition and avoid monopolies.
“We’ve actually been awarded a lower percentage than what we currently provide, and we’re being expected to do that over more sites,” Ms Harwood said.
Forrest Personnel are closing their doors in October. (ABC South West WA: Pip Waller)
Ms Harwood said the market share caps were intended to tackle market saturation in metropolitan areas, but their application to regional areas would instead squeeze out local providers.
“Going forward, for-purpose organisations can only be sustainable if they’re very large, and that’s into the hundreds of millions of dollars or very boutique and niche. Anything in between becomes very difficult,” she said.
The $1.2b disability employment program you’ve never heard of
In a statement, a spokesperson for the federal Department of Social Services said there would be no reduction of services in any area of the country, including WA.
“People with disability in Western Australia will be able to access services from 17 different organisations funded across the state,” the spokesperson said.
Lack of options
Steven Twigger has been supported by the not-for-profit for the past 15 years, which helped him get a job with the Bunbury tour company Go West Tours.
“They come to see me if I need anything,” he said.
Mr Twigger was unsure of what the closure would mean for him.
Steven Twigger has been supported by Forrest Personnel for the past 15 years. (ABC South West WA: Pip Waller)
Ms Harwood said national, for-profit providers were at an advantage and ready to fill the market gaps created by the upcoming reforms.
South West Autism Network chief executive Nick Avery said larger companies with centralised operations were not ideal for remote and regional communities.
“We are seeing nationally that there’s a move to having larger national organisations, and that’s not a good thing for regional Western Australians,” she said.
Nick Avery says larger national organisations do not have “enough boots on the ground”. (Supplied)
“It makes it much harder to access support services in the region if you’re operating at a national level.
“There’s just not enough boots on the ground.”
The Department of Social Services said people with disability and currently supported by Forrest Personnel did not need to do anything “just yet”.
“They will be able to choose a new provider in their area that best suits their needs,” the spokesperson said.