Inclusive Employment Australia

Inclusive Employment Australia replaced the Disability Employment Services program on 1 November 2025.

About the program

Inclusive Employment Australia is a specialist disability employment program. It assists people with disability, injury or health condition to prepare for, find and maintain work and grow their career.

It replaced the Disability Employment Services (DES) program on 1 November 2025.

Inclusive Employment Australia helps create a more inclusive future. The program places participants at the centre of the service. It improves and simplifies services for people looking for work, as well as for employers and service providers.

Benefits of Inclusive Employment Australia

More people with disability have opportunities to work.
You get better support to find and keep a job.
Providers are skilled in working with people with different disabilities or from diverse backgrounds.
There are no more time limits – you can stay with your provider for as long as you need.
Providers are more responsive to your needs.
You can be on the program even if you only work a few hours a week.

Features of the program

You can choose your provider.
You can move to a new provider at any time.
You don’t need to get government payments to be in the program.
There are some new providers – some may have skills that interest you.

Support for employers

Employers will be able to access expert guidance from providers on recruitment and workplace practices. Providers will work with employers to:

identify their business needs
find suitable candidates
access training
make workplace adjustments, job customisation and tailoring
provide safe and productive workplaces
retain employees with disability.

Employers may also be eligible for a wage subsidy(Opens in a new tab/window). This will provide up to $10,000 per eligible supported job seekers who are supported to achieve sustainable employment.

A diverse network of providers

A diverse network of high-quality providers deliver Inclusive Employment Australia. Providers centre their service design on clients and employers. Providers build strong, meaningful relationships with clients and employers.

Changing your provider

You have two options to change your provider:

visit Workforce Australia Online for individuals(Opens in a new tab/window)
call the National Customer Service Line (NCSL) on 1800 805 260.

Mutual obligations

Your Inclusive Employment Australia provider will work with you to create a Job Plan. If you have an income support payment from Services Australia, your Job Plan(Opens in a new tab/window) explains what you need to do. When you agree to your Job Plan, you agree to your mutual obligation requirements(Opens in a new tab/window). These are the tasks and activities you agree to do in return for your income support payment.

To keep getting your payment, you need to continue to:

meet the requirements of your Job Plan
go to appointments with your Inclusive Employment Australia provider.

Visit the Workforce Australia website for detailed information on mutual obligations(Opens in a new tab/window).

Sometimes there may be a pause of mutual obligations or participation requirements. Visit the Workforce Australia website for information about pause of obligations(Opens in a new tab/window). This includes:

notifications you might receive
what happens during a pause
what you need to do when the pause ends
what you can do if your obligations or requirements are not paused.

If you volunteer for the program, you do not have mutual obligation requirements. You still work with your Inclusive Employment Australia provider to create a Job Plan. You also need to attend appointments and participate in activities you agree to.