2010 Disability Services Census - Australia

Ian C. Langtree - Writer/Editor for Disabled World (DW)
Published: 2010/06/20
Topic: Australia and New Zealand - Publications List

Page Content: Synopsis - Introduction - Main

Synopsis: The Disability Services Census for 2010 will be sent to service providers on 1 July 2010 for completion by Friday 23 July 2010.

Introduction

Main Item

To reduce the administrative burden on business services, the Australian Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) will again source most of the required information from FOFMS. To ensure that we have the most current information, services should update their service and consumer data in FOFMS before 28 June 2010.

All FaHCSIA funded supported employment (also known as Australian Disability Enterprises), advocacy, print disability and disability information and captioning services will need to complete a PDF form to give service outlet level information.

Supported employment services will also be required to complete additional questions for every consumer who received assistance during the 2009-10 financial year. Service providers can log into FOFMS to access these questions on the Clients screen tab from 15 June 2010. Specifically, the residential setting field is listed under 'Communication Details' and each of the support needs are listed under 'Frequency of Help/Supervision'.

The most recent data collected from Consumer Assessment Forms will be included in these fields in the clients screen, however, this data needs to be checked and updated where necessary. If there is no data for these questions, service providers will need to answer these questions for their consumers. Please remember that FOFMS will shut down from 28 June until 1 July 2010 for End of Financial Year processing.

The FOFMS Task Card and 2010 Data Guide containing detailed instructions and definitions for the Disability Services Census 2010 will be available in the FOFMS Portal under the Literature screen tab.

The Data Guide is also available on the FaHCSIA website (www.fahcsia.gov.au).

Should you require further information about the Census, you can contact the Disability Services Census Help-desk on 1800 550 244 or via email at disability.census@fahcsia.gov.au

Author Credentials: Ian was born and grew up in Australia. Since then, he has traveled and lived in numerous locations and currently resides in Montreal, Canada. Ian is the founder, a writer, and editor in chief for Disabled World. Ian believes in the Social Model of Disability, a belief developed by disabled people in the 1970s. The social model changes the focus away from people's impairments and towards removing barriers that disabled people face daily. To learn more about Ian's background, expertise, and achievements, check out his bio.