Disability Employment – Tourism Local Navigators Pilot

The Australian Government is inviting applications in an open process to deliver Tourism Local Navigator services under the Disability Employment – Tourism Local Navigators Pilot in eligible locations from 1 July 2023 to 1 June 2024.  

The objectives of the grant opportunity are to help small and medium sized (SME) tourism businesses address barriers they have previously identified in recruiting, retaining and progressing employees and jobseekers with disability including:

• lack of time or capability to recruit people with disability
• confusion on how or where to seek support
• preferential use of local networks to source employees.

The outcomes of the Pilot will include:

• building tourism SME’s capability, disability confidence and workplace accessibility through industry tailored approaches and resources 
• reforming workplace culture and employment practices 
• connecting tourism businesses to existing disability resources, supports and specialist information
• sustainable job creation for people with a disability looking to participate in the labour market through workplace preparedness and targeted on the job training and supports.

To be eligible you must be one of the following entity types:

• Indigenous Corporation
• Company
• Corporate Commonwealth Entity
• Corporate State or Territory Entity
• Non-corporate State or Territory Entity
• Non-corporate State or Territory Statutory Authority
• Local Government
• Cooperative
• Incorporated Association
• International Entity
• Sole Trader
• Statutory Entity
• Partnership
• Person
• Trustee on behalf of a Trust
• Unincorporated Association.

Applications should note the boundaries that may apply to the delivery of the grant activity.

The priority areas for this grant opportunity have been defined by:

• proportion of tourism-related small and medium businesses experiencing skills shortages
• density of available jobseekers with disability determined through Disability Employment Service and Workforce Australia participant data
• existing employer support programs that can be leveraged such as the Local Jobs Program and Entrepreneurship Facilitators
• ability to maximise findings for future policy making through testing the Pilot in a range of settings including a mix of states and territories and metropolitan and regional.

You are not eligible to apply if you are:

• an organisation, or your project partner is an organisation, included on the National Redress Scheme’s website on the list of ‘Institutions that have not joined or signified their intent to join the Scheme’
• an organisation, or your project partner is an organisation, included on the Workplace Gender Equality Agency website on the non-compliant organisations list.

What qualification, skills or checks are required?

If you accept the grant opportunity, you are required to ensure all employees working on the grant activity maintain compliance with appropriate regulatory requirements applicable to the activity. All personnel working on the program must maintain a Working with Vulnerable People Check in accordance with state and territory requirements.

What the grant money can be used for

Grant money can be used to employ appropriately experienced/skilled staff to act in a navigator role in the identified regions assessed according to the below assessment criteria (see section 6). The Navigator will engage with SME tourism businesses and facilitate their connection to jobseekers with disability by working with local employment support service providers and other groups.

Eligible grant activities

Eligible activities must directly relate to the project and can include:

• providing expert advice in supporting and enabling SME tourism businesses to employ people with a disability and/or upskill existing employees with a disability
• leveraging existing networks and connections with tourism employers at the local level to promote the benefits of employing people with disability
• providing support for employers to utilise JobAccess resources including the National Disability Recruitment Coordinator (NDRC)
• developing or procuring new resources and toolkits; keeping comprehensive records including stakeholder engagement, de-identified participant data and employment outcomes for inclusion in performance reporting
• undertaking promotional activities and attending career fairs.

Activities under the grant need to be in addition to those currently funded through existing service contracts with the Commonwealth Government.

Eligible locations

Your grant activity must be delivered in one of the following employment regions:

• Sydney East Metro/Sydney South West/Sydney Greater West/Sydney North and West
• Wide Bay and Sunshine Coast and Somerset
• North Eastern and Western Melbourne
• Adelaide North and South and Mid North South Australia
• Perth North and South
• Illawarra South Coast
• Gippsland

Eligble Expenditure

• You can only spend the grant on eligible expenditure incurred under the agreed project activities.

Eligible expenditure items are:

• staff salaries and on-costs, which can be directly attributed to the provision of the grant program in the identified service area or areas as per the grant agreement
• employee training for paid and unpaid staff including Committee and Board members, that is relevant, appropriate and in line with the grant program
• operating and administration expenses directly related to the project as per the grant agreement, such as:
• rent and outgoings
• computer/ IT/website/software
• insurance
• utilities, including telephone
• postage, stationery and/or printing
• accounting and auditing
• domestic travel/accommodation costs
• vehicle leasing from a recognised commercial leasing company
• development and/or procurement of tools and resources and promotional activities
• assets as defined in the Terms and Conditions that can be reasonably attributed to meeting agreement deliverables.
  
  

You must incur the expenditure on your grant activity between the start date and end or completion date for your grant activity for it to be eligible. You will be required to complete a budget and work plan contained within the grant agreement. 

The program Delegate makes the final decision on what is eligible expenditure and may give additional guidance on eligible expenditure if required.

What the grant money cannot be used for

You cannot use the grant for the following activities:

• purchase of land
• major capital expenditure with approval required for spending over $10,000
• the covering of retrospective costs
• costs incurred in the preparation of a grant application or related documentation
• subsidy of general ongoing administration of an organisation such as electricity, phone and rent
• major construction/capital works
• overseas travel
• activities for which other Commonwealth, state, territory or local government bodies have funded or have primary responsibility.